Election Day Voter Protection with AALDEF

Yesterday, Election Day 2010, we took the T at 7am to volunteer with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national organization that protects the civil rights of Asian Americans. We helped conduct the 2010 Asian American Voter Protection Survey at a polling site in Boston's Chinatown. Questions included "Is this your first time voting?", "Did you get translation services?" and "What are the three main issues that influenced your vote?" We were happily surprised by some of the responses -- "of course this isn't the first time I'm voting -- I've voted every year since I became a citizen !" -- and disappointed by others, "There are no translated materials."

All in all, it was a productive and exciting morning. Of course we didn't go back to campus without a visit to a couple of bakeries. We hope to continue engaging with Boston's Asian American community. Thanks for inviting us, AALDEF!

civically engaged Asian Americans!

putting my Cantonese to use! (Jenny)

Jenny Ye + Joselyn Lai

Ed/Pol Co-chairs

Masquerade- A Success!

In collaboration with MIT AAA & CSC and Tufts AAA, Harvard AAA hosted one of the most successful events of the season. But I'm not just talking about success in terms of numbers (550+ attendees, $1500+ for the Boston Chinatown Library Campaign...just saying), the event itself was HOT.

We. tore. up. the. dancefloor. That's right. DJ Zeus and DJ Aja put on some sick tracks, and the rest of the night was history. There were students from BC, BU, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts, and Wellesley who filled up every inch of the the Sheraton ballroom. Only at Masquerade can you see over 500 beautifully dressed people get low at the same time ;)

Alas the night had to end, and there was a collective groan when the music cut-off and the lights came on. For those of you who missed it-- don't worry-- Masquerade will happen again next year...and it will be even better.


Special thanks to AAA board. You guys are the best.

Love,
Rose

Brain Break for the Ballot !

Local ice cream and absentee ballot request forms... who knew that these two things were such a successful combination?

This past Wednesday (October 13), AAA teamed up with the Institute of Politics - National Campaign to host "Brain Break for the Ballot", an ice-cream brain break at Annenberg Hall that aimed to get students to request absentee ballots for the upcoming general election. 2010 marks the midterm elections, which means every House seat is on the ballot, along with 1/3 of the Senate seats, many governorships, and local positions. On Study Card Day last month, hundreds of students of the Class of 2014 registered to vote as they turned in their study card, and our event was designed to help them with the next step -- getting a ballot to vote.

students requesting absentee ballots on the ice cream line

Frosh Rep Tony Cho working with VP Winston Chang on addressing envelopes

Ed/Pol Co-chairs!

ice cream!

We were successful! Over 200 forms were filled and seven large tubs of delicious ice cream were consumed. In terms of AAA's goals, we succeeded at working to increase civic participation among Asian American students and the student body at large.

This event would not have been possible without the great help of the Institute of Politics, the Harvard Democrats, and the Harvard Republicans. More exciting Ed/Pol events with these organizations to come!

Want to declare your commitment to civic participation? Want to help Harvard beat other colleges to bring Kollaboration (an exciting Asian American performance showcase) to campus? Please register for Youth Charge Now, a contest aimed at raising youth civic participation. It takes under a minute, just name, email, and address. Remember to put Harvard as your college!

Cheers,

Jenny Ye

Educational/Political Committee Co-chair

Whoa...so many events!

October is a busy month...midterms (actually, I have one tomorrow I should study for. Hmmm...), colder weather, extracurriculars heating up...and AAA is no different! We have a ton of interesting events that we encourage you all to attend this week!

1. Teach for America Information Session - interested in public education, kids, or social justice? Want to take a few years off from school or before starting your "real life" job? This is one excellent option to consider!  Sever 102, Tuesday (Oct. 12), 6-7 PM 

2. (Ice Cream) Brain Break for the Ballot - geared at freshmen, although everyone welcome! We'll help you register to vote or get your absentee ballot for the upcoming November elections. And then we'll give you ice cream. How awesome is that? Annenberg D-Hall, Wednesday (Oct. 13), 9-10:30 PM


3. Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (H4A) 1st Inaugural Summit - join us for an exciting weekend of movie screenings, receptions, panels, networking, the Elevate Pitch Competition and a chance to meet many of Harvard's coolest Asian American alumni! Harvard University, Friday - Sunday (Oct. 15-17)


4. We also encourage all undergraduates to sign up for one of our mentorship programs. Check your emails - you can be placed with a graduate school mentor from Harvard Medical School, Business School, or Law School!

5. Finally, we support our LGBTQ friends in National Coming Out Day (Oct. 12). There will be a rally tomorrow morning and a vigil tomorrow night, so please join us in these events if you can!

Bring KOLLABORATION to Harvard!

If you haven't heard of Kollaboration, they are a really awesome non-profit dedicated to "Empowerment through Entertainment." They aim to show Asian Americans in a positive light in the entertainment field. 

AAA would love to bring them to Harvard to perform for free. It's as easy as registering your basic info with the civic engagement initiative Youth Charge Now (make sure you list your college as Harvard University....we're competing with other schools across the nation)! Please, help us out and register!!!

REGISTER HERE: https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5521/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=24540

Some videos of Kollaboration performers:

Far East Movement

....is officially the first Asian American music group to break the Top 10 on Itunes and Billboard (it hit #1 on the former), with their song, "Like a G6."

You may be wondering, "What is a G6?" Seems like a lot of other people are wondering too. Yay, Internet.

Jenny, Jos, and I were lucky enough to meet the members of Far East Movement at MIT CSC's New Year's Banquet last spring. Not only do they hail from diverse Asian backgrounds (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino), they're reaaaalllllly nice, and know how to throw a good show. And now I can say they hit it big! I have an autographed CD from them, so maybe I'll just leave that in the AAA office so someone in the future can listen to it and be like, "Ohhh....so that's what they sounded like before they were famous..."

Listen to their song below and see for yourself:

Socially just? Leader? Care about the APIA community?

Then you should apply for the Youth Advisory Council for the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice (AAJC)! I'd love to see more folks in our community expressing their social just-ness any and every way they can!    <3 Athena

Some information below:


Flex your social entrepreneurship skills to address issues of racial equity pertinent to the AAPI community. Youth Advisory Council members will have the opportunity to:  

•    meet local and national policy movers, shakers and makers
•    receive technical assistance and resources on issues facing your campus/community
•    access to local and national conferences and trainings including the Annual Advancing Justice
     Conference
•    gain firsthand experience in local grassroots advocacy organizing to form policy solutions
•    get looped in about exciting post-graduate opportunities
AAJC is offering mini-grants and other resources to help you implement your dream community-based program, campaign or event from start to finish. If you have an idea, we want to support it and watch you make it happen!

Applications are due on Wednesday, October 13th at 11:59PM EST.
Apply online.
Read the FAQ.

Questions, comments and concerns can be directed to Olivia Chow at ochow@advancingequality.org.