Chapter Highlights: Michigan Chapter
The APALA Michigan chapter hosted the last APALA National Executive Board Meeting in Detroit, MI on December 15-17, 2017 at the United Auto Workers building. This was the first full board meeting with the newly elected officers and members for 2017-2019 where the National Executive Board strategized on APALA's work to come for the next 25 years. Prior to the meeting, APALA Michigan hosted a Community and Labor Reception, where attendees heard from local labor, community, and government leaders. The meeting concluded with a tour of the home of Asian American activist Grace Lee Boggs and an intimate conversation with her close friends.
Share your family's Immigration StoryAPALA is working with the National Council for Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) to put together a storytelling project to garner more support of family immigration. Share your family's immigration story here!
The Fight for Our Undocumented CommunityIn November, the organizing and mobilization efforts of DC chapter members were integral to the AAPI Mobilization to Demand a Clean DREAM Act, where over 120 Asian American and Pacific Islander DREAMers and allies convened in DC for trainings, a rally, an action, and legislative visits. APALA National President Monica Thammarath, National Executive Board Members Johanna Puno Hester and Luisa Blue, Executive Director Alvina Yeh, APALA staffer Kenneth Gonzales, and former Executive Director Gregory Cendana were 6 of 19 participants in a civil disobedience action that ended up in their subsequent arrest and release. We also thank NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia and AFSCME Secretary Treasurer Elissa McBride for speaking at our rally earlier in the day, and we give a special shout out to our partners the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Check out the video of the civil disobedience to the above and more photos here. |
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