Prominent apia individual lgbtq
Miss Sāmoa Fa’afafine 2019 pageant.
The Manalagi Plan announced last week will help to bring the stories of the Pacific’s Rainbow and Lgbtq+ communities “out from the cloaks of cold obscurity and into the spotlight as important and mana-filled members of Pacific communities and New Zealand society”, writes Patrick Thomsen.
I was introduced to netball on weekday afternoons in the 1990s by my mum and aunties who’d meet with a group of friends to participate in what Sāmoans call fa’a’afu — a kind of informal training to literally fa’aafu or build up a sweat.
On those afternoons, we’d jump in my aunt’s beat-up brown car (that she learned to drive by hopping in and turning it on) and we’d head from our little home on the prairie in Manurewa to the netball courts behind St Joseph’s in Otahuhu.
Occasionally, they were short on players, so I’d make up the numbers. Or I’d be told to umpire. I happily obliged, running around the courts in bare feet, concise shorts and often a tie-dye uppermost, swishing back and forth, mimicking all the ladies I saw on TV.
When I think about those times, I relive the thunderous laughter, the endless roasting in Sāmoan, the loud, flamboy
Event
Sarah Ha, Senior Director of Strategy, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) (she/her)
Sarah Ha is the Senior Director of Strategy at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), where she spearheads the organization’s comprehensive strategy to trip impactful change for marginalized Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across New York. She oversees policy advocacy, membership and coalition-building, and leadership training programs, ensuring they align with CACF’s mission to enhance the health, well-being, and safety of marginalized AAPI children and families.
With over 20 years of experience driving strategic transformations in the racial and social justice, nonprofit, training, and social impact sectors, Sarah specializes in strategic partnerships, cross-racial coalition building, organizational strategy, leadership maturation, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) capacity building. A Professional Diversity Coach and trained Intergroup Dialogue Facilitator, she leverages her narrative as the daughter of working-class immigrants, caregiver, and satellite infant to her professional train,
Karen Chen
Commissioner
Karen Chen is Executive Director of Chinese Linear Association (CPA). CPA is a grassroots community-based nonprofit that works for complete equality and empowerment of the Chinese community in the greater Boston area and beyond. Karen’s teaching began as a 10 year-old when she immigrated to the US and became de facto interpreter and advocate for her immigrant working class family, later honing her direction and organizing skills as a youth intern with Coalition of Asian and Pacific American Youth and the Chinese Youth Initiative, a paralegal at Greater Boston Legal Services’ Asian Outreach Unit, and Tenant Service Coordinator at the Castle Square Apartments in the South End.
Karen has been involved in many campaigns that’s integral to CPA’s work. Together with workers, she helped dislocated Power-One electronic manufacturing workers win $1Million retraining fund followed by improved unemployed benefits for other electronic manufacturing workers, anti-wage theft protections for immigrant workers, and helped unionize the first privately owned place care agency in Massachusetts in 2015. Together with tenants, she helped numerous fami
15 Influential Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Made History
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders hold made countless contributions to society and culture through art, activism, athleticism, scientific achievements, and political involvement. From fearless activists who fought for equality to beloved entertainers who helped shape pop culture, Asian and Pacific Americans acquire made an invaluable impact in their respective fields. Whether traveling to territory or winning gold medals, however, these accomplishments are oftentimes overshadowed or ignored.
To celebrate AAPI Heritage Month in May, get to know some of the most formative people of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander descent in U.S. history.
Frank Emi
Even though Frank Emi was born in the United States, he and his family, of Japanese descent, were forced to leave their California home to dwell in an internment camp in the midst of Nature War II. His experiences and treatment during this moment inspired Emi’s protest.
Emi and his family were moved to a camp in Wyoming, where he took issue with two of the controversial questions he was forced to answer as part of the “loyalty” questionnaire.
For Asian Americans, coming out in 2019 can still present unique challenges
When Sung Tse’s younger son came out to her as transgender in 2015, he did so by explaining the gender binary — and that he identified more toward the male side. Tse didn’t completely understand what her son was telling her, she told NBC News, but she told him he was loved and nothing would change.
Tse later turned to her son’s pediatrician, who recommended Transforming Family — a support organization at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for families with gender diverse children. It was there that Tse first learned of PFLAG, and she attended her first meeting at PFLAG’s chapter in Pasadena, California.
“I had no idea that there were other kids like him,” Tse said of her first rare meetings with PFLAG.
Today, Tse is the co-president of the Asian Pacific Islander Chapter of PFLAG San Gabriel Valley, a aid group meant for LGBTQ Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, their parents, families and friends.
“I am an active member of PFLAG because it was one of the first ready resources that helped me understand and love my child better,” Tse said.
Tse also found strength in her own history as a Korean Americ