Reflection on the First API Citizenship Day in Maryland

Dear friends,

     I believe that our participation at API citizenship workshop in Rockville, MD on November 14th went extremely well. I feel that words can't adequately capture the impact that we made. I had a great time and felt that we made a tremendous impact in three areas: on the clients who we served, the organizations that we helped, and the volunteers we recruited. I invite Anjali, Aaditi, and Vega's feedback here as all three did a great job organizing on behalf of and representing SAALT at the workshop, and Jen and Hong were among the volunteers who represented APIQS. Anjali, Aaditi, Vega, Jen, and Hong, what do you all think?

     Including Jen, Hong, and myself, 7 members of our API LGBTQ community, including an AQUA board member, volunteered. There would have been about 7 more including members or allies of APIQS, AQUA, NAPAWF-DC, and KhushDC, but the organizers and I had to regrettably turn them away because the organizers were at capacity for volunteers by last Wednesday/Thursday.

     I wish that I had been able to help a client on a one-on-one basis so I can personally speak to the impact that we made on the clients, but based on conversations that I had with Jen and Alex (AQUA board member), who were able to provide interpretation/translations services for lawyers and clients in Mandarin, I believe that we did. Clients came for a range of reasons, from checking whether they filled out their N-400 forms correctly, to actually filling out the form itself, to whether something that had been weighing on their mind could adversely affect their status here in the United States. I don't have official estimates from the organizers, but I think that about 75 or more clients came to the workshop seeking information or help, with varying degrees of English proficiency, and almost all of whom had English as their second language. Anjali, Aaditi, and Vega, how many clients do you think came that day? Jen, Hong, Anjali, Aaditi, and Vega, what do you think about the impact that we had on the clients that day?

     With regards to the organizations that we helped - all API organizations in the pan-Asian, Chinese, Korean, South Asian, and Vietnamese community, from a legal organization to local community organizations to a national civil rights organization - we were all welcomed with open arms and they were very happy to have us there :) It is not very often, I feel, that we as API LGBTQ feel so accepted in our communities, and I just want to thank them for that. Many of us talked openly about how we are members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer API organizations when asked which organizations we are a part of, and they were very friendly in their response. For example, a volunteer from Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Organization, one of the coalition organizations, approached a group of us hanging out during our downtime because it was obvious that we were a cohesive group of volunteers, as if we all knew each other from before the workshop, and asked which group we were members of. Hong openly said that she was a member of APIQS and that APIQS is an LGBTQ API women's organization in D.C. He told us how cool he thought it was that we were there, and he and Hong continued to talk about whether Vietnamese food is better in Dallas or in Falls Church because both had spent time in Dallas. I also spent some time visiting each coalition organization's booth and learning more about each organization, and as I spoke with the staff of Boat People SOS in Maryland, I learned that one of them is in charge of developing a home-visit mentoring program for Vietnamese youth, and that she is looking for volunteers as mentors. I said that I would love to help her find mentors in APIQS, but clarified that our members identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, and wanted to make sure our members would have a safe space getting involved in Boat People SOS in Maryland. She assured me that yes, the organization is a safe space for LGBTQ people, and that they don't discriminate against volunteers based on sexual orientation or gender identity. I was happy to learn that Boat People SOS and other organizations I spoke with are pretty progressive in their philosophies, and that many staff of these organizations are members of APIQS, AQUA, and KhushDC as well. I was also very happy meet in person or interact with some of the staff at SAALT, which is a national civil rights organization advocating for the rights of the South Asian community in the United States (South Asian Americans Leading Together). They received an award from Pride&Heritage in 2008 as an ally organization (Pride&Heritage is the annual event organized by APIQS, AQUA, KhushDC, and NAPAWF-DC to honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May and Pride Month in June), and are a really awesome organization. Building relationships with other organizations at the workshop was definitely a highlight of my day and inspired me to think of more ideas about how we can be more present as LGBTQ people in our API communities. Many of them thanked us heartily for being there and expressed interest in wanting to partner with our organizations on issues of common concern, including staff at the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (such as on domestic violence issues. The executive director of APALRC is also someone I highly respect as a great friend personally and to the community, and a member of AQUA.) Other organizations present were Chinese Culture and Community Service Center, Inc. (CCACC) and Korean Community Service Center of Greater Washington (KCSC), who were lead organizations along with SAALT, APALRC, Boat People SOS, and Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association. I got to talk a little bit with a volunteer from Chinese Culture and Community Service Center, Inc., and he was really cool, and I collected brochures from all the lead organizations to learn more about them and ways that we might be able to help or get involved, but I will need someone's help to help me understand the KCSC's materials which are in Korean. Any volunteers? ;-)

     Third, I believe that this experience had a tremendous impact on our volunteers emotionally/psychologically, educationally (is that a word?), and socially. Emotionally/psychologically, we as volunteers were able to connect with our ethnic identities and interact with members of and contribute to our racial communities in a way that is not usually possible in just everyday life and society. And at the same time, educationally, it allowed us to learn not just about the naturalization process and challenges that people face to become U.S. citizens, but also about the diversity of our own API communities. Imagine being in a dancehall-size room with more than 6 languages being spoken and more than 6 communities being represented. That's a lot of diversity! And many opportunities for engagement with people of different cultures and for cross-cultural learning. It reminded me of my time in Singapore for a few days, and one of my favorite experiences was sitting in the metro while listening to people speak in Mandarin, Malay, and a variety of South Asian languages including Tamil, and not understanding a word that they are saying, but, because Singapore felt like a very safe place to me, loving every minute of it. Lastly, it allowed us to network and become friends with some really amazing people, whether it be among our own organizations within the API LGBTQ and ally community, or people in other organizations, or other volunteers, or clients we served. I think that if we continue to maintain the relationships we have established and keep up the momentum, we can continue to energize our organizations and strengthen our communities.

Thanks everyone!

Hy