Theyll join us live in our studio today. Well, the plight of those in the daca program has gotten a lot of coverage, with the future of many involved in this program, designed to protect those undocumented children and young adults brought into the us, very much in limbo. But its fair to say much of the attention has been on latino communities, for a good reason. Still, it is a changing landscape that impacts many in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities as well. The Bay Area Group aspire is addressing it in shortterm and longterm ways. Joining me right now is wei lee, a Program Coordinator for aspire, and nelson wong, a daca recipient and aspire member. Welcome to the show. Wei lee thanks, robert. Robert and we try not to be, as we were mentioning before, not too assuming that people know already what daca is, and all the other things associated with it. Give us a quick overview of daca and how aspire kinda fits into that. Wei okay, you wanna talk about it . Robert either one. Nelson wong go ahead. Wei yeah, so, daca was a program that was created in 2012 by then president obama. And when they recognized that victory was, like, done by nondocumented communities on the front line, protesting, shutting down things, to make sure that this program was created to protect people from deportations. And this program allowed people to apply for a work permit and also protect from deportations, and this program is you could renew for every 2 years. Robert thats why we see kinda the controversy now, because he basically put that program up because Congress Just wasnt getting something done at that point, right . Yeah, for nelson, for you, we were talking about how many people in the community are affected. Do we have a number, in terms of how many . Nelson i think it was about 700 or 800,000 undocumented youth who were eligible for the daca program. Robert yeah, and that included you, right . Nelson yes robert what is your personal experience, in terms of how you got involved, and how it helped you . Nelson right, so, the daca program allowed me to pursue work. I no longer had to work under the table. I was able to pursue a more professional experiences, and so i was able to work as an it coordinator for a school thats local in the area. Robert oh, very good, yes, an it coordinator probably would not be the kind of job you would be getting paid for under the table, right . Nelson right. Robert yeah, so, how about in terms of aspire then . What does aspire try to do, or how do you fit into what aspire does . Nelson right, so aspire, we do advocacy and outreach in order to get legislators to robert be more obviously involved in the daca process, get something done productively, as well as include the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, right . Nelson exactly. Robert yeah, do you find that that is a difficult thing to do . Is there any kinda cultural . Wei yeah, theres, like, extremely difficult to reach out to undocumented asian and Pacific Islanders. Theres this cultural stigma, and, like, people are afraid to come out. We dont have the same, like, coverage as the latino like, during the President Campaign trail, everyone talked about immigration associated to latinos. And asians are always, like, often, like, ruled out of that conversation. Robert and the coverage actually amounts to kind of protection, in a way, right . Because they know that people are watching out what happens to them. But if youre not getting that coverage, you dont feel that same protection. Wei exactly, and thats why, like, we here in aspire, we like to bring this ability for the undocumented apis, undocumented immigrants, like, in the country, to make sure they also feel, like, the sense of, like, theres other people here just like you, fighting on the streets, advocating for ourselves, our family members, and our communities, you know . I think thats the very important existence of aspire. Robert yeah, how about for you, nelson . What would you want them to think about, people who might be reluctant . How was it for you . How much did it help you . Nelson without daca, i was very fearful of being separated from my friends and family. And so, that really helped, in terms of having that peace of mind, and not being removed. Robert great, well, thank you for being here to talk about your story. Youll stay with us a little bit cause we wanna elaborate a little bit more on this topic, okay . Wei okay. Robert all right, thanks. Well, as you heard, the word dreamer is often used, but is it still appropriate . And is it appropriate for everyone, especially in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities . Wei lee will stay with us and help us explore that coming up. Robert it was called, the dream act, and so the term dreamers almost naturally evolved from it. Still with me right now is wei lee, a Program Coordinator for aspire, the nations first panasian undocumented youth group, and who says its time to evaluate, analyze, and deconstruct the description of dreamer. Give us an idea why, and maybe in the context of what the dream act was. Wei yeah, so, the dream act was introduced back in 2001 as a way to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented students and for young undocumented people who came here at a young age. Robert now, dreamers seemed as though thats a broad kind of description for everybody. But i think thats what you dont like about it, right . Wei yeah, i think how that, like, officials, advocacies, like, a narrative to push it forward was, like, to create this narrative of these young immigrants as, like, valedictorians, 4. 0s gpas. They grew up here, allamerican in every sense, you know . And theyre gonna become future doctors, lawyers, all of these desirable things that people like. But not everyone can live up to that standard. Robert and it becomes kind of a standard, that kind of description, right . Wei mmhmm. Robert and almost like the model minority in that situation, right . Wei yeah. Robert so, whats the downfall, then, by using the term dreamers . Has it become kind of a divisive term . Wei yes, because, like, not everyone will benefit from that legislation. Because, like, people who grew up in poor neighborhoods, werent able to complete high school, or people who made mistakes, you know, were gonna be left out of this conversation. And when the media shows those stories, they were always gonna show the stories of the high achieving immigrants. And so, people wont see themselves, like, being portrayed on the media. Robert yeah, so, what does aspire wanna do . Who are you reaching out for . What are you hoping to . Who do you hope to reach, and how . Wei i think our intention is to, like, really ask, like, allies, advocates, to think about the word dreamer, you know, and what it means in a more critical lens, to encompass more allinclusive, like, narratives, to be more inclusive, especially our parents. cause one thing that we dont really like, its how, like, the officials use, like, these young immigrants, they came here through no fault of their own. Which, essentially blame our parents for bringing us here. But to me, you know, like, we need to also acknowledge all the sacrifices that our parents brought us here, you know . And because behind every Success Story from a dreamer, behind it, like, is our parents. Robert thats right, no, no, thats a very good point. Wei they, like, made all the sacrifices for, and created the conditions to allow those Success Stories of being portrayed in the media. Robert well, for those people, then, who dont relate to that image or think that it doesnt apply to them, how do you reach them . And what do you want to say to them . Wei i just wanna tell them, like, you know, youre not alone, you know . I understand there is, like, this we dont wanna be divisive. We wanna be sure that everyone is heard, you know . But we need to include our parents, people who might not be labeled as a dreamer, you know, by on the paper. And to, because theres a lot of fight going on, like, dacas gonna end. And essentially, we need to be unified on this, and resist, and advocate for everyone, not just a few people, but everyone else. Robert so, how are you reaching them . How can they reach you . Wei so, we usually do a lot of Community Presentations here in the bay area. We are a very small group, but, like, we have a lot of heart and a lot of dedication to serve our communities, to stop deportations, and increasing health care access, and all of those things. They can originally reach to me, you know, through our Facebook Page, our website. They can look us up, you know . cause we wanna make sure that, especially undocumented asians, they have a place to, like, you know, a voice, that we like to represent them. Robert and what is that Facebook Page . How do people find it . Wei facebook. Com aspireforjustice, yes. Robert and so, if they use aspire, as the, kind of, the search word, theyll find you. Wei yeah, aspire, and asian undocumented groups, yeah. Robert okay, great, hey, you know, some of the things you make some very good points, and it is interesting how something thats supposed to be kinda positive can work against you. All right, good luck. Wei thank you. Robert keep us posted on how its goin, okay . Wei all right, thank you. Robert all right, well, coming up, a documentary in the works called chinatown rising. A look at this unique perspective on chinatown, as well as the process of trying to preserve it. The director and Producer Join us next. We have done a number of specials on chinatown and the historical events and Current Issues around it. And right now, some filmmakers are putting together a documentary that provides another unique and compelling perspective. Joining me right now is the director of chinatown rising, the reverend harry chuck, who has been involved with the community for a long time, including as a youth director, and later executive director of cameron house, who also led the famous fight to save the chinatown playground. And also with us, the coproducer and assistant editor of the documentary, josh chuck, who grew up in chinatown and has also been an important part of the community as a youth worker and filmmaker. And just glad to have both of you here. This is kind of a family affair, right, a family project . Reverend harry chuck it sure is. Robert first of all, what made you want to do this project . Harry well, when i had my 80th birthday, i decided it was time to clean up the garage, and i came across these boxes of film that i had shot as a film student back some 45 years ago. Robert oh, yeah, in fact, i know you incorporated that into the documentary, some of the video that were gonna see, right . Harry correct. Robert lets take a look at this clip here, and then well talk about more about the project. Harry i filmed this in around 1973 or 1972. Got boxes and boxes, and some that arent even on this shelf. So, i have to go in and take a look to see what we have. Harry i grew up in chinatown, a chinatown that seemed never to change. Life was simple and predictable. But, you know, things around the country, change was happening. The Civil Rights Movement was in full bloom. The cold war was going on. And in 1965, because of the immigrant and nationality act, there was a huge influx of chinese immigrants. Chinatown wasnt ready. We did not have enough housing, jobs, and educational programs. Robert now, that was quite a gold mine to find that video, huh . I told you before, i was a documentary producer, and finding the appropriate pictures, visuals, and images to be able to tell your story is pretty crucial. And you shot a lot of that, right . Harry yes, yes. Robert did you shoot it with the idea of being, like, a filmmaker, or knowing that it would have some historical value one day . Harry well, it actually started as a student project, but it got so involved that i couldnt finish it before the semester was over. So, i boxed it. I promised my teacher that someday, i would finish. So, some, now, 45 years later, im going to finish it. Robert all right, youre keeping your promise, huh . But again, i could tell by what you were shooting that you had an eye for what you were shooting, in terms of it not being random. It was very focused, and the scenes, the way you were shooting it, looked like somebody was trying to record these images for posterity of some kind. Josh, give me an idea here, in terms of how you got involved in the project and what you kind of saw when you saw this being put together, and what kind of perspective you could add. Josh chuck yeah, i mean, ive been doing film work for the last 15 years, and this is, by far, the most special project that ive been able to be a part of. When i got to see the actual footage that my dad had shot, i was pretty amazed, you know . And its been enlightening to find out more about his life, which he doesnt like to talk about all that much, and also, just to find out about the history of my own neighborhood. Robert yeah, and what kind of perspective do you wanna make sure this documentary has, so that it has that kind of appeal . Josh yeah, i think, i mean, i didnt know a lot of the things that were talking about in this film, and im from chinatown, and ive worked in the community before. So i know theres a lot of people who have no idea about the sacrifices and the risks that people have made so that young people today can, you know, live freely and pretty much do what they want. And so i think its important for young people, especially, to watch this. Robert i think youre right. Give me and idea, though, how difficult has it been to put this together . How much funding have you gotten . What are you still looking for . Harry well, if it was going to be the home movie that i intended it to be, it would have been finished. And now that so much interest has been shown for this, we feel that we need to ramp it up. So, were going to continue our fundraising, and try and make it as presentable as we can. Its important for us to get it into the classrooms so that young people today can begin to look at their own history if you think that history is really biographical. Robert mmhmm, how about in terms of thehow are you doing in terms of getting the funding . And cause to me, the support youre already getting shows a lot of community support. Josh yes, we had a Kickstarter Campaign that allowed individuals to contribute, and that did pretty well. We got about 70,000 from that. But more importantly, we had over 300 people contribute. Were still looking for about three times that, yeah. All [laughing] robert how can people contribute . Josh the information on how to give is on our website, chinatownrising. Com. Robert okay, well, its a good project. Keep us posted on how youre doing, okay . Just from what ive seen already, i can tell that youve got something kind of important in the works here. All right, thanks for being here. Harry thank you. Josh appreciate it. Robert all right, and well also show you how to help support the project soon. But next up, our traditional artistic and cultural performance by likha, pilipino folk ensemble music and dance performance. Thats live next. The Energy Conscious whopeople among usle . Say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. Join Energy Upgrade california and do your thing. We are here with members of likha, a pilipino folk ensemble who perform with a mission to share and educate others about the beauty of pilipino folk arts and culture. With me is the dance director tina matias cruz. Thank you very much for being here. Tina matias cruz thank you for having us. Robert how did your group start . Tina well, we started under the direction of rudi c. Soriano. He is a former bayanihan artist and choreographer. And he started off with a small group of college students, and from there, a lot of people decided to learn more about pilipino culture and dance, and the group just expanded from that point. Robert for you, whats important about why this needs to be not only, like, sort of displayed and exhibited, but also continue to flourish . Tina well, i think its important as secondgeneration pilipino americans that we need to pursue our culture and to educate, especially, you know, young adults who were born in america, or, you know, second generation, and to also educate the youth. So, we also have a School Program for the kids as well. Robert do you get a lot of response from the community . Tina yes, actually, we do. Robert yeah, its always nice when you see that theyre trying to embrace that culture, huh . Tina yes, and their eyes light up when they learn something new, so its pretty awesome. Robert is there, like do you feel, like, almost, like, a danger of it not being around, or disappearing if you dont do these kind of things . Tina oh, definitely, yes. So thats why we pursue this goal to educate the youth, yes. Robert okay, let me see. First of all, whos here with us right now . Tina so, over here in the back, we have scarlet mcclure, ashley acosta, kristin pahari, and the two musicians are omar pahari and edward cruz. Robert very good, welcome, everybody. Edward cruz thank you. Robert so, what is it that were going to see you perform . Tina today, youre going to see kadal blelah, which is a dance from the southern part of the philippines, particularly the south cotabato. And its a dance that depicts the movements of birds that frolic through the rice paddies and through the fields of the philippines. Robert and this is actually part of a bigger show that youre doing for your anniversary, right . Tina we actually did a version of this dance for our anniversary, which was just a couple of weeks ago at the palace of fine arts. We also showcased this particular dance at the San Francisco ethnic Dance Festival in july. Robert and thats a 25th anniversary, right . Tina yes, for likha, yes. Robert youre succeeding in your mission then. Tina yes, we are. Robert all right, tina, everybody, thank you very much for being here. Okay, lets hear likha, enjoy. Robert wonderful, thank you very much. Tina thank you very much. Robert all right, anyway, well, congr