Anti-Asian Racism Awareness
The Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) joins CU Advancement, Kaiser Permanente and Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) to address anti-Asian racism through public-facing projects. The goal is to recognize and combat the rise in anti-Asian racism, harassment, and discrimination. Research and shared experiences in Asian communities have demonstrated a disturbing increase in Anti-Asian discrimination and violence in Colorado, in the US and across the world.
The CHA seeks to help stop anti-Asian racism by providing:
- Asian Anti-Racism Toolkit: In the form of a tote bag containing books, postcards, notebooks, pens/pencils, and access to the Coursera course Asian American History and Identity: An Anti-Racism Toolkit, these toolkits were distributed through a series of partnerships on and off campus to libraries and non-profits.
- Asian American History & Identity: Anti-Racism Course: Through a free, 3-week Coursera course, explore Asian American history and identities, delve into the problematic history of anti-Asian discrimination in the US, and develop skill sets to address anti-Asian hate and violence in your community.
- Creative Art & Humanities Projects: Aspiring artists and activists in the CU community and beyond engaged in public-facing projects that use inventive combinations of art, scholarship, performance, education, and outreach to support Asian and Asian American communities, bring awareness to anti-Asian discrimination, and encourage community members to become active bystanders.
The CHA created resources for the local community by creating toolkits in the form of a tote bag containing books, a notebook, and postcards with information about the Coursera course Asian American History and Identity: An Anti-Racism Toolkit. The toolkits were distributed through a series of partnerships on and off campus to libraries and non-profits.
Each tote bag contains:
- 2 texts by prominent voices in the AAPI community
- access to a free, 3-week online Coursera course
- access to creative projects highlighting AAPI voices
- notetaking tools (pen, notebook, sticky notes)
Each tote bag includes two titles from the following selection of books:
- Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy (Beacon Press, 2022)
- Like Water: A Cultural History of Bruce Lee by Daryl Joji Maeda (NYU Press, 2022)
- Habitat Threshold by Craig Santos Perez (Omnidawn, 2020)
- The Sense of Wonder: A Novel by Matthew Salesses (Little, Brown and Company, 2023)
- This is One Way to Dance: Essays by Sejal Shah (University of Georgia Press, 2020)
- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Books, 2021)
Tote Bag Distribution
Tote bags were given and distributed to volunteers at the Amache Pilgrimage and descendents of the Sand Creek Massacre, as well as at local libraries in the Boulder County area for AAPI Heritage Month (May 2023). The list of libraries include: Longmont Public Library, Louisville Public Library, CU Boulder’s Norlin Library and the Lafayette Public Library. The Lafayette Public Library is distributing the tote bag toolkits at their event "Introducing Asian American and Pacific Islander Identities”, in which Julia Shizuyo Popham will lead a talk at the library on Thursday, May 25 from 6:30PM - 7:30PM.
Assembling the Toolkit
The tote bags include tools to help people learn about Asian American history and identity, with the purpose of creating more inclusive communities for AAPI Americans and stopping anti-Asian racism. Volunteers from CU Boulder's campus came to help assemble tote bag toolkits. The volunteers assembled over 250 toolkits that were distributed to the local community.
Asian American History & Identity: Anti-Racism Course
Explore Asian American history and identities, delve into the problematic history of anti-Asian discrimination in the US, and develop skill sets to address anti-Asian hate and violence in your community, in this free, 3-week Coursera course: Asian American History and Identity: An Anti-Racism Toolkit course.
By completing this course, you will be able to:
- Define anti-Asian racism and its history in the US
- Recognize the diversity of AAPI cultures, perspectives, and experiences
- Identify bias, discrimination, and racism in various spaces
- Develop a skill set for responding to anti-Asian racism
Drawing from a diverse range of Asian American experiences, this course will utilize a variety of course-specific and open-source materials and activities that include facilitated conversations, interviews, videos, articles, podcasts, and art to guide the learner through 3 weekly modules. Week 1 focuses on the history of Asian American cultures and identities in the US. Week 2 tightens this lens to examine contextual examples of anti-Asian racism in US history and culture as well as artists, activists, and communities who have actively resisted Anti-Asian violence. Week 3 explores examples of Asian American activism and anti-racism using a humanities-centered approach and encourages learners to think about ways to deploy the skills developed throughout the course in their own communities and lives. During the course, learners will have the opportunity to complete self-guided reflections and responses to course material that will develop their knowledge of anti-racist practices and active bystander intervention. Learners who complete the course will be offered the opportunity to earn a Coursera badge/certificate and all participants will be encouraged to take the knowledge and skills gained from the course into their communities.
Learn more about this course by watching the video below:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BRPVWGP9R0]
Creative Art & Humanities Projects
The Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) joined Kaiser Permanente and Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) to address the rise of Anti-Asian racism in Colorado and beyond. The CHA issued ten, $1000 grants to students, artists, and activists who created a series of public-facing projects intended to disrupt Anti-Asian racism and support local Asian American communities.
Creative Projects
The CHA joined CU Advancement, Kaiser Permanente and Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) in a call for proposals from artists, activists, students, and engaged members of the CU Boulder and larger Colorado communities who seek to address anti-Asian racism through public-facing projects. As our communities continued to address the impact of the SARS CoV2-Covid 19 pandemic, it was essential that we joined together to recognize and combat the rise in Anti-Asian racism, harassment, and discrimination.
Research and shared experiences in Asian communities has demonstrated a disturbing increase in Anti-Asian discrimination and violence in Colorado, in the US and across the world. The CHA sought to help stop anti-Asian racism by providing aspiring artists and activists in the CU community and beyond to engage in public-facing projects that use inventive combinations of art, scholarship, performance, education, and outreach to support Asian and Asian American communities, bring awareness to anti-Asian discrimination, and encourage community members to become active bystanders.
In the spirit of bringing the wide range of humanities approaches to the multi-faceted problems of Anti-Asian racism and intersections with other forms of discrimination, the CHA invited project proposals from any member of the community (students, faculty, Colorado residents, local artists, and businesses, etc.) interested in using a humanities-based project to increase awareness of anti-Asian discrimination and support our thriving Colorado Asian American communities. Proposals may include, but are not limited to:
- Publicly displayed artwork or installations.
- Social media or marketing campaigns.
- Public history or genealogy projects.
- Production and performance of music, dance, or other performance art.
- Ted-talk style presentations attending to the history of Asian American communities and/or anti-Asian racism.
- Projects invested in public-oriented representations of Asian American or Pan-Asian impact on US or Colorado culture, history, politics, etc.
- Initiatives to address unconscious and conscious bias against Asian Americans and intersectionality.
Examples of similar projects completed for the CHA’s Shelter in Place Projects can be viewed here: https://www.colorado.edu/cha/coping-covid-19/fall-2020-shelter-projects-micro-grant-awardees/top-10
Proposals of no more than 3 pages should be submitted using the webform application before February 15th, 2022 and include:
- A detailed proposal describing the project and how it will address anti-Asian racism and support Asian communities in Colorado, the US, or world-wide.
- An estimated budget for required materials or other costs.
- A projected timeline for project completion by JUNE 15, 2022.
End Result: The CHA selected 10 proposals to support in 2022 with $1,000 in project funding and up to $500 in additional funding available for supplies and other material costs. The CHA invited project proposals from any member of the community (students, faculty, Colorado residents, local artists and businesses, etc.) interested in using a humanities-based project to increase awareness of anti-Asian discrimination and support Asian American communities in Colorado.
