SAMEAPI Awareness Now! Events
(South Asian Middle Eastern Asian
Pacific Islander Awareness Now!)

SAMEAPI Awareness Now! Exhibition
Ongoing for the month of April
Suzanne's Plaza

We invite you to take a look at the cards hanging from the trees in Suzanne's Plaza as SAMEAPI (South Asian Middle Eastern Asian Pacific Islander) Awareness Now! month honors Asian And Asian American people in history. We are recognizing scholars, activists, and politicians, such as: Jade Snow Wong, Bapsi Sidhwa, Queen Liluokalani, Jhumpa Lahiri, Mike Honda, Bienvenido Santos, March Fong Eu, Doris Matsui, Anita Desai, Helen Zia, Yuri Kochiyama, and Ronald Takaki.

Legend holds that the crane lives for a thousand years. In Japanese, Chinese and Korean tradition, cranes stand for peace and long life. It is said that 1000 folded paper origami cranes makes a wish come true. We have hung them here to show how they relate to Asian culture and history.

Philippine Folk Dancing with Sharee Nuez
7:00 pm, Tuesday, April 8, 2008, Student Union

Join as our very own Sharee Nuez from the Division of Student Activities gives a brief history on folk dances in the Philippines. She will also give us a solo demonstration that is specific to women AND teach a few counts of the dance to willing volunteers. This will be a fun evening and one you won't want to miss!

Virtual Gallery
5:00 pm, Thursday, April 10, 2008, Founders Hall

Join SAMEAPI as we drop some knowledge through a virtual gallery in the Founders lobby. Soak up some knowledge as we address issues of Orientalism, representation in media and entertainment, API current issues, and global conflicts. Take a second look at images and phrases that you would never suspect have offensive undertones for the SAMEAPI community.

Dinner Honoring SAMEAPI Awareness Now! Month
5:00-7:00 pm, Thursday, April 10, 2008, Founders Hall

Join the Mills Community as celebrate our heritage with delicious food!

Dinner brought to you by Bon Appetit.

Guest Speaker: Mas Hashimoto
"The Japanese American Experience: The Internment," "Racism, war hysteria, and the failure of constitutional leadership."
7:00 pm, Thursday, April 17, 2008, Student Union

Mas Hashimoto will speak on his experiences in the internment camp during World War II and his experiences coming out of the camp back into mainstream society. He will talk about what inspired him to become an activist in the Japanese American Citizens League. Come and listen to his message to the younger generation!

Biography: Born and raised in Watsonville, CA. During WW II, with his family he was interned at Poston II, Block 220, Barrack 12, Room A. "My prison number is 12524D, given to me by my own government." After serving in the US Army's Chemical Section of Sixth Army Headquarters, he taught U.S. History to juniors at Watsonville High School from 1960 to 1996. He is now retired.

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Poetry Slam
12:15 pm, Thursday, April 24, 2008, Suzanne's Plaza

Come and hear your fellow students read their poetry!

Poetry with ILL-Literacy
7:00 pm, Thursday, April 24, 2008, Student Union

Help APISA welcome the acclaimed spoken word group iLL-Literacy to the Mills campus for a socially conscious poetry slam! Members of iLL-Literacy will perform pieces of their spoken word in accordance with themes of social justice and identity conflicts. Mills students will also perform personal pieces in an awesome collaborative effort to raise awareness through the power of spoken word!

In the age of empty words—where millions log in to comment on videos of iguanas skateboarding, where entire television series’ are based on who can blurt out the most grotesque diss on someone’s mother, where there exists such a thing as cell phones for babies, it seems everyone has something to say. But who’s really listening?

Enter iLL-Literacy—a collective of poets, emcees, and all-around fresh individuals—with a mission that seems simple enough: to have something to say, and for people not only listen, but want to listen.

Call it spoken word, call it hip-hop theater, but never call it typical, the crew consists of Adriel Luis, Dahlak Brathwaite, Nico Cary and Ruby Veridiano-Ching—four artists who harbor impressive accolades in their own rights. Since the four officially debuted their tour as a collective at the American University of Paris in 2005, iLL-Literacy has swept the corners of the globe with a delicious blend of lyrical verse, innovative theatrics, and an addictive approach to audience interaction that has kept the crew traveling nonstop.

iLL-Literacy has covered much ground in a short time, rocking stages from off-Broadway New York to London’s Picadilly, to its home base in the California Bay Area. News of the amazing talent has drawn attention from HBO’s Def Poetry and MTV, as well as crowds who have witnessed the collective share the stage with the likes of Common, Mos Def, KRS-One, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Staff Appreciation Reception
9:00-10:00 pm, Friday, April 25, 2008, Student Union

Join us for a day of appreciation for Mills College staff workers. Staff workers include service workers from Founders Dining Hall, housekeepers, groundskeepers, conference workers, and audio visual technical staff. This event will gather students to honor our staff for their diligent efforts in making our school life better.

For more information about volunteering or if you have questions, please contact Chloe Diamond at cdiamond@mills.edu.

Guest Speaker: Betty Yee
"Advocacy and Compassion in Public Service"
12:15-1:00 pm, Wednesday, April 30, 2008, Faculty Staff Lounge

"Board of Equalization Vice Chair Betty Yee knows what it means first hand how government decisions affect people growing up as the daughter of immigrant parents who worked long hours in a laundry and dry cleaning business. Betty knows the difference between success from family sacrifices, as well as the benefits of a good public education. She welcomes this chance to share her insights and encourages others to develop as leaders in their communities."

Betty T. Yee, Vice Chairwoman of the Board, represents the First Equalization District and its 21 counties in northern and central California. Ms. Yee served as Chairwoman of the Board from January 2007 to January 2008. Ms. Yee has over 20 years of experience in public service, specializing in state and local finance. Ms. Yee previously served as Chief Deputy Director for Budget with the California Department of Finance where she led the development of the Governor’s Budget, negotiations with the Legislature and key budget stakeholders, and fiscal analyses of legislation on behalf of the Administration. Earlier, she held senior staff positions on several fiscal and policy committees in both houses of the California State Legislature.

Throughout her career, Ms. Yee has been an advocate for underserved and underrepresented communities, including the Asian Pacific Islander American community where she secured state funding for projects in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Los Angeles and ensured the establishment of the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs.

Preceding her legislative service, Ms. Yee served as a county public health commissioner and worked in the public and non-profit sectors, developing and implementing health and social services programs for women, older adults, and low-income individuals and families. She also served as the first Executive Director of the California Governance Consensus Project, a long-term mediation project under the auspices of California State University, Sacramento, and McGeorge School of Law, involving 34 statewide interests focused on state and local governance and fiscal reform.

Ms. Yee has demonstrated a strong commitment to mentoring and supporting Asian Pacific Islander Americans, women, and youth seeking to enter or pursuing promotional opportunities in the California State Legislature or other public service. She co-founded the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project, which exposes high school youth to the legislative process and encourages leadership and participation in public and community service.

Noted for her work on state and local finance issues, Ms. Yee received the 2002 Distinguished Service Award from the California State Association of Counties and an award of recognition from the California Assessors’ Association for her work in establishing the State-County Property Tax Administration Program.

Ms. Yee is a native and resident of San Francisco where her immigrant parents owned and operated a laundry and dry cleaning business for 30 years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.

Sponsors for SAMEAPI events
Events are co-sponsored by the Asian Pacific Islander Sisterhood Alliance, Ethnic Studies Department, Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Women's Studies Program, Office of Student Diversity Programs, Office of Spiritual and Religious Life, Division of Student Activities, and Associated Students of Mills College.

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