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Home > Academics > Undergraduate >
Ethnic Studies

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

SAMEAPI Awareness Now! Time Line
Ongoing for the month of April
Toyon Meadow

Take a stroll down Toyon Meadow and view this year’s SAMEAPI Awareness Now! time line honoring a collection of historic events in South Asian Middle Eastern Asian Pacific Islander history! This timeline is dedicated to the courageous men and women whose voices and actions brought change to South Asian, Middle Eastern, Asian Pacific Islander issues within a community and around the world. We honor those men and women who brought change so that we could prosper in a better world.

Lunch with Gender Rights Advocate Pauline Park
12:15 pm, Monday, April 1, 2013, Student Union and All Student Lounge

Pauline ParkJoin us for lunch with gender rights advocate Pauline Park! As Mills engages in a conversation about gender identity and expression on campus, hear Pauline Park talk about her past and present gender rights advocacy, followed by a Q and A discussion session. Lunch provided!

A transracial adoptee born in Korea, Park is a co-founder of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), the first statewide transgender advocacy organization in New York. Park led the campaign for passage of the transgender rights law enacted by the New York City Council as Local Law 3 of 2002. Park also negotiated inclusion of gender identity and expression in the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), a safe schools law enacted by the New York state legislature in 2010. In 2005, Park was the first openly transgender individual chosen to be a grand marshal of the New York City Pride March. Pauline Park’s complete biography can be found here.

Sponsored by the Diversity and Social Justice Resource Center (DSJRC), Diversity and Social Justice Committee, ASMC Social Justice and Diversity Committee, Ethnic Studies Department, SAMEAPI Awareness Now!, and Mouthing Off!

SAMEAPI Awareness Now! Kick Off
12:15 pm, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, Suzanne Adams Plaza

Come help celebrate the start of SAMEAPI Awareness Now! Month at the SAMEAPI Kick-off in Adams Plaza! Savor some delicious treats and participate in calligraphy with Professor Chiu-Hung Chen on the plaza with the Mills community! Soak up the sunshine and festivities and learn about SAMEAPI events for the month of April!

Chiu-Hung Chen (Calligrapher) is the Peng Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Literatures here at Mills. Please join Professor Chen in a poetic calligraphy performance and try your hand at writing a few Chinese characters!

Breaking the Silence: SAMEAPI Communities Responding to Racist, Ableist, and Gender Violence
7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Student Union

Please join us for an important panel discussion on strategies to address violence against women in South Asian, Middle Eastern and Asian Pacific Islander communities. Three groundbreaking community activists will explore how we can bring about safety and accountability for survivors of harm, without relying on law enforcement strategies that often create more violence and fail to protect women and transfolks. This is our keynote SAMEAPI Awareness Now! event this year, so we hope to see many of you in the audience! Refreshments will be served.

Mia Mingus is a writer and organizer working forMia Mingus disability justice and transformative justice to end child sexual abuse. She identifies as a queer physically disabled Korean woman transracial and transnational adoptee, raised in the Caribbean, nurtured in the South and now living on the west coast. She works for community, interdependency and home for all of us, not just some of us. Mia is a core-member of the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collaborative (BATJC), a local collective working to build transformative justice responses to child sexual abuse that do not rely on the state (i.e. police, prisons, the criminal legal system). She longs for a world where disabled children can live free of violence, with dignity and love. As her work for liberation evolves and deepens, her roots remain firmly planted in ending sexual violence. Her writings can be found here.

Lara Kiswani, a Palestinian raised in the SF Bay Area, Lara Kiswanihas been active with antiwar, Palestinian, Arab, feminist, and student organizations. Lara earned an MA in Education with an emphasis on equity and social justice at SFSU. Her research focused on Palestinian American youth identity, language and decolonization. She completed her undergraduate studies at UC Davis, where she cofounded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, organized with Third World Forum, and also helped to establish the Middle East South Asia minor. She has worked as a youth and adult educator, and is currently the executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.

Mimi Kim is a long-time anti-violence advocate andMimi Kim activist primarily working in Asian communities in the US. In 2004, she founded Creative Interventions, a resource center creating models and tools promoting alternative community-based interventions to domestic and sexual violence. She is a steering committee member of the Asian and Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Institute and a founding member of Incite! Women of Color against Violence. She is also co-founder of two Korean domestic violence programs, KAN-WIN (Korean American Women in Need) in Chicago and Shimtuh in Oakland. Mimi is co-editor of a recent special issue of Social Justice Journal, entitled Community Accountability: Emerging Movements to Transform Violence.

Dinner Honoring SAMEAPI Awareness Now! Month
5:00–7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 10, 2013, Founders Hall

Join the Mills Community as we celebrate our heritage with delicious food and an exciting food documentary! We will be screening “A Bite of China” throughout the dinner, which features the origin and diversity of many Asian cuisines.

Menu
Appetizers
Potato Samosas (Vegetarian) (Served with Mango Chutney)
Hummus and pita bread (Vegan)

Soups
Wonton soup
Lentil soup (Vegan/Made without Gluten)

Salads
Cucumber, Tomatoes, Red Onions and Feta with Lime Vinaigrette
Tabouli

Entrees
Steamed white and brown rice (Vegan/ Made without Gluten)
Couscous with vegetable (Vegan)
Indian curry with tofu and vegetable (Vegan/ Made without Gluten)
[above two dishes served with yogurt, cucumber, and mint sauce]
Chow mein (Vegetarian/ Made without Gluten)
Vegetable stir fry (Vegan/ Made without Gluten)
Meats: Kung pao chicken and Mongolian beef (Made without Gluten)

Made-to-Order Noodle (Pho) Bar (Global)
Noodles: Vietnamese rice noodle
Vegetables: Bok choy, cilantro, carrots, peppers, limes, mushrooms, onions, mint leaf
Soup: Vietnamese soup base (Vegan/Made without Gluten)
Proteins: Chicken, pork, tofu

Desserts
Green Tea Ice Cream
Baklava
Vietnamese desserts (glutinous cakes and French-style pastries)

Beverages
Mango Lassi
Mint Tea

Cost for diners without a meal plan is $10.50. Dinner brought to you by Bon Appetit.

Film Screening, “It’s a Girl” Documentary with Guest Speaker Viji Nakka-Cammauf
7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 10, 2013, Student Union

Viji Nakka CammaufJoin us for a film screening of "It's a Girl" documentary. Mills alum, Viji Nakka-Cammauf will commentate on the film followed by Q and A.

Synopsis of film: In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this so-called 'gendercide.' Girls who survive infancy are often subject to neglect, and many grow up to face extreme violence and even death at the hands of their own husbands or other family members.

The war against girls is rooted in centuries-old tradition and sustained by deeply ingrained cultural dynamics which, in combination with government policies, accelerate the elimination of girls. Shot on location in India and China, "It’s a Girl" reveals the issue. It asks why this is happening, and why so little is being done to save girls and women.

The film tells the stories of abandoned and trafficked girls, of women who suffer extreme dowry-related violence, of brave mothers fighting to save their daughters’ lives, and of other mothers who would kill for a son. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice.

Viji Nakka Cammauf is the President of Little Flock Children's Homes, a ministry to orphans and widows around the world. Her journey towards social justice and awareness came when she was in high school in India. Through a speech contest in high school, she came into contact with the Freedom Fighters who had fought alongside Gandhi for the freedom of India from Britain. Under their tutelage, Viji developed a keen sense of social justice and began involving herself in liberation movements.

Born in Madras, India to Hindu parents, she become a follower of Christ as a student at Mills College in California. In the past Viji Cammauf has served in the college ministry and as an Associate Pastor at the First Covenant Church in Oakland, California. She has led numerous short term teams to Mexico and India and mentored young adults in ministry.

She has served as an adjunct professor for The American Baptist Seminary of the West, Fuller Northern California, and Logos Evangelical Seminary in El Monte California. She is a lecturer and professor of record for the Perspectives Study Program in Northern California. She has co-led and taught the India May-term Program for Westmont College. She co-edited the Asian American Christianity-A Reader 2009.

Viji Cammauf serves on the board of The William Carey Heritage Foundation, The Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity, World Christian Fellowship, Perspectives Northern California, and the Alumnae Association Of Mills College. She is a member of the Academic Council and faculty of the Center for Advanced Christian Studies in Allahabad, India.

6th Annual Hip Hop for Change Conference
PIECE*BY*PEACE
Saturday, April 13, 2013, 10:00 am-5:00 pm (registration 9:30 am), Student Union
FREE to those who Register at http://bit.ly/hhfc2013

Hip Hop for Change is a free day-long conference that brings together youth and community from across the bay area. This day is a venue to explore and build on the ways we use Hip Hop and youth culture for social justice and positive change. Using our culture, creativity, critical consciousness and the elements we can be the answer to violence and injustices, making our world better PIECE * BY * PEACE. HH4C 6 will feature:

Other workshops will include conversations with record label insiders, global hip hop and identity, spoken word and graf art workshops, local artists, vendors, cipher, lunch, prizes and more. Be a part of a day that focuses on empowerment through the original motto of hip hop "peace, love and unity and having fun"-Afrika Bambaataa.

This event is a community collaboration made possible by: Office of Student Activities Second Saturday Programs, Institute for Civic Leadership, R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Holy Names Upward Bound Program and SAMEAPI Heritage Month organizers. Hosted by Mills College Diversity and Social Justice Resource Center and SJSU Mosaic Cross Cultural Center. For more information contact Sabrina Kwist at skwist@mills.edu or 510.430.2387

Syria: Social Justice and the Uprising
7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, Student Union

Please join us for an informational session on the Syrian uprising. The panel discussion will consider the causes, trajectories, and possible outcomes of the revolution from a variety of diverse perspectives. Our panelists will include local and international activists, a prominent author, and a political analyst specializing in Middle Eastern issues.

Martha Johnson is Assistant Professor of Government atMartha Johnson Mills College. She specializes in African politics, studying topics such as democratization, public administration, and women in politics, and teaches about regime change. She has conducted fieldwork in Senegal and Burkina Faso and published work on both countries, as well as Ghana and Cameroon.

Fred Lawson is a Professor of Government and the Fred LawsonDepartment Head of Government at Mills College. He specializes in international relations, international political economy, politics of the Middle East and North Africa, and comparative foreign policy. He has published several works, including Global Security Watch Syria and Why Syria Goes to War: Thirty Years of Confrontation.

Tareq Alsamman was born and raised in Syria. He is a graphic designer, activist, and member of the opposition group Building the Syrian State.

Suzan Boulad is a Syrian-American youth involved in the revolution in any way she can. She recently returned from Syria, where she helped support civilian councils in Aleppo and Idlib, and worked with Kurdish activists. She is particularly focused on minority rights in Syria, and blogs for Mideast Youth as the editor for the Alliance for Kurdish Rights. She will be entering law school in the fall.

Dr. Mohja Kahf was born in Damascus, Syria. She is a professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Arkansas. Since the Syrian revolution began in March 2011, Kahf has been involved in activism, endorsing nonviolence even after the pro-militarization stance trended in the revolution, supporting a non-interventionist stand, advocating for prisoners of conscience, and chronicling women’s involvement. She attended two key Syrian opposition meetings: the Conference for Change in Syria in Antalya, June 2011; and the Syrian Meeting for National Salvation, in Istanbul, mid-July. Kahf spent the summer (2011) in part near the Syrian border of Turkey, working on Syrian refugee issues with other activists there. She tweets for the revolution at @profkahf; some of her tweets have been noted in The Huffington Post and New York Times. Kahf's Syrian revolution work has a focus on these issues: diversity in Syria; prisoners of conscience; women in the revolution; nonviolence.

SAMEAPI Cultural Night
7:00 pm, Tuesday, April 23, 2013, Student Union

Join us for an exciting night of cultural dance performances!

Dancers from the Cambodian Cultural Dance Troupe of San Jose will be performing a traditional blessing dance, alternatively called "Chuon Por." In this classic piece, flower petals are tossed gently from small silver or gold trays as a way of blessing the audience and the event. The dance troupe is funded by The Cambodian American Resource Agency (CARA). CARA was founded in 1998 by a group of Cambodian-American professionals and community members who had a deep interest in the uniting the local Khmer community. The mission of CARA is to help initiate and provide support for events involving the Khmer community in order to increase recognition and raise awareness of Khmer culture and work toward the progress of future generations.

Terisa Tinei Siagatonu is a spoken word artist/arts educator and community organizer from the Bay Area. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, she is currently the Project Director for PIER: the Pacific Islander Education and Retention project at UCLA, an access project that exists to combat the low matriculation rates of Pacific Islander students into higher education by offering services ranging from free tutoring, mentorship, and peer advising to Pacific Islander high school students in Los Angeles. Her emergence into the spoken word world as a queer Samoan woman and activist has granted her the opportunities to perform on stages ranging from Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theatre to the Women’s Stage at the 2010 Oakland PRIDE Festival. She has worked as a poet mentor with Youth Speaks, the leading nonprofit organization for spoken word performance and literary arts education in the country, as well as on grassroots levels with groups such as One Love Oceania, a queer Pacific Islander women’s organization from the Bay Area, the Samoan Community Development Center of San Francisco, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities of Los Angeles, and Engaging Education of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her devotion to her Pacific Islander people and her work with college access and spoken word poetry helps her to drive the development of Pacific Islander youth, advocating for self-empowerment so they can create sustainable impact in their communities, starting with themselves.

Tatagini Kathak School of Dance: Shilpi Verma and Mahika Rangnekar are senior dance students of the Tarangini School of Kathak Dance under the direction of Anuradha Nag. Established in the Bay Area (San Jose, California) the school is an institution of learning that promotes interest in the study of the classical dance form Kathak. The name was coined by the illustrious doyen of Kathak, Padmavibhushan Pt. Birju Maharaj himself. Anuradha Nag had her initial training from Nataraj Parimal Krishna and later from veteran gurus, the legendary Padmavibushan Pandit Birju Maharaj and his foremost disciple Pandit Vijai Shankar. Anuradha’s dance academy offers the next generation a rare opportunity to learn a traditional Indian art form in a contemporary setting, while nurturing the discipline and presentation skills associated with such a rigorous art.

Niosha Dance Company: The Niosha Dance Academy, founded by Niosha Nafei in San Francisco Bay Area in 1991, preserves, produces, and performs traditional and contemporary dances from the Iranian/Persian cultural world. The Niosha Dance Academy provides classes for individuals interested in learning these dances, and provides performances for the Iranian American community, and represents that community in dance performances in the wider American community, and in international venues. Through its classes and performances, the Niosha Dance Compnay explores a multitude of classical direction in a regional emphasis in Persian/Iranian dances such as; Bandari , Turkish/Lezgee, Baba Karam, contemporary Modern/Pop, and traditional Persian Dancing. Overall, the Niosha Dance Academy provides information and education about Iranian culture, tradition, and history, to the Iranian American community and serves as a cultural representation of that community.

The Egyptian Revolution: One Year Later
7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Student Union

Join us for a screening of Words of Wisdom, followed by a talk and Q and A session with Laila Radwan.

"Every time 22-year-old Heba Afify heads out to cover the historical events shaping her country's future, her mother is compelled to remind her, "I know you are a journalist, but you're still a girl!" Defying cultural norms and family expectations, Heba takes to the streets to report on an Egypt in turmoil, using tweets, texts and Facebook posts. Her coming of age, political awakening and the disillusionment that follows, mirrors that of a nation seeking the freedom to shape its own destiny, dignity and democracy." –Cinemaguide 2013

Laila El-Sissi is the author of the memoir, Out of Laila El-SissiAlexandria. She was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt. She is presently married and lives in California with her two sons, Omar and Shareef. She is working in marketing at a semi-conductor company in the Bay Area. She is fluent in three languages; English, French and Arabic. She was also presented an Honorable Mention Award for her memoir in the New Millennium Magazine. She is presently taking a writing course at Stanford University.

South Asian, Middle Eastern, Asian Pacific Islander Celebration Dinner
5:00–7:00 pm, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, Reinhardt Alumnae House

A dinner will be held to honor the South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Asian Pacific Islander faculty, staff, and alumnae at Mills College who have made an impact on the students. There will be a performance and certificates of recognition from the Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance and the Muslim Student Association. By invitation only.

Sponsors for SAMEAPI events:
Events are co-sponsored by the Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance, Muslim Student Alliance, Ethnic Studies Department, French and Francophone Studies, Diversity and Social Justice Resource Center, and Associated Students of Mills College.

Mills College Heritage Months are supported in part by the Ethnic Studies Fund. To learn about and donate to the Fund, please click here: Ethnic Studies Fund. Many thanks for your generosity in support of Ethnic Studies and students of color at Mills.

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P: 510.430.2080
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Last Updated: 4/4/13