National Townhall on Hate Crimes June 19th-24th

A National Townhall on Hate Crimes takes place from June 19th-24th recognizing the 25th Anniversary of the Death of Vincent Chin.

In June 1982, Chinese American Vincent Chin was killed in Detroit by two unemployed white autoworkers who had been recently been laid off. This hate crime, motivated by anti-Japanese sentiments, served as a rallying cry for
the Asian American community and is often considered the beginning of a pan-Asian American movement.

Twenty five years later, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and local partners around the country look back in time and assess where we are now. With recent high-profile attacks on Asian Americans in New York, Michigan and Wisconsin, APAP is organizing a series of events throughout the nation around the anniversary of Vincent's murder. Each event will include a special screening of the Academy-Award nominated documentary, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" and panels with local community leaders.

NEW YORK
June 19, 6:30 PM
Co-sponsored by the Museum of Chinese in the Americas
MOCA (70 Mulberry Street, 2nd Floor)
John Liu (New York City Councilman), Liz Ouyang (Executive Vice President,
OCA), Darwin Davis (President and CEO, New York Urban League)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI
June 19, 6:00 PM
Co-sponsored by the Asian Victims Relief Fund
St. Mary Magdalen Family Center, 1213 52nd St., Kenwood
Dan Levy (Chief Legal Officer, Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights) Pravina
Ramanathan (Asian American Liaison, Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights),
Ingrid
Scott-Weekly (Director, City of Grand Rapids Equal Opportunity Dept.)

CHICAGO
June 20, 6:30 PM
Co-sponsored by the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (JAHHM), Japanese American Citizens League, Organization of Chinese Americans
JAHHM, 800 South Halsted, Chicago
Bill Yoshino (Midwest Director, JACL), Diana Lin (VP, Asian American
Institute), Myron Quon (Legal Director, Asian American Institute)

WASHINGTON, DC
June 23, 10:30 AM
Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 901 G. Street (Chinatown)
Moderated by Eric Byler (director, Americanese and Charlotte Sometimes)

LOS ANGELES
June 24, 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Co-sponsored by National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (NCPD), Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, South Asian Network, Muslim Public Affairs Council
NCPD, 111 Center St.
Hamid Khan (Executive Director, South Asian Network), Stewart Kwoh
(Executive Director, APALC), Robin Toma (Executive Director, LA CountyHuman
Relations Commission), Renee Tajima (Director, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?")

Additional events in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Portland, Raleigh/Durham and Milwaukee to come.