NAAAP Detroit presents Solidarity Matters

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, uprisings across the U.S. have amplified a racial reckoning for Asian Americans. Even as we join urgent calls for police accountability and an insistence that #BlackLivesMatter, we are challenged to confront the ways in which anti-Black racism poisons our own communities. At the same time, we recognize and decry the ways in which Asian Americans have also been targets of racist acts, a threat again exposed by the ongoing, deadly pandemic. 

As we interrogate the complex histories of both anti-Blackness and anti-racist solidarity within the Asian American community, we choose to confront our privileges and forge an unwavering, authentic allyship. How can we widen our thinking about Asian American contemporary history, the harmful model minority myth, and the fabric of Asian American complicity in the U.S.’s anti-Black, racist underbelly?

Please join NAAAP Detriot on Monday, August 3rd from 6-7:30pm for "Solidarity Matters: Building Black + Asian Coalitions for Change," an exploration of community accountability. 

This panel discussion—a conversation with the experts—will create an opportunity to consider the importance of a strong, community framework for racial and cultural solidarity. What is our role in challenging anti-Blackness? How do we commit to uplifting Black lives? And how can we build toward authentic, community solidarity?

Panelists: 
Ron Aramaki, Professor of Asian American History in University of Michigan 
Keith Crispen, President, New Leaders Council in Detroit 
Jennifer Ho, Professor and Director of Center for Humanities and the Arts at University of Colorado, Boulder; President of Association for Asian American Studies 
Saleem Khalid, Executive Director, The Muslim Enrichment Program 
Ber-Henda Williams, Founder, The Power of Girlhood 

Roland Hwang, public servant, lawyer, and educator at the University of Michigan, will moderate a 60-minute panel discussion followed by a 30-minute Q&A session with attendees. 

All are welcome!