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AAYA! Publication

DESCRIPTION

The Asian American Youth Action! project is an online blog that is a compilation of personal stories, current events, and creative works that reflect the thoughts and voices of NYC Asian American youth on issues important to them

AAYA! works to increase awareness among youth of issues that may not be readily available in academic curriculums such as self-identity, discrimination, activism, Asian American history. By utilizing the power of media to inform teens of these important issues, AAYA! can inspire more people to explore said topics, educate readers, and empower them to speak out.

 

VALUES

Media plays a big role in people’s lives today; it spreads ideas, influences the thinking of many, and transforms society. Amidst all of this, youth are rapidly developing their own opinions and thoughts about certain topics that they feel may not be subject to open discussion. AAYA! can serve as a source of information, as well as a place for teens to share their thoughts and ideas without fear of being criticized.

AAYA! is a for youth, by youth project, meaning it will be run specifically by CYI youth who are still in high school and college. The posts will generally adhere to the core values of CYI: exploration, education, and empowerment. The content on the blog will explore new topics, educate viewers about them, or empower the readers to do something in their community.

 

HISTORY

AAYA! was originally a tri-annual newsletter that was to be distributed to high schools and colleges in the metropolitan area. The first and last AAYA! newsletter was published in the fall of 2004. However, this one newsletter had a huge impact on the few who did read it. Sexuality, discrimination, Asian influence in politics, and Asian media were all introduced to this eight page newsletter. Because very few people were familiar with AAYA! and what it represented, the newsletter was discontinued.

 

LEADERSHIP 

Melanie Gao, Program Coordinator. Melanie is a senior at the Brearley School who loves A cappella and likes to pretend she can bake. She is highly appreciative of Chinatown Youth Initiatives and is a dedicated participant of many CYI-sponsored programs. She is a proud member of Columbia University's Class of 2014. Roar, lions, roar!

Jeffrey Louie, Program Coordinator. Jeffrey is a freshman at the City College of New York. He has been involved with CYI for four years, and is now coordinator of AAYA! His interests include meeting new people, arts and design, and watering the ever-growing CYI garden.

Eva Yung, Program Coordinator. Going to SUNY Binghamton University, Eva is one of the coordinators of Asian American Youth Action! She's been part of CYI since 2007 and has worked with many of CYI's programs, like Chinatown Literacy Project, Participant Outreach Committee, and the Summer Leadership Institute. Her dream is to be a psychiatrist.

 

OUTCOMES

When we first started again in 2008, we had about 5-6 writers; but now, we have over twice as much. Our writers’ ages vary from freshmen in high school to sophomores in college.

AAYA! helps us with our writing and editing skills as well as expressing ourselves in words. We have written about multiple topics about our community experiences, current events, identity, and so on.

 

GET INVOLVED

AAYA! is currently looking for writers!

The AAYA! blog is divided into two groups: current events and creative expressions/reflections:

Creative Expression/Reflections: Like writing poems? Like reflecting on your experiences? Like photography, art or any form of creative expression? Join the Creative Expression/Reflections group! The members of this group will be posting photographs/drawings/poems they created; these posts must be original!!! They must also be important to you and relevant either to Asian Americans or youth growing up in NYC. This group will also be in charge of free-writes (ie, reflections and college writing). 

Current Events: Aspiring journalist? Love reading the newspaper? Love reading about Asian America? Join the Current Events group! The members of this group will be "blasted" emails with news about Asian America, youth activism, immigration reform, health reform, front page stories, etc. They will be asked to read (some, if not all) of these articles and pick one or more every two weeks to write about, reflect on, and post on the AAYA! Tumblr. If you are interested in this group, be prepared to do a bit a reading; it'll be fun though.

If you are interested in participating in either of these groups, or would simply like to blog a "guest post," contact us at aayablog@cyinyc.org with your name and preference.

 

OUR WORK

Old blog: AAYA! Blog

New Tumblr: AAYA! Tumblr

Download the Inaugural Newsletter: Fall 2004 Volume 1 Issue 1


news and announcements

  • Chinatown Beautification Day and Youth Conference Dates Announced.

    This year's youth conference will be on Saturday, August 14th, in the  Woolworth Building (233 Broadway, New York, NY)

    The Chinatown cleanup will be on Sunday, August 15th, in the New York Chinese Community Center (62 Mott Street, New York, NY)

  • 10th Year Celebration a Success

    Thank you everyone who came out in support of Chinatown Youth Initiatives. 

    Our 10th year celebration was an astounding success!

    Celebrating the milestone of reaching its 10th year, the organization honored three great supporters of the organization.  Gloria Chan, OCA-NY, and Corky Lee.

    We at CYI would like to thank everyone who came to show their support.

     

  • WE DID IT! We won $25,000 in the Chase Community Giving!

    Dear CYI supporters,

    THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!We are PROUD to announce that we are one of the top 100 winning organizations of the Chase Community Giving. YOUR votes and support helped us to win $25,000!

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    Help CYI reach its goal!

    GET INVOLVED WITH CYI

    • Summer Leadership Program 2010 Now Recruiting Participants

      Application  due JUNE 6TH 2010

      send your application to apply@cyinyc.org !!

      OPEN TO ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS!
      ----

      Important Things You Need To Know Before You Apply:
      -SLI starts on July 3rd and ends on August 21st
      -Sessions generally run from 11am to 4pm on Saturdays
      -Chinatown Beautification Day (CBD) is August 15th (a Sunday)
      -SLI participants lead volunteer groups during Chinatown Beautification Day
      -participants are expected at all sessions 

    • Join our FINAL Census Advocacy Event!

      We're in the final push of our census advocacy efforts, and Asian Americans For Equality (AAFE) has organized a final Chinatown census outreach event for THIS SATURDAY, April 17th from 11am-4pm. We'll be meeting at 11am in front of AAFE office, 108 Norfolk between Rivington and Delancey (near F, J, M, Z, Delancey/Essex stop). We'll be doing both street outreach and phone banking, so bring your phones and chargers if you can. See the attached flyer for more info.

    • Chinatown Beautification Day and Youth Conference needs a coordinator

      With the success of last year’s Chinatown Beautification Day (CBD) weekend, CYI will continue CBD as a two-day event comprising of a Youth Conference and Beautification Day.  The Youth Conference emphasizes the strength and importance of youth activism and solidarity, while Beautification day demonstrates unity in action.   

    • Chinatown Youth Initiatives is now hiring summer staff!

      CYI is currently in search of candidates to fill the following positions:

      Coordinator, Facilitator and Participant Outreach Committee Member

      All positions are unpaid, but CYI is more than willing to work with colleges so that summer staff can receive internship and/or school credits.

      All applications must be received by 11:59pm EST on Sunday, February 21st, 2010, via email to apply@cyinyc.org.