Hate Crimes Prevention Project (HCPP)

“From meetings in predominantly South Asian or Hispanic or African American neighborhoods, this program expanded my understanding of the disparities that exist in our society; I gained a newfound appreciation for the differences that set us apart, and a greater admiration for the strength and power of disparate individuals united for one cause.” -  2009 Project Coordinator

DESCRIPTION

For the past three years, Chinatown Youth Initiatives has collaborated with several youth organizations, including the Ana Luisa Garcia Youth Center (ALGYC), the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA-NY), South Asian Youth Action! (SAYA) and United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park (UPROSE), for the annual Hate Crimes Prevention Project (HCPP), a multicultural project that seeks to spread an awareness of hate crimes prevention, promote cross cultural awareness, engage high school students in hate crimes prevention, and use art as an activism tool. Every year from March to August, three interns and one coordinator from each organization discuss issues pertaining to hate crimes and hate crime prevention. With the supervision and guidance from project coordinators, the program’s high school interns collaborate to plan and host the citywide Hate Crimes Prevention Art Contest and the culminating Hate Crimes Prevention Art Exhibit, during which all the art submissions are displayed and the winners are announced. Now in its third year, the Hate Crimes Prevention Project hosts in annual art competition for New York City students of high school age, and is coordinated and developed by New York City college and high school students.  

HISTORY

In 2007, to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the slaying of Vincent Chin, the Organization of Chinese Americans-New York Chapter (OCA-NY) collaborated with Chinatown Youth Initiatives and South Asian You Action (SAYA!) to organize an art contest and exhibition addressing the issues of hate crimes in the community. With the support of Allstate Foundation and OCA National, the Hate Crimes Prevention Project, was founded to engage local youth in hate crime prevention and to empower youth to speak out against hate crimes through art as an activism tool. New York City high school youth submitted drawings and paintings reflecting one of two themes: (1) Melting Pot vs. Mosaic and (2) Not Tolerance but Appreciation. Six high school youth representing CYI and SAYA! formed the steering committee to receive training about hate crimes, delineate contest themes and guidelines, and judge artwork submissions.

        In the summer of 2008, CYI continued its collaboration with OCA-NY, SAYA! as well as the United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park (UPROSE) and the Ana Luisa Garcia Youth Center (ALGYC) for the 2^nd Annual Hate Crimes Prevention Project. The 2008 project was funded by OCA National, the Allstate Foundation, and the New York Community Trust, and ran from late May through early August. Over 25 artworks were received and exhibited at Brooklyn Borough Hall on August 7^th, 2008, addressing one of two themes: (1) Popping the Bubble and (2) What Will Become of Us? Many guest speakers attended the Art Exhibition including former Councilmember & now Comptroller John Liu, Maya Azucena, and Elijah Kuan Wong.

        The third annual Hate Crimes Prevention Project in 2009 brought together interns and coordinators from the Ana Luisa Garcia Youth Center (ALGYC), Chinatown Youth Initiatives (CYI), the Organization of Chinese Americans-NY (OCA-NY) and South Asian Youth Action! (SAYA). This year, we were fortunate to receive a grant from Youthbridge-New York, a student-run program that is part of the Jewish Community Relations Council. The theme of the 2009 contest was “Power to My Identity” and the contest expanded to accept various forms of art media, including paintings, drawings, collages, videos, photography, and poetry. On August 4^th, 2009, over 60 received submissions were exhibited at the culminating Art Exhibit at Brooklyn Borough Hall. There were many guest speakers and performers, including representatives from Marty Markowitz and Charles Hynes’ office, the Mahina Movement, and Taiyo Na.

VALUES

The Hate Crimes Prevention Project seeks to engage NYC youth in hate crime prevention. With hate crimes on the rise in New York City, especially since the events and aftermath of 9/11, organizing and mobilizing communities to prevent future hate crimes from occurring is an essential endeavor. Many community organizations and municipal agencies devote countless hours and resources to responding to hate crimes—prosecuting hate crime offenders, providing support to hate crime victims, etc—but equally necessary are initiatives that aim to counteract the causes of hate crimes before they even occur. By encouraging the participation of teenage youth, both as contestants and project staff, we hope to raise critical awareness of hate crimes among NYC youth and create avenues for positive, constructive social change.

Central to the Hate Crimes Prevention Project is the development and creative input of our youth interns. Representing a diverse array of ethnic and racial backgrounds and personal, familial, and community experiences, the interns are offered a space for interaction and dialogue rare to NYC high school students. Through workshops and meetings with prominent local leaders, the NYC Hate Crimes Task Force, and political artists, this project emphasized the importance of communication and open discussion in building racial harmony, understanding and respect.  Creating these bridges between the youth of different community organizations, between students of different ideas, beliefs and experiences, is itself an integral component of hate crime prevention, as we are able to instill youth with the importance of multicultural coalition building and cross-cultural awareness.

LEADERSHIP

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: OCA-New York Chapter

Liz Ou-Yang, OCA-NY Board Representative

Elizabeth R. OuYang has been a civil rights attorney for 16 years. She was appointed as a special assistant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2000. She worked as a staff attorney for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund for eight years where she served as the voting rights program lead for the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium. She has also worked at the Disability Law Center in Boston as a staff attorney. She currently teaches at Columbia University's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race and represents post 9-11 detainees in immigration court.

Ryan Fukumori, OCA-NY Program Coordinator
Ryan Fukumori originally hails from Berkeley, California. He is a recent graduate of Columbia University, where he majored in Comparative Ethnic Studies and participated in several progressive student organizations and campaigns. His interests in social justice, hip-hop, and graphic design drew him to the Hate Crimes Prevention Project, which he hopes will provide a vehicle for youth empowerment at the nexus of creative expression and community activism. Ryan hopes to eventually earn a doctoral degree in history and influence new generations of critical thinkers as an educator and academic.

PARTNER ORGANIZATION: Chinatown Youth Initiatives (CYI)

Melanie Gao, CYI Program Coordinator
Melanie Gao is currently a senior at the Brearley School. She is highly appreciative of Chinatown Youth Initiatives (CYI) and is a dedicated participant of many CYI-sponsored programs. Through the Hate Crimes Prevention Project, Melanie hopes to learn more about art as an activism tool to prevent social injustices and to promote cross-cultural understanding.

Bette Ha, Program Intern
A senior at Stuyvesant High School, Bette is an individual who is passionate about leadership and activism. Interested in civil and criminal justice, she would like to give a voice to those who cannot speak and lend an ear to those who are never heard. She knows that her generation has a lot of contribute; she would like to bring out the best in youth and at the same time, bring about change.

James Leung, Program Intern
James is currently a freshman at Cornell University pursuing a degree in environmental engineering. He is interested in raising awareness about hate crimes and other social problems through artistic expression. A dedicated member of his community, he has been with CYI for two years and hopes to improve the conditions of ethnic communities in the future.

Jenny Chan, Program Intern
Jenny is a senior at Stuyvesant High School. Highly enthusiastic about CYI and its purpose, she hopes that her participation in the Hate Crimes Prevention Program and in CYI will help to affect change in her community and inspire others to speak and act out against hate crimes. Jenny is also the President of StuyCPC, a high school organization that recruits volunteer tutors to assist struggling students.

PARTNER ORGANIZATION: South Asian Youth Action! (SAYA!)

Preeti Paliwal, SAYA! Program Coordinator
Preeti Paliwal is the Program Coordinator for South Asian Youth Action! and is a resident of the Parkchester neighborhood in the Bronx. She is a graduate of LaGuardia High School, with a concentration in visual arts. She just completed her first year of college at Syracuse University and intends to study art and film. Preeti’s participation in this program stems from her interests in both the arts and social work, and she wants to continue to participate in programs that provide creative outlets to youth in poor communities.

Harleen Grewal, Program Intern
Jaweria Afreen, Program Intern
Tasnia Ali, Program Intern

PARTNER ORGANIZATION: Ana Luisa Garcia Youth Center (ALGYC)

Shaka Williams, ALGYC Program Coordinator
Shaka Williams is the Program Coordinator for the Ana Luisa Garcia Community Center and is from the East New York district of Brooklyn. He recently graduated from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Africana Studies. He plans to attend Stony Brook’s School of Social Welfare in the fall of 2009 and hopes to attain his Master of Social Work. Shaka is interested in promoting financial literacy for underrepresented communities as well as outreach to minority students in favor of higher education. This is his second year as ALGCC’s coordinator for the Hate Crimes Prevention Project.

Alfredo Lugo, Program Intern
Justine Serrata, Program Intern
Millie Perez, Program Intern

OUTCOMES

The 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Art Contest received over 60 submissions, twice the amount received in 2008. In addition, NYC youth creatively used many available art forms, and emphasized that art is not merely drawings and paintings; strong messages can be sent through music, through videos and through photography. Also, we had many guest speakers and performers attend the exhibition. Many of these guest speakers were elected officials who were touched by the message of the art exhibit and attended the exhibit to show their support for the project.

GET INVOLVED

If you are part of an organization…. We are constantly looking for ethnic youth organizations to join this project. If you and your youth organization would like to join our efforts in prevention hate crimes through art, please contact OCA-NY.

If you are a high school or college student… The program seeks one CYI Coordinator and three CYI interns for this project, which begins in March and ends in August. All positions are paid, but interested individuals must apply for said positions. Interviews may be requested. If interested, please contact a member of the CYI Board.

Financial Contributions! Due to the recent economic crisis, the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Project lacked much of the financial backing it received in previous year. To avoid financial difficulties, please consider donating to the Hate Crimes Prevention Project. Your donations will directly impact the success of the upcoming 2010 Hate Crimes Prevention Project and empower a diverse new generation of youth leaders and activists.