Asia Pacific Forum

Marriage, migration, and divorce have posed significant concerns for transnational women of color and in the throes of globalization, the mail order bride industry, labor, and sex trafficking underlie the continued assault on transnational women and women of color in their homes, communities, and in the lands which they have been dispossessed. Song Kim, Anti-Trafficking Attorney and Maryam Arif, International Human Rights Lawyer will share their insights on how the personal becomes political in the age of xenophobia and as women, what it means to understand our rights and our powers. Dorotea Mendoza, author, will read an excerpt from Export Quality: Monologues (loosely) based on True Stories of Mail Order Brides from the Philippines.

The "Romance in the Time of Globalization: Marriage, Migration, Divorce" was a workshop at AF3IRM NYC's Centershift II: Roots and Routes Summit and was facilitated by Olivia Canlas, APF Radio Collective Member and National Education Director of AF3IRM.

GUESTS:

Song Kim, Anti-Trafficking Attorney, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Maryam Arif, International Human Rights Lawyer, Association for Legal Clinical Education Pakistan

Dorotea Mendoza, author

There is a growing movement to shift the colonial narrative by razing monuments that symbolize white supremacy and the genocide of indigenous peoples in the United States.

In New York City, activists have demanded the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue at Columbus Circle and have pushed for the replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. At institutions of higher learning,

academics are defining what it means to decolonize the academy, research methods, and their field of research, in both theory and in practice.

We hear an excerpt of "Decolonizing Archaeology" by Pratt Institute of Art and Design professor Uzma Rizvi. The sound was taken as part of The Cooper Union's

Intra-Disciplinary Seminar Public Lecture Series, curated by professors Leslie Hewitt and Omar Berrada.

GUESTS:

Uzma Rizvi, professor, Pratt Institute of Art and Design

In May 2017, Laura Kina and Jan Christian Bernabe published Queering Contemporary Asian American Art, a book that brings together Asian artists and scholars and asks us to question how we understand Contemporary Asian American art. We hear from Jan and Laura about what "queering" means and themes they found in the process of putting the book together.

GUESTS:

Laura Kina, professor, DePaul University

Jan Christian Bernabe, Operations, New Media, and Curatorial Director, Center of Art and Thought

With the onslaught of natural and unnatural disasters in the world and in the White House, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. One thing that many have turned to to find solace is comedy.

We sit down with stand up comic and actor Jes Tom to about the value of comedy and why representation matters, especially during these times.

GUESTS:

Jes Tom, stand up comic

Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, placing an estimated 800,000 young immigrants at risk of deportation. As the debate over DACA rages, immigrant undocumented youth have consistently placed their bodies and lives on the front lines of organizing for a just and humane immigration system for all. We hear from Angie Kim, a community organizing fellow at MinKwon Center for Community Action in New York. Born and raised in South Korea, Kim came to the United States at age 9 and has been an activist for immigrant rights and social justice since she enrolled in DACA in 2012. Kim shares her experience as a DACA enrollee, the immediate risks, and the federal legislative change that undocumented youth are fighting for.

GUESTS:

Angie Kim, community organizing fellow, MinKwon Center for Community Action

The U.S. has been at war in Afghanistan for 16 years, since the weeks immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, and this is America's longest-ever war. With the new administration, the U.S. appears to be digging in -- with more troops, more contractors, and less willingness to move toward a political solution. Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies discusses the U.S. occupation in Afghanistan; the implications for Pakistan, India, and the wider region, and what the U.S. should be doing.

GUESTS:

Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies

Author Kamila Shamsie recently spoke at the Asian American Writers Workshop in New York for a program called "Subjects of Interest." In this excerpt, she reads from her new novel "Home Fire," which is based on the story of Antigone and depicts how the war on terror splinters Muslim families.

For the full AAWW program, click here for the video, and be sure to visit the workshop's website AAWW.org for more great content.

GUESTS:

Kamila Shamsie, author