New Narratives

Does Asian American solidarity exist? How can nonprofits genuinely engage with the community? How do Asian Americans interact with politics and organizing?

In June 2023, seven Asian-led organizations in the Twin Cities hosted a community event, Spring into Action: Cultivating Grassroots Asian Power. As nonprofits whose mission is to uplift the community, we must also be accountable to what the community wants and needs.

During the event, attendees had the opportunity to participate in a live podcast recording as a way to ground our work in community voices and provide an empowering space for young people to tell their stories.

In Part 1, you will hear the raw audio and stories from participants at the event. Attendees as young as eleven years old share their perspectives on their neighborhoods, issues they care about, and building Asian power. Head over to the previous episode to listen.

Thank you to our partner organizations, The SEAD Project, Siengkane Lao MN, SEIU Asian Pacific Islanders Caucus, MN8, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, and Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League, and to Tri Vo from The SEAD Project for collaborating on this audio project with us.

For more info on AAOP, head to our:

What do young Asian Americans care about? What issues are important to them? What is their vision for their neighborhoods and communities?

In June 2023, seven Asian-led organizations in the Twin Cities hosted a community event, Spring into Action: Cultivating Grassroots Asian Power. As nonprofits whose mission is to uplift the community, we must also be accountable to what the community wants and needs.

During the event, attendees had the opportunity to participate in a live podcast recording as a way to ground our work in community voices and provide an empowering space for young people to tell their stories.

In Part 1 of this installment of New Narratives, you will hear the raw audio and stories from participants at the event. Attendees as young as eleven years old share their perspectives on their neighborhoods, issues they care about, and building Asian power.

In Part 2, three of the organizers of Spring into Action, Jacqueline (she/her), Marie (she/they), and Tri (he/anh), sit down to talk in-depth about the prompts we posed to our community members at the event. Head on over to the next episode to hear us discuss topics like affirmative action, ABGs, and eating egg sandwiches in Minneapolis.

Thank you to our partner organizations, The SEAD Project, Siengkane Lao MN, SEIU Asian Pacific Islanders Caucus, MN8, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, and Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League, and to Tri Vo from The SEAD Project for collaborating on this audio project with us.

For more info on AAOP, head to our:

Participate in Tri's project at SEAD, Brave Harbors, which aims to strengthen the framing of and tools available to Southeast Asian peoples needed to build up a world from our hopes and imagination. To build this new world, SEAD needs to hear from you! Head to tinyurl.com/summerSEAD to share your thoughts and feelings as a Southeast Asian American.

As Asian Americans, art and storytelling is an integral part of our communities, yet Asian American performers and stories continue to be underrepresented in film, television, media, and theater. This special episode of New Narratives features interviews from four Asian American actors based in the Twin Cities who performed in various productions at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

Listen in as we discuss Asian joy, taking leaps of faith to pursue your dreams, finding your voice, and cultivating an artistic home in the Twin Cities. Thank you to the actors for their beautiful words, and thank you to the Guthrie for collaborating with us on this project.

Time stamps:

Get tickets to a show at the Guthrie Theater at guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/.

Find more information about the actors featured in this episode:

Music by taskinjura via pixabay.com

Episode 17: For this episode, I spoke with a local Hmong shaman about his journey to becoming a master shaman, balancing his spiritual duties while living in modern times, and an upcoming film called Modern Shaman. The music throughout this episode is the instrumental music of “Me Nyuam Hmoob” by Chuefeng Yang.

Guests: Billy Lor

Episode 16: In this episode, we’re joined by Alex Vang and Lynn Nguyen from the Minnesota Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF). We discuss their journey coming to work with NAPAWF, how abortion restrictions impact the AAPI community and more.

Guests: Alex Vang and Lynn Nguyen

Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay

Episode 15: In this episode, we’re joined by Our Justice to discuss abortion access and reproductive justice in Minnesota. Our Justice is a Minnesota-based abortion fund that provides financial and logistical support for folks seeking an abortion.

Guests: Megumi Rierson, Shayla Walker

Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay

Episode 14: For PRIDE month I speak with three queer Asian Americans about how to navigate difficult conversations with family when it comes to their queer identities. You’ll hear some personal stories and you’ll hear from SEWA-AIFW as well. The music throughout this episode is the instrumental music of “Me Nyuam Hmoob” by Chuefeng Yang. You can find the song on Youtube or Spotify. 

Guests: Chuefeng Yang, Angela Lathanavaly, Mubina Qureshi

Episode 13: In celebration of May (APAHM), this episode is decided to our names. You’ll hear from four guests about their cultural and personal connections to their names, the meaning behind their names, and the pride they have in them. The music throughout this episode is from pixabay.

Guests: Marie Stebbings, Hamy Nguyen Huynh, Simran Chugani, J Nguyen

In this special bonus episode of New Narratives, a companion to our mixed race Asian identity-focused episode “We Are What We Are,” documentary filmmaker serena (they/them) and AAOP Content Creator Intern and New Narratives co-host Siena (she/her) talk about both their experiences growing up mixed, the complex positionality of being mixed race with white, and, fittingly for May and Asian Heritage Month, how it might be possible to pass on heritage traditions and values as burgeoning mixed race mentors and potential future mixed race parents.

If you are interested in learning more about mixed race Asian identity and experiences, please visit bit.ly/3MhkQq6 for a list of resources around mixed Asian identity, including mixed race, mixed ethnicity, and interracial and transnational adoptee experiences.

Music by Alex_MakeMusic via Pixabay.

For centuries, mixed race Asian folks’ stories have been mostly told for them rather than by them. They’ve been weaponized as battlegrounds upon which racial wars are fought and they’ve been turned into symbols of a supposedly post-racial utopian world. But no longer. As the numbers of folks who self-identify as mixed race skyrocket, mixed race Asians are reclaiming their narratives in popular culture, academia, and day-to-day interactions.

In this episode, we speak with Aria Binns-Zager (she/her), Dr. Wei Ming Dariotis (she/her/ta), Isabella Martinez (she/her), and Allison Perales (she/her) about the complexity of the lived experience of mixed race Asian-ness, shifts and conflicts in mixed-race culture and politics, and what the future of mixed race identity could look like now that mixed race folks finally get to shape it.

As an accompaniment to this episode, we’ve created a list of resources for Mixed Asians (mixed race, mixed ethnicity, transracial and transnational adoptees) at bit.ly/3MhkQq6. While by no means comprehensive, this collection of resources aims to be a jumping off point for learning and community building.

Check out Aria Binns-Zager’s podcast “SNITCH!”. Music by REDproductions and Alex_MakeMusic via Pixabay.