July 18, 2016
For people of color and working families, public safety is a major concern, particularly in tough economic times. But proposals to increase immigration enforcement or to indiscriminately lock up third-time offenders for 25 years do more to target and victimize people of color and immigrants than to truly improve public safety. Those who benefit most are private corporations connected to the prison industry.
Asian Americans suffer along with Latinos and other people of color from the culture of criminalization, as we are treated as alien suspects within our own communities. But Asian Americans are less likely to be targets of police violence than Black Americans, who are killed on a daily basis. As people of color whose pathway to justice has so often been paved by the Black-led Civil Rights Movement, we have a responsibility to stand up for justice today and to building the movement of #Asians4BlackLives.
April 22, 2016
We are outraged that Peter Liang has escaped accountability for killing Akai Gurley. For more than a year, Akai Gurley’s family has been courageously speaking out to demand justice for their loved one. Judge Chun’s sentencing decision today is an insult to Akai Gurley, his family, and all victims of police violence. Any amount of jail/prison time is a brief snippet of time compared to the lifetime Akai Gurley’s young daughters will have to live without their father. The sentencing sends the message that it is okay to kill innocent and precious lives, as long as it is done by a police officer.
February 18, 2016
Recently, a number of Chinese leaders and Chinese newspapers have called for our community to rally behind Officer Peter Liang, who was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, i.e. the accidental killing of an 18 year-old unarmed Black man named Akai Gurley. Liang was also found guilty of misconduct for failing to provide medical help or call an ambulance for the dying youth.
December 7, 2015
Project AAIYA! (Asian American Initiative for Youth Action!) is a 10-week youth leadership program that builds leadership and organizing skills, and youth involvement in the Chinatown community! Applications due 12/31/2015. Apply today!
September 28, 2015
CPA is hiring for two Organizers. Please read job posting for more information on the position and how to apply.
September 28, 2015
The chants and drums resounded as the R Visions People’s Tour wound its way through the streets of Chinatown. About a hundred residents and community activists joined a march and rally today to call for increased action by city government to protect working class neighborhoods. Stopping at different sites marked by community art installations, community members spoke to the different strategies for stabilizing Chinatown’s future.
September 11, 2015
CPA's honorary president Suzanne Lee, and staff members Karen Chen, Lydia Lowe, and Fiona Yu joined home health care workers Lingzhu Cao and Yan Li at the Greater Boston Labor Council's Labor Day Breakfast on September 7, when President Obama came to speak about the need for paid sick days and family leave for all workers. Attorney General Maura Healey spoke about the need to enforce wage and hour laws, announcing the appointment of Cynthia Mark, managing attorney for the Asian Outreach Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, as the new Chief of the Fair Labor Division. Mark, a 20-year legal services veteran, is a former staff member of CPA and a graduate of Tufts University and Northeastern School of Law.
August 27, 2015
As their final project, the 8 CYI summer interns held a public community event at the Chinatown Gate to promote the need for a Chinatown Library. Over the course of two days, youth provided free storytime, books, activity packets, and information about the campaign, replicating many of the services a library would provide.
August 10, 2015
On June 20th, the Chinese Progressive Association held its annual Bike-A-Thon with almost 100 riders. The Association raised over $20,000 for its youth leadership development program, the Chinese Youth Initiative.
July 29, 2015
On July 25 we co-sponsored a Right to Remain Block Party on Johnny Court and Maple Place with the Chinatown Residents Association! Participants learned about tenant rights, affordable housing, and talked about how to preserve the historic row houses. There were tables featuring information on the library campaign, the CPA workers center, a public parcels visioning process, tenant rights trivia, a film screening about gentrification across Boston, the Chinatown Community Land Trust, and the Chinatown Residents Association. There were also fun activities such as a photobooth, a chopsticks and marbles game, a paper lantern home making station, lots of musical performances, a skit, and a watermelon eating contest.
