March 15, 2017 International Examiner

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Seattle’s Asian Pacific Islander newspaper for over 44 years

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 1

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2 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE COMMUNITY

Aunty Tay retires from InterIm CDA after 20 years of service

By Ester Kim IE Contributor Before investing decades of work in Seattle’s Chinatown International District, Tay Quach grew up in Vietnam speaking Vietnamese as well as Cantonese and Mandarin, as her grandfather had immigrated from China. Tay Quach, otherwise known as Aunty Tay (pronounced like “tie”) in the community, was a housing specialist with InterIm CDA since October 1997 and worked her last day with the nonprofit organization on February 28, 2017.

What work did you do at InterIm CDA? “I come from Vietnam but I’m originally Chinese. So I know Chinese dialogue. I know Mandarin and Cantonese and Vietnamese. Yeah, so I help a lot of immigrants,” Aunty Tay said. “Most of them who come are elders. And they don’t understand and they don’t speak English.”

Aunty Tay chuckled as she said, “Every one asks me.” She explained that it started when her niece joined the YMCA, where she was a member.

“When my niece would find me, she’d always [call me] ‘Aunty Tay’ and then another Y youth, a friend [of hers], they just followed her way to just call me Aunty Tay.” She explained the name spread throughout the YMCA and that it followed her back to the office, “and then everybody called me Aunty Tay.”

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Established in 1974, the International Examiner is the only non-profit pan-Asian and Pacific Islander American media organization in the country. Named after the International District in Seattle, the “IE” strives to create awareness within and for our APA communities. 409 Maynard Ave. S. #203, Seattle, WA 98104. (206) 624-3925. iexaminer@iexaminer.org.

After the grandmother said something about this to her granddaughter, the granddaughter’s response was shocking when she told her to leave, Aunty Tay said.

Aunty Tay continued to share how one of the biggest problems for new immigrants is housing. Living with family is only so sustainable as it becomes crowded, and at the same time securing income is difficult, which would make paying for rent [even more] difficult. “So they come in and apply for subsidized housing or low income housing. And then because we can understand their language, their dialogue, it’s easy communication,” Aunty Tay said.

InterIm CDA has a long history rooted in the neighborhood and, according to Aunty Tay, the affordable housing and community development organization started out as simply some people coming together to serve the community. As the organization developed, their focus on housing When asked if there was any work emerged. she was particularly proud of, Aunty Recently at the InterIm CDA, phones Tay explained that a lot of her work is were ringing, people were being helped, simply connecting people with funding and staff members continued working that already exists, so, “no.” People as Aunty Tay led the way through the look to her as a friend and she looks at hallways to a quiet room where we could them like friends as well. talk. She sat down, welcomed questions, Community was a common theme and laughed in a way that invited others throughout the conversation. to smile along as she shared her story.

How did you get the nickname Aunty Tay?

The elder lived with her granddaughter in a narrow room. “But you know how kids sleep, it’s always like some on this side, on that side and that always bothered the grandma,” Aunty Tay said.

When the elder shared this story with her, Aunty Tay said she explained to her that the education and culture is different here and that her granddaughter was not trying to hurt her but just wanted her own room, like so many other kids at her age.

Aunty Tay suggested the elder start making friends, live more independently, and enjoy her life. She told her, “Your life is changing so you need to change to follow the way of here.”

Aunty Tay

it, Aunty Tay said her friends at InterIm CDA said: “We see you, you can do it.

We can teach you.”

“So at that time, I began to have patience in work,” Aunty Tay said.

“Later, when you meet a client and you What made you stay working in the find out the situation and they really need help from someone who can understand community for 20 years? their language.” So she would help them As someone who was also an solve their problem and when they felt immigrant, Aunty Tay shared how she happy, she felt happy too, she said. struggled when she first came to Seattle.

Aunty Tay said everyone is like family She said she was already over 40 years at InterIm CDA. “That’s why I stay a old at the time and finding a job was long time here. Because the agency difficult while trying to learn English. works like family,” she said.

She was looking through a Chinese newspaper and saw an advertisement Do you have any favorite stories from looking to hire somebody fluent in working at InterIm all these years?

Cantonese and Mandarin. “And so I “One elder, she [was] a cook in China said, oh, that’s my job,” Aunty Tay said. and then she immigrated here because Adjusting to the work was difficult at her daughter [sponsored her],” Aunty Tay first but when she felt she could not do said. “So she stayed with the daughter.”

IE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ron Chew, President Heidi Park, Vice President Gary Iwamoto, Secretary Arlene Oki, At-Large Jordan Wong, At-Large Edgar Batayola, At-Large Lexie Rodriguez, At-Large Peggy Lynch, At-Large Nam Le, At-Large

EDITOR IN CHIEF Travis Quezon editor@iexaminer.org

NEWS EDITOR Izumi Hansen news@iexaminer.org

ARTS EDITOR Alan Chong Lau arts@iexaminer.org

COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER ASSISTANT EDITOR

Lexi Potter

lexi@iexaminer.org

BUSINESS MANAGER Ellen Suzuki finance@iexaminer.org

DIGITAL MEDIA INTERNS Hiroki Sakamoto Kai Eng

Alia Marsha

COPY EDITOR Anna Carriveau DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM Anakin Fung Rhea Panela STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Isaac Liu

STAFF WRITER Chetanya Robinson CONTRIBUTORS API Chaya Lyra Fontaine Ester Kim Kelsey Hamlin Nalini Iyer Yayoi Winfrey DISTRIBUTORS Joshua Kelso Makayla Dorn Maryross Olanday Rachtha Danh Antonia Dorn

Now the elder walks with her friends every morning, has long conversations over lunch, and cooks dinner. The days pass by easily for her, said Aunty Tay.

Why do you want to retire now?

Aunty Tay mentioned that memory is important in this work. “When you are young and something’s hurried, you feel, ‘Oh, okay no problem.’” But when you are a little old. When something’s hurried, your heart is like not very comfortable,” she said.

Aunty Tay said the timing was also good as there was someone to take her place. She said she’d like to use this time to take care of her health. “I’m not the people who stay home. Always go out.

And enjoy some of the exercise. I’ll go to the YMCA,” Aunty Tay said.

When asked what she would do on her last day, Aunty Tay responded with a smile: “Work!” She still had work to do.

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 3

IE NEWS

The ACA: Where it stands and how it affects the API community

By Kelsey Hamlin IE Contributor Since January, President Donald Trump’s administration has been the focus of protests and rallies, speeches and movements across the nation. It can get a little difficult keeping track of every topic that’s bound to see some change.

The latest headlines on the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) raise some serious questions about the future of health care in the United States.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on March 13 that the president is confident there will be enough votes to repeal the ACA and replace it with the GOP health plan, called the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The plan faces a vote later this month in the U.S. House of Representatives before it goes to the U.S. Senate. The Republican measure in its current form, however, has received criticisms from within the GOP, with several Republican senators saying that it doesn’t go far enough in repealing the ACA. Other Republican senators are concerned about AHCA’s effect on Medicaid.

As the GOP continues to adjust its own plan, healthcare professionals and advocates are doing some serious groundwork around the ACA, which has had a tremendous impact on the Asian Pacific Islander community.

One of these advocates is Stephanie Liou, a medical student at the UW. She advocated for the ACA in its inception, and now she’s advocating for it to stay.

And she’s not alone. Doctors across the nation are getting behind the ACA, to the point where there are numerous health providers underneath the Protect Our Patients coalition calling legislators, and continuing to educate the public about ACA myths and facts.

Locally, there’s a group of physicians in Washington who have never done advocacy, but are now taking action, writing opinion pieces and convincing colleagues.

“Doctors have been kind of historically a-political, and really it’s becoming this movement across the country for doctors and health professionals standing up and saying, ‘look, whatever your political ideologies are, this is going to be harmful for patients,’” Liou explained. “It’s appalling to me that the landscape I face when I graduate next year is that I can only take care of a certain population who can pay for it. So this do-no-harm idea has been really core to a lot of the advocacy we’re doing.”

In addition, APIs are impacted the most by the ACA. In 2012, a DHS study predicted that nearly 2 million Asian Americans would be covered by the ACA given that the community is disproportionately impacted by chronic illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and Hepatitis B, because they often skip out on screenings. The most frequent uninsured group was Korean Americans (at 25.5 percent uninsured).

As such, an ACA repeal would reverse disparity gaps like these that were closing.

For community clinics like International Community Health Services (ICHS), Medicaid is especially important. Last year, nearly 17,000 of their patients relied on Medicaid, and of those, 35 percent received Medicaid through the ACA specifically. ICHS joined the Healthy Washington Coalition to support health care as a human right.

“The gains that we have made regarding affordability, access, and addressing health disparities in an effort to achieve health equity must be sustained,” said Michael McKee, the Health Services and Community Partnerships Director of ICHS. “We are sending emails, writing letters, and meeting with elected officials so they understand the value that the ACA has brought our communities. We encourage all people to exercise their civic duties.”

Washington would rise from 38,000 under the ACA to 399,000 uninsured children with the reconciliation bill and no maintenance of eligibility, according to a study done by the Urban Institute.

voted against this, but it’s nonetheless established. Now, however, both sides have to come up with drafts and pass legislation to go forward with the ACA repeal.

“My patients should not be struggling to get enough food because they need to pay for medication or insurance,” James said.

“It’s crazy that as the richest country in the history of the earth, we can’t help take care of people who need our assistance the most.”

Jayapal urged people to write to her as she’s collecting stories of people and their experience with the ACA so she can read them on the floor. Congressman Rick Larsen, from the 2nd District, is doing the same.

That’s the difference of the health care proposals on the table versus what the ACA does, according to advocates. If people are getting insurance, the United States will have a healthier population.

The argument against the ACA typically goes that people with insurance are paying more for other people to have insurance in the first place, who need to just pay for it themselves. But it’s not that simple. ACA advocates say that overall, the short-term outlook might appear more costly to insurance-payers, but it’s not in the long run. The idea is that everyone will get better care at hospitals, because those hospitals will be dealing with less uncompensated, unpaid bills. With that money saved, new programs, more staff, and better care can be had.

As for Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, he attended and spoke at a Save My Care bus tour event in Washington D.C. Murray explained an instance where he was waiting for a flu shot in a Canadian clinic, and asked the man next to him before the ACA was passed how he liked the health care in Canada, to which the man reportedly said, “I’m an American, I came across the border; I’m a construction worker. I have no insurance. This is where I have to come.” Murray then asked, “Is that the America we want?”

Washington’s other Murray, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, has been talking with healthcare providers. Apparently, the tactic on the hill is to take a hard stance against Republicans when it comes to creating any sort of ACA replacement.

As reports show, it’s become increasingly “Preventative care and primary clear that there really was no plan in mind. care is exponentially cheaper than It’s not an accident the ACA repeal has By providing healthcare to all people, emergency room visits and operation been pushed back. the ACA made insurance pools more and chemotherapy,” The Urban Institute also did a study diverse. Insurance is Liou said. “For the vast analyzing how repealing the ACA would only sustainable if a large The amount of uninsured majority of people, you impact government spending and specific group of people with might not ever need to get populations. Matthew Buettgens and children in Washington varying degrees of risk there if you have regular four others found that while the federal buy into it. The United would rise from 38,000 follow up. I think it’s this government would reduce health care States has already seen idea that you’re saving spending for the nonelderly by $927 under the ACA to 399,000 how badly high-risk pools a nickel now, but you’re billion between 2017 and 2026, the play out: astronomically uninsured children with paying for it five or ten reduction comes at a cost elsewhere. expensive for those who the reconciliation bill years from now. As we States would then have to increase decide to do it. saw before the ACA, and spending by $68.5 billion for the next and no maintenance of Even doctors from rural I think we’ll see as we 10 years. The reasoning: “reductions in places are concerned eligibility, according to a see the budgets come out Medicaid spending would be more than about the repeal of the study done by the Urban for the placement plan, offset by increases in uncompensated ACA. In fact, rural you’re shifting the burden care. … Many states have reported net doctors would face the Institute. of costs. You’re letting budget savings as a result of expanding brunt of the damage. people sit and wait it out Medicaid and would experience budget Dr. M. James, who asked that only the until they have extensive care that’s going shortfalls if the ACA were repealed.” initial of his first name be used, has been to cost literally millions of dollars.”

“To think, ‘oh we’re saving money.’ practicing rural family medicine for 30 While much of the advocacy work has Hospitals don’t think that, doctors don’t years in Washington. been done by healthcare professionals, think that,” Liou said. “We know that “I’ve always identified as a Republican and fiscal conservative. But primary care is where we see the greatest evidence for the impact of people not having insurance,” he said in an email.

James said people with acute conditions can always manage care, but those with chronic conditions can put care off when they’re uninsured, to the point where they’re only seen during emergencies.

Over 30 years, James said since the ACA’s implementation, the number of people who are under-insured that he sees has “definitely decreased.”

Liou contends that the ACA isn’t perfect, but repealing it completely would cause immediate harm. One of the ACA’s bigger accomplishments was that it requires insurance plans to provide a certain level of protection. Insurance companies that don’t cover prenatal care Even for those who aren’t convinced by and deliveries, because they’re not prethe human rights argument for keeping the existing conditions, aren’t adequate plans ACA around, they can’t deny the numbers. under the ACA. The amount of uninsured children in

getting people in sooner for small things is much cheaper. It’s kind of assumed that the number of uncompensated care [cases] will increase. ... Honestly it’s terrifying right now. So many services are tied to these. This affects red space more than blue space, definitely, from a financial point. And this affects all voters no matter who they voted for. Honestly, we see that as a nonpartisan belief. We don’t want Her speech for the Jan. 15 Westlake patients to see [doctors] as partisan.”

The hope seems to be that Congress Park rally that defended the ACA and Planned Parenthood can be found through would amend and improve the ACA rather Medium. She went on to discuss how the than throw it in the trash.

House passed a budget resolution that For more actions that can be allows Congress, the Senate specifically, taken, ICHS suggested visiting www. to bypass a filibuster established by the hcadvocacy.org.

Democratic party under Obama. Jayapal some of it is being done by elected officials, including U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA, 7th District).

That being said, she can only do so much as a new member and Democrat who is a part of the now Republican-controlled House. Jayapal’s been present at almost all of the largest rallies fighting against policy attacks on immigrants’ and women’s rights.

4 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE NEWS

Michael Byun speaks on resignation of 10 members from the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs

By Chetanya Robinson IE Staff Writer Ever since President Bill Clinton established the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in 1999, there’s been a bridge between AAPI communities across the country and the federal government agencies that serve them.

But on February 15 this year, 10 members of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) resigned in protest of the Trump administration’s policies, saying they were incompatible with the Commission’s goals and values. Just six commissioners remain.

In a letter to the Trump administration, the resigning commissioners condemned Trump’s proposals to undo the Affordable Care Act, cut funding to sanctuary cities, ban refugees and citizens from seven mostly Muslim countries, build a wall at the Mexican border, and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. All of these policies, the commissioners wrote, would be harmful to the AAPI communities they represent.

In the letter, the commissioners also objected to Trump’s “portrayal of immigrants, refugees, people of color and people of various faiths as untrustworthy, threatening, and a drain on our nation,” they wrote. “We, and the communities that we represent, have worked diligently to make America great.”

Michael Byun, appointed to the Commission by Obama in 2014, was among those who resigned in February. Byun is originally from Washington state and earned a Masters in Public Administration from the UW. He’s worked for over 20 years on AAPI issues, including health disparities and immigrant and refugee affairs. Byun has lived mostly in Ohio since 2007 and serves as chair of Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s AAPI Advisory Council. Byun spoke to the International Examiner about his decision to resign from the commission, why it’s important to have a bridge between AAPI communities and the federal government, and what President Trump’s AAPI policies might look like. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

International Examiner: Why is it important to have a White House commission on AAPI affairs, and what are some of the most significant things it’s accomplished during the Obama presidency?

Michael Byun: Asian Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing ethnic minority in the U.S. And with that in mind, I think that there’s an opportunity for the federal level government to better interact with our communities with that growth. And that’s a really important thing for this country, where if the institutions that support and care about us, protect us, are representative and reflective of our society, including those of AAPIs, it’s really important.

That’s a real big reason why I think the work of the President’s commission was so important, because we were this conduit.

We as commissioners are also reflective of the community. Whether you’re a nonprofit advocate or a nonprofit organization leader, whether you’re a medical professional or you’re in the business sector, we brought

Michael Byun

these interesting perspectives that added to this narrative of a very diverse AAPI community. So the president’s commission, when Obama reconstituted that through his executive order, helped to continue to build that bridge that was started by predecessors prior to President Obama—President Clinton to President Bush.

I think through the Obama administration, we saw that the commission had a broad range of issue areas that we were working on. We weren’t just narrowly focused on say, economic development or focused just on health. We were really broadranged in our charge to represent a broad array of services and a broad array of federal agency activities. That was wonderful.

Data disaggregation is one area, language access is a really important area across the different federal agencies as well as in the specific programs within different federal agencies, for example in HUD Housing.

Many in our community are challenged with language and language acquisition, so focusing on language access is really critical. Another key area that was really important to us is access to healthcare.

Working on language access to ensure that the health insurance marketplace is accessible for people regardless of language background. So those are just a few examples in which I think we made some good progress.

IE: What’s the story of how you and the others resigned from the commission?

MB: In advance of the inauguration of President Donald Trump, there was a lot of conversations within the commission in terms of where we were as a commission and how we should proceed, because we weren’t sure at that time what to expect.

There were some commissioners in advance and at the day of the inauguration that did formally resign. There were others that stayed on. Each of us made our own

decision to do so. And that all kind of came to light with the executive order, where Trump came out with this very vicious, hateful executive order that was creating this major divide in this country versus bringing people together, but also identifying immigrants and refugees and others in an American narrative where we are all the same people. And that was just the last straw for myself and I think for the others who made the decision to formally resign at that time in February.

In my own case, I’ve had some time to be in the Midwest, and I also right now currently serve as the chair of Gov. John Kasich’s Asian American advisory council in the state of Ohio. And the amount of time that I’ve spent living in Ohio has really given me a very different perspective, a more pragmatic perspective, about issues and about how to look at policy, and that is the reason why I felt like, ‘Okay, we work this way in Ohio, maybe I’ll stay on and see how things progress.’ But I think the EO was the last straw. [It] caught me off guard, made me extremely upset that this president was not one to work in a compromising and reasonable way, and I knew that I could not make much more progress in my role, so that’s why I decided to resign.

IE: What do you think the Trump administration’s stance is on AAPI issues? Do we know?

MB: This is again my own personal opinion and does not reflect the opinions of the commissioners, those who stayed on. My guess based upon what I’ve seen with [Transportation] Secretary Elaine Chao being appointed, that we will see a focus in terms of commerce and labor and economic development.

My sense is that the direction is going to be very narrowly focused and not going to have the breadth and depth that the commission did when we were under

President Obama. So the responsibility then rests with our communities and our community-based organizations to figure out how to fill that vacuum that has been left. Because if the Trump administration moves in this direction where the focus is very narrow, we do want to see continued progress in those areas that I had mentioned earlier.

IE: So far it’s unclear if the Trump administration will renew the commission. What’s at stake it it’s not renewed?

MB: A good example of what is frightening is the fact that upon the new administration coming into office, the entire archive of AAPI work—the body of work of the commission and the White House Initiative on AAPIs, as reflected in the website portal—was completely disappeared, it completely disappeared. So that website, which chronicles the work, which was a resource hub, is no longer there.

And so if that is a good kind of metaphor or reflection of how the administration moves forward, it is definitely frightening.

In the Obama administration we were making tremendous progress in ensuring access for our AAPI communities to federal agencies and resources and services. And now it’s going to take some time for that to be revived and for us to continue to do that work. And I feel like we’re going to be stalled, unfortunately.

IE: Many would say Trump’s policy positions on other minority groups have been based on stereotypes, and borderline or outright racism. But it doesn’t seem he’s made too many statements about the AAPI community in the same way as he has about, say, Latinos. Do you think the Trump administration’s approach to other minority groups says anything about how it might approach AAPIs? MB: I think your, kind of, insinuation is very accurate. I’m concerned that this administration does not have strong cultural competence. I’m concerned that they may be perpetuating different stereotypes, whether good or bad, and I’m also concerned that within our AAPI communities we will not be separated from other minorities. We believe that the needs and the concerns of Muslim Americans are as important to us as AAPI issues. And so as much as the administration’s rhetoric is divisive, we’re going to stand strong in solidarity with all of our communities that are impacted negatively by the Trump administration.

COMMUNITY VOICES

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 5

Language Access: Advocating for our rights, reclaiming our dignity

By Katrina Pestaño API Chaya “You broke the ocean in half to be here.

Only to meet nothing that wants you.”

—Nayirrah Waheed We are living in times where immigrants in the United States are being openly targeted in every sphere of our existence.

Most of us do not feel safe in the streets, at work, in schools, and especially when traveling.

While at the API Chaya Healing Gathering on March 4, we received news that a Sikh man was shot in Kent and told to “go back to your country.”

This man was not even safe in his own driveway. Just last month, a survivor seeking a protection order in a courthouse in Texas was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, after being reported by her abuser. A few days before, Daniel Ramirez Medina, a 23-year-old immigrant in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, was arrested in Seattle as part of mass deportation raids happening under Trump’s administration.

Nationwide, we continue to fight Islamophobic policies, such as the “Muslim Ban” with the recently revised Executive Order blocking citizens from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.

These incidents have instilled deep fears in our communities, which have long been fighting for our basic rights and dignity. At API Chaya, a community-based organization serving mostly immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, we are growing our survivor services and community organizing programs to be more responsive to the intensifying needs of the people we serve. Many program participants face multiple barriers to accessing services, as well as finding pathways to healing and justice.

In addition to developing community responses to violence, we are also expanding our work around language access. Last year, we collaborated with Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence (APIGBV) and Martha Cohen of the Office of Interpreters Services (King County Superior Court) to bring a training for anti-violence advocates and social service providers on improving language access practices.

We are also gathering stories from program participants and community members who have been delayed and/or denied services as a result of their request for interpretation, even though most agencies are legally required to provide interpreters for all of their programs.

As a result, our multi-lingual advocates are often used as interpreters as they are advocating, which is additional work for them and puts undue burden on our agency. Furthermore, it can mean that people just simply cannot access the services they are entitled to as survivors and community members.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d, et seq. states: “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Thus, any and all programs that receive federal assistance are required to ensure that everyone can utilize them. In order to adequately accomplish this, individuals who are limited English speakers must be provided real access to federally-funded programs through the use of interpretation services. As one can imagine, being able to access vital benefits, while also understanding your rights and responsibilities, is directly dependent on whether you can understand what is being explained to you. Therefore, it is extremely important that those who do not speak English as their primary language are included in and given access to federally-funded programs through appropriate language services.

Having an advocate to help navigate services such as school, housing, medical and social services, and our legal systems, can literally save someone’s life. More often than not, the people we are serving are not given adequate interpretation services, which has led to dire consequences—including more violence, houselessness, medical procedures that do more harm than good, and even going to jail as victim-defendants. This has long been an issue for immigrant survivors, but we are anticipating that these incidents will happen more frequently and with increased severity as anti-immigrant sentiments are heightening.

Listening to our advocates’ experiences reminds me of my own; as a young person who my mother looked to for my language skills, as I often served as interpreter for us. Navigating social services with my family was the first place I learned how to advocate, at a young age and on my own.

One time, my mother was being fired unjustly at a job she had been working for years. She felt that she could not adequately defend herself, and had me write a letter explaining her perspective. I was young and did not have sufficient tools and knowledge to keep my mother from being fired, but even then, I knew she was being discriminated against as an immigrant woman. Had my mother been made aware of her rights as a worker, this could have ended differently.

This particular experience has stayed with me, informing the kind of advocate and organizer I am today.

This year, we are excited to join the Fair Work Collaborative, a partnership between 11 community organizations convened by the Fair Work Center, to ensure that survivors, English language learners, lowwage workers, people with disabilities, and workers in prison understand their rights as workers under Seattle’s labor standards.

Many children of immigrants play this role for our parents, and many of us lack understanding of how to navigate discriminatory practices, especially within systems that are supposed to be providing us support.

I grew up seeing the ways that people respond to non-native English speakers.

I can tell from their dismissiveness, skepticism, and even pity that they see

‘As one can imagine, being able to access vital benefits, while also understanding your rights and responsibilities, is directly dependent on whether you can understand what is being explained to you.’

us and other immigrants as undeserving of basic respect and dignity. Ensuring that interpretation services are made available is not doing us a favor—it is our right. A right that government employees and service providers must uphold—not only morally, but also legally. More than that, social service providers must understand that with a survivor who needs access to services, it is easy to further perpetuate power and control by not honoring their humanity and acknowledging they are coming from a place of trauma. As providers, it is important to leverage our power to reduce barriers for those seeking services.

Providing an interpreter not only helps by translating exchanges and conversations, but in making a person feel more comfortable, connected and safe. Language carries so much—our values, traditions, and memories. This is why we will be expanding our Natural Helpers program to include multilingual community members who are trained on language access needs. We know we need to build power and skills in our communities to meet the great needs.

These Natural Helpers will be able to provide support by helping us reach out to more immigrant communities, and even work with advocates to assist survivors in various ways, such as becoming more familiar with public transportation or accompanying them to medical appointments. We envision this growing into an intergenerational cohort that will deepen our capacity as an organization and build up support networks, allowing us to care for each other and create more safety in our communities.

We invite you to learn more about our community organizing programs by coming to our monthly Community Education Series, every fourth Wednesday of the month. The next one will be on March 22 at the Beacon United Methodist Church. For more information and updates, visit our facebook page at www. facebook.com/apiwfsc.

6 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

COMMUNITY VOICES

Transformative Justice: Building safety for communities at the margins

By Priya Rai API Chaya API Chaya is an organization that was born out of community responses to harm. It is not a new story—we first came together because fierce women in our immigrant communities were facing direct harm, seeing their sisters, friends, community members literally dying due to domestic and sexual violence. There were no meaningful responses from the state—if there was anything, it was woefully inadequate, and far too late. There also were not any culturally relevant services—nowhere they could go to speak to someone who could understand their lives as immigrants, where they could speak their own language, nowhere that could understand their culture and values.

It became clear that they needed to do the work themselves, that they needed to look to their own communities, and to each other.

While it seems simple that friends and community members would support each other in times of crisis, it actually goes against most of what we are taught in schools and through narratives and stories we see in the media. We are told, almost exclusively, to call the police if we are experiencing harm. While that might be an avenue that works for some people as an immediate intervention, there are numerous reasons why someone might not want to call the police—particularly those who have multiple marginalized identities.

Especially in this political moment—do we expect people who are undocumented to call the police when it might lead to their own arrest and deportation? What if they do not speak English? What if they are queer or trans? What if they hold all of those identities?

According to a National Domestic Violence Hotline report, overall survivors of domestic violence “felt less safe after calling the police,” and two out of three women who called the police were “somewhat or extremely afraid to

call the police in the future.”

Further, we have seen how these systems are used to criminalize survivors themselves, especially women of color, queer folks, and immigrants. Many in our movement have been active in trying to seek justice for survivors jailed or penalized for trying to stay safe—people like Marissa Alexander, NanHui Jo, Bresha Meadows—challenging us to deeply reflect on how criminalization has brought harm to our communities. We must do the hard work of embracing the complexity of our own humanities; we are all capable of experiencing harm, and also capable of causing harm. Notions of “good” and “bad” people might serve to make us feel better, but it is not the reality of our world. People are not solely some of their actions. Our current model is based on the idea that we can merely remove “bad people” from society and our problems will disappear, but we must recognize the fact that punishment-only does not lead to change.

Given these truths, it is no surprise that after decades of investing in criminalization as the frontline approach to addressing genderbased harm, overall rates of violence have not gone down. How can we shift our response to violence so that we are supporting survivors and their self-determination, as well as supporting people to fundamentally change their abusive behaviors?

At API Chaya, we have always known and seen how the current systems are not working for our people. We frame and cater all of our programs around the principle of “Natural Helpers”—working to build skills and power for individuals in our communities—hair stylists, lawyers, faith leaders, business owners, day care providers, doctors, teachers, community organizers, etc. They are trained to recognize the dynamics and warning signs of domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking, and how to support both people experiencing harm, and work with

people causing harm to change.

The Natural Helpers Project is especially valuable because it also functions as a leadership development program that nurtures natural community leaders to address gender-based violence within a context of long-term social change. It works within the framework of community accountability and transformative justice (CA/TJ), which are community-based models to heal from and respond to violence on an individual level, while seeking to transform the root causes that allow that violence to happen in the first place. Through our more than 20 years of community work, we are ready to truly take time to invest in what it means to intervene and respond to harm in fundamentally transformative ways.

Community accountability is a process in which a community—a group of friends, a family, a church or mosque, a workplace, an apartment complex, a neighborhood, etc.—work together to provide safety and support, affirm anti-oppressive values, work to support people in changing abusive or harmful behaviors, and commit to changing the political conditions that lead to harm and oppression.

We understand that individual acts of harm do not only have their individual impact, but often have ripple effects and therefore need to be solved within community that might also be affected. Community accountability asks individuals to think about the power of turning to a friend of yours, a family member, and telling them you are concerned about some of their behavior. This is part of the work to break silences, moving away from the idea that it is “not my business.”

What would it mean if we could support people to actually change? CA/TJ work has looked many different ways, including accountability circles, safety plans that

leverage community resources (e.g. child care, walking people home), study groups of people learning about CA/TJ together, collective resiliency, accessible healing, conflict mediation practices, and fullon community interventions in violent situations. There are many great models and examples of this type of violence intervention working—we highly recommend exploring the tools from a fabulous organization called Creative Interventions, and the framework and analysis of INCITE! Many Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander communities are bound together by shared experiences of migration and the struggle to survive as marginalized communities. To live violence free-lives, we must develop holistic strategies for addressing violence that speak to the intersection of all forms of oppression. This is the potential of transformative justice, and why we have made it a strategic priority for 2017. We deeply value each other’s safety and wellness, and API Chaya strongly believes in the inherent power of our communities to come together in response to violence. We are committed to strengthening our capacity to do more CA/TJ work as we build a more just and loving world, where safety and security is not premised on violence or the threat of violence, but based on a collective commitment to guaranteeing the survival and care of all peoples.

If we can change the way we interact with each other—look towards being intentional around teaching and practicing consent, setting and respecting boundaries, engaging in processes of deep accountability for the simple things we do to some of the most harmful—we can find our way towards a violence-free world. We have always been the ones we were waiting for, and we invite you to join us in love and resistance.

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 7

IE NEWS

Val Kalei Kanuha seeks alternative solutions to domestic violence

By Lyra Fontaine IE Contributor

considering restorative justice as an alternative to jail.

“The movement that I find the most hopeful and fits the values that I hold is that all of us as a community need to do something about this problem,” she said.

“We cannot leave it up to the police or the courts.”

One of the earliest advocates for women and children, Val Kalei Kanuha has been an activist, therapist, consultant, and researcher for most of her life.

“I feel really lucky to have been in the movement for over 45 years now,” Kanuha said.

In the interventions, Kanuha told Hawaiian men not to be accountable to a judge or probation officer, but rather to their family and community that they hurt.

From helping to build the first battered women’s shelter in the nation to developing a culturally-based domestic violence program in Hawai‘i, Kanuha’s work has focused on intimate partner and sexual violence, and the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality.

“We’ve been taught that the only way to stop domestic violence is to put perpetrators in jail,” she said, adding that this can negatively impact communities of color.

She recently became Assistant Dean for Field Education at the University of Washington School of Social Work and will be speaking the annual API Chaya gala on April 29.

Kanuha also said that shelters do not work for all domestic violence victims and potential alternatives could include safe, free-standing apartments. Shelters may raise further complications for women with children, who need to leave their own home for a communal, highly monitored environment. Shelters also put the burden of leaving on the survivor, not the person who did harm.

Kanuha’s resilience to continue working on domestic violence issues comes from survivors, activists, and organizers. “I have been able to work with so many people who have helped to educate and inspire me,” she said.

“Shelters work for some, but it shouldn’t be what we put all of our resources, energy, time and advocacy into,” Kanuha said. “I think women have the courage and will to think about something different.”

After obtaining her PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Washington in 1997, Kanuha worked at the University of Hawai‘i for 19 years, most recently as a sociology professor. She has received awards for her teaching and research, which include creating interventions for children experiencing domestic violence and studying intimate violence in women’s same-sex relationships. She works with organizations like the Joyful Heart Foundation and helped found INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence.

Considering intersectionality As a woman, lesbian, and Native Hawaiian, intersectionality is part of Kanuha’s life. She believes that considering racism, homophobia, and poverty is important in finding solutions to violence against women.

Val Kalei Kanuha. • Photo by Lyra Fontaine

An early advocate After receiving her Master’s of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, Kanuha became involved in domestic violence issues as a social worker. She worked with children at a Minneapolis community clinic, helping to prevent abuse by identifying high-risk situations and suspicious behaviors.

“This was the early ’70s, so even the issue of child abuse and neglect was fairly new,” she said.

In 1975, Kanuha saw a flier for a meeting about the emerging problem of “battered wives.” Intrigued and puzzled, she attended the meeting alongside feminist activists and community providers.

Soon, she became involved in the nationwide 1970s movement that raised public awareness about domestic violence as a social problem, provided services for victims and affected public policy.

Kanuha was part of the team that helped build Women’s Advocates, the first shelter in the country for women and children escaping domestic violence. She also belonged to the Minneapolis Coalition on Battered

Women, made up of social workers, psychologists, housing advocates, drug counselors and more. She spent 15 years in Minnesota before working in New York and Hawai‘i.

Culture-based interventions In the early 1990s, while working with gay men of color on AIDS education in New York, Kanuha realized that government interventions were designed for gay white men.

Similarly, Kanuha questioned why domestic violence interventions in Hawai‘i–which she called a complex, colonized place—were created elsewhere in the country. She decided to design and test Hawaiian culture-based interventions.

For more than a decade, Kanuha worked with Hawaiian men charged or convicted with abusing their partners and Hawaiian women survivors.

The interventions focus not only on reducing men’s negative, misogynistic attitudes about women, but also encouraging them to be accountable to their communities.

“I always said, I hope at the end of this you never hurt partner again, but more importantly, I hope you live your life as a good man,” Kanuha said. “Our goal is start being productive, kind, generous, good. Start being the man we need you to be in our community.”

This unique approach resonates across cultures, Kanuha said, and those who attended the interventions know that it works.

Another powerful part of the interventions is asking men who committed violence against their partner what their ancestors would think.

This ancestral calling helps men realize they do not want to be remembered as someone who committed a crime, but rather “someone who did wrong and made things right,” Kanuha said. “I say [to these men], change for [your ancestors] because you want to be the man that your ancestors hoped you to be.”

Alternative solutions Kanuha’s work involves exploring alternative ways to intervene in violence against women and children, and

“Intersectionality brings in the nuances under which people commit crimes,” she said. “We are so much more than a lawbreaker or a survivor of particular heinous acts. We are mothers, brothers, engineers.”

Kanuha believes that although domestic abuse is rooted in misogyny and patriarchy, many factors explain why some men abuse and others do not.

She gave the example that men who do not abuse may have parents that told them how to treat women or grew up in a community that doesn’t value that behavior.

“We are not just victims or offenders of this kind of behavior,” Kanuha said.

“We are immigrants, we are queer, we are poor. … We cannot address the problem without addressing the wholeness of those who have been violated, those who have violated and the communities in which the violations occur.”

Kanuha is continuing her work on Hawaiian culture-based interventions.

“At the end of the day, I really believe that people can be different,” Kanuha said.

“For me, it’s a return to not punishment, but really a return to our goodness, our potentials and our attributions.”

8 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

COMMUNITY VOICES

Engaging Across Generations: 22nd Annual Candlelight Vigil

By Derek Dizon & Nikki Caintic API Chaya API Chaya works to build power in Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander communities to address the root causes of violence. As an organization that provides support to survivors, we come together to offer a space of healing as we honor lives lost to domestic and sexual violence. The annual candlelight vigil is held to remember the lives of Susanna Remerata Blackwell, her unborn child, baby Kristine, Phoebe Dizon, and Veronica Laureta. This year, in collaboration with the Filipino Community of Seattle, we sought to transform the pain and rage of lived and relived victimization in our community with a shared sense of healing and survivorship across generations.

Susanna Blackwell, Phoebe Dizon, and Veronica Laureta were shot and killed at the King County Courthouse in 1995 by Susanna’s estranged and abusive husband, amidst their divorce proceedings. This tragedy organized the API community as a group of women came together to form what is now known as API Chaya. While the tragedy and loss of Susanna Blackwell, Phoebe Dizon, and Veronica Laureta occurred 22 years ago, the epidemic of domestic and sexual violence in our communities continue. Studies indicate that about half of Asian women have reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime by an intimate or domestic partner. In a recent 2011 study, 56% of Filipinas and 64% of Indian and Pakistani women reported experiencing sexual violence by an intimate partner (National Institute of Justice, 2011). In King County alone, over the past 10 years, there have

The 22nd Annual Candlelight Vigil: Engaging Across Generations on March 2, 2017 remembered the lives of Susanna Blackwell and her unborn child, baby Kristine, Phoebe Dizon, and Veronica Laureta, as well as all those who have experienced domestic and sexual violence. • Photos by Anakin Fung

been 132 domestic violence related fatalities (Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2015).

This year, we chose the theme of: Engaging Across Generations, because the movement to end violence must be forged across our communities with participation from people of all ages. By seeing the deep ways we are connected, our communities can build supportive networks while examining our collective responsibility to end the violence that exists in our world. This year’s theme sought to provide a transformative and healing space by honoring survivors and celebrating our communities’ resilience, survivorship, and intergenerational characteristic.

Kiyomi Fujikawa, former Queer Network Program Coordinator, spoke at this year’s vigil about violence facing trans communities, particularly trans women of color. “In 2017, already 7 trans women of color have been murdered. Although tracking of violence against trans people is relatively new as a data-set and the numbers are imperfect, 2016 was recorded as the most lethal year against trans women, and currently 2017 is on track to be even more so. While we mourn our lost siblings, we rally against bills that block us from public accommodation, from fundamentally being able to participate in daily public life—including here in Washington. We must also rally for the changes that protect our health care, give us affordable housing,

and end the deportation and incarceration of our communities. We must hold each other close and support each other on fundamental levels,” she stated. This vigil is also a call to action for our communities to unite and resist the intersecting forms of violence we are facing. Through our collective grief, we also find ways to take collective action.

We call on all generations to come together and to address the root causes of violence in our lives. Together, we will work to support survivors and end violence in our communities. For more information about our annual community candlelight vigil, please contact nikki@apichaya.org.

API Chaya History: From Tragedy to Hope, Organizing in the Face of Ongoing Violence API Chaya was born from the need to address violence, including several domestic violence-related homicides in Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander communities. From the 1990s, when Chaya and the Asian and Pacific Islander Women and Family Safety Center were both founded, there was shared agreement that providing culturally-relevant, linguistically-appropriate direct services to survivors was as critical of a need as community organizing work to end violence.

1980s—The Washington South Asian Council was founded to call the community’s attention to challenging topics such as HIV/AIDS and domestic violence, as well as ensure that mainstream service providers were adequately serving South Asians.

1990—Helen Clemente was forced into a sham marriage by an ex-Seattle police officer and his wife. For three years, she worked with them in conditions of indentured servitude.

1993—Tessie Guzman, Filipino activist, was killed by her husband after many years surviving domestic violence.

1993—Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander women organized in each other’s homes around their concerns regarding domestic violence in our communities. At the same time, a group of Filipino women activists who had experience with union organizing and in the anti-Marcos struggle were meeting about similar concerns.

1995—Susana Remerata Blackwell, her unborn daughter, Veronica Laureta, and Phoebe Dizon were murdered at the King County Courthouse by Susana’s estranged husband. Out of concern for the prevalence of violence against women in their communities and understanding the need to work together, two groups of organizers converged as the API Women & Family Safety Center and gained sponsorship from the Washington State Commission on Asian American Affairs.

1996—Chaya—“shelter” or “shade” in Sanskrit—was established to serve South Asian women in times of crisis and need, and to raise awareness of domestic violence issues. Chaya was founded as a volunteerled organization to fill a critical gap in services for women who were survivors in King County’s burgeoning South Asian community.

1997—The API Safety Center hired its first staff to work with community groups to organize for justice and social change. Chaya established its first Board of Directors.

1999—Chaya celebrated its first major grant from the STOP Violence Against Women Program and hired its first staff.

2001—Chaya’s Peaceful Families Project was launched with a three-day conference for the Muslim community.

2002—Washington State became the first state to criminalize human trafficking and offer some protections to survivors under the

leadership of former Washington Representative Velma Veloria, the UW Women’s Center, and the API Safety Center.

2005—The Queer Network Program, in partnership with the International Examiner and with support from Asian Women’s Shelter, Japanese Americans Citizens League and Asian Pacific Islander Homophobia/Heterosexism Education Project, published a book documenting stories of Queer API women survivors of violence called “A Breath of Fresh Air.” 2006—API Safety Center partnered with LGBTQ artists of color to create the Queer People of Color Liberation Project, a series of theatre productions and discussions focused on the lives, issues and perspectives of queer, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gay people of color.

2011—API Women & Family Safety Center and Chaya merged to become API Chaya.

By combining resources, the organization was able to provide more robust services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

2014—API Chaya hosted a groundbreaking panel to discuss the successes, challenges, gaps and visions for transformative justice and community accountability work in Seattle, integrating a perspective based on disability liberation.

2015—Filipino Youth Reunite to Elevate, FYRE was launched in collaboration with

the Filipino Community of Seattle and API Chaya. FYRE is a program for young people interested in gaining leadership skills, building community, and learning about issues that impact Filipino youth.

In October 2015, the Filipino community lost three lives that were affected by the inherent violence of sexual assault. This sparked many dialogues in FYRE about what safety and healing meant for the surrounding community.

2016—API Chaya served 343 survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. The organization reached 9,800 individuals through community organizing and violence prevention programs.

2017—Today, API Chaya is a leader in the anti-violence movement, serving Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

In our human trafficking program, API Chaya serves survivors from all over the world. The language capacity of advocacy staff includes Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Marathi, Tagalog, Urdu and Vietnamese.

In the community organizing program, API Chaya is working on leadership development with survivors, youth, LGBTQ communities, immigrants, incarcerated folks, and faith-based communities to address and prevent violence in their own communities.

COMMUNITY VOICES

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

To view more photos of the 22nd Annual Candlelight Vigil: Engaging Across Generations on March 2, 2017, visit iexaminer.org. • Photos by Anakin Fung

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 9

10 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

COMMUNITY VOICES

‘A Peaceful Family is an Islamic Tradition’:

The work of the Peaceful Families Taskforce within Faith-Based Communities.

By Neelam Khaki API Chaya The Peaceful Families Taskforce (PFT) was established in 2003 resulting from collaboration between Sharifa Al-Khateeb, founder of the National Peaceful Families Project (PFP), and Sarah Rizvi, who was, at the time, a community mobilizer for Chaya (Chaya merged with the API Family and Safety Center in 2011, to form API Chaya). The project was initiated following a three-day conference for community members, which explored domestic violence within local Muslim communities, the resources available for survivors, and the needs and concerns of those groups.

From the conference, about 30 community members emerged as volunteers to create the Peaceful Families Taskforce, which was coordinated by Chaya.

Since its inception, the PFT has worked towards raising awareness of domestic violence within local Muslim communities, to support systems and structures that contribute to the formation of peaceful families, and to provide assistance and resources to survivors of domestic violence. Over the years, the PFT has become a valued community resource, through efforts such as the development of informational and educational materials specifically for the Muslim community; the production of materials for imams on how to respond to domestic violence issues; providing trainings for Muslim community members on ways in which to support survivors; partnerships with local service providers and shelters; and the cultivation of relationships with masjids so that survivors are better supported. The work of the PFT is based upon the premise that a peaceful family is an Islamic tradition.

Working with faith-based communities raises a number of issues specific to that demographic. In addition to the barriers faced by survivors of domestic violence served generally by API Chaya, such as matters relating to immigration, income, and language access, Muslim survivors may experience additional obstacles preventing them from accessing services.

One of the barriers faced by survivors of faith is the intersection between cultural practices and religious teachings. Whilst the two are distinct in theory, there is a definite blurring of the lines in practice. For example, PFT’s work in the community has shown that survivors are often reluctant to reveal situations of domestic abuse, believing that to do so would dishonor their family, and place into question their loyalty and commitment. Furthermore, certain cultural norms surrounding the notion of gender roles may also prevent a survivor from accessing services. For instance, the idea that the husband should be the breadwinner of the family, may discourage a survivor from seeking employment and therefore creating financial dependence on her spouse—a dependence which can potentially be used by the abuser to exert control, threaten, or otherwise manipulate her. In addition, some cultural beliefs place the responsibility of ensuring the well-being of the family (including keeping the unit intact) firmly upon the shoulders of the wife and mother, thereby posing an additional barrier upon a survivor who may feel ready to leave an abusive relationship.

A further barrier affecting some survivors from faith-based communities is the misinterpretation of religious concepts and texts, which can justify abuse and fail to hold the abusive partner accountable for his actions and behavior. For instance, a common idea present within some Muslim communities is that of a wife’s duty of obedience to her

husband. Many survivors believe, based on this notion, that attempting to navigate their situation may lead them to act contrary to the wishes of their spouse and, therefore, compromise their piety. In turn, abusive partners may manipulate such ideas to further enforce control over their spouse. In cases where survivors do reach out to seek support from their community, friends and leaders may exhort the Islamic concept of patience as a means of providing comfort to the survivor. Whilst often well-intentioned, such counsel, which conveys the message that the abuse is a test of one’s strength and faith in God and therefore beyond mortal control, does not tend to empower a survivor who may be seeking more practical resources.

Whilst such challenges may be perceived as outweighing the benefits of commitment to a faith, the philosophy of API Chaya rests in the idea of empowering survivors and honoring their agency. In the words of Reverend Dr. Marie Fortune: “We should never ask a battered woman to choose between safety and the support of her faith community. She needs them both.” As such, the PFT works towards supporting communities in reexamining views, based on cultural norms and the misinterpretation of religious texts, which may be harmful to survivors.

The PFT raises awareness of domestic violence within Muslim communities based upon the Quranic Family Model, originally developed by PFP. This model (based on the teachings of the Quran, the holy scripture of Islam, and source of religious jurisprudence) takes a preventative approach, outlining the institution of marriage within an Islamic context. It describes the role of Muslims in an individual, familial, and societal capacity, drawing upon the principles of honesty, compassion, integrity, and justice—universal values that transcend a particular religion or culture. The model details spousal rights and responsibilities, emphasizes mutual consultation and cooperation between partners, and provides a guided process in managing marital conflict.

Utilizing the Quranic Family Model as a backdrop to the work of the PFT provides a clear distinction to survivors and community members as a whole, between the ideal Muslim family that they are striving to cultivate, and the harsh reality of an abusive marital relationship. In this way, cultural beliefs and misrepresented religious teachings can be reframed in a safe and respectful manner. For instance, the Quran refers to a duty of cooperation and consultation between spouses, and clearly states that obedience is due only to God, not to one’s marital partner.

Furthermore, whilst an abuser may justify the mistreatment of their spouse based on a

cultural belief that they have the right to discipline their family as they see fit, the Quran clearly states that, “He (God) has placed between you (spouses) love and mercy.” The Quran also recognizes that, despite attempts to keep a marriage intact, there are instances when divorce is the only viable option, and clearly defines the process. Such information can be a source of liberation for survivors of faith, providing them with options in managing their relationship with an abuser, without compromising their religious beliefs.

For communities that may be struggling with deep-seated cultural beliefs, describing domestic violence as a form of oppression can be a catalyst for transforming into a support network for the survivor, with the potential for holding an abuser accountable for their actions. This is based on numerous Quranic decrees to stand against oppression in all its forms, and to defend the oppressed.

The PFT aims to reach all sectors of local Muslim communities, including general members, youth groups, and faith leaders. The program tailors its curricula and materials to meet the needs of the communities it serves.

A recent example of this was a partnership between the PFT and the Muslim Association of Puget Sound and its social services arm, the Muslim Community Resource Center, in developing a workshop for single parents and divorcees. The project served to provide an opportunity for participants, many of whom were survivors of violence, to consult with a panel of professionals for advice pertaining to their lives post-divorce. The workshop, which was established in response to requests from community members for such support services, was a beautiful example of equipping a community with the tools it may need to serve its members in an autonomous and sustainable manner.

A further example of community collaboration is an upcoming project on domestic violence prevention. API Chaya is in the process of developing a series of multigenerational training sessions on positive family relationships, aimed particularly towards faith-based communities. The planning stages have thus far been exciting for the PFT, as existing partnerships have deepened and created opportunities for further cooperation, and new connections have been made with communities, paving the way for its work to become more visible.

Increasing the accessibility of its work to local Muslim communities is crucial to the PFT at this moment in time. The recent rise in Islamophobia and resultant hate crimes against Muslims (which, studies suggest, have tripled in the last year) have impacted both the broader Muslim population, and particularly survivors of violence. Muslims com-

munities have experienced assaults on their person and property, including vandalism of mosques, attacks on homes, and physical violence that has, in some cases, been fatal.

Heightened Islamophobia has also resulted in a psychological impact on those from Muslim backgrounds, ranging from increased anxiety to depression.

The impact of Islamophobia on survivors of violence is heavy, and is in itself a systemic enabler of abuse. Many of the features of domestic violence, such as exerting power and control, minimizing violence, and victimblaming are evident within a culture that is openly hostile to a particular segment of its population. They seep their way into the personal lives of survivors, with the potential to compromise autonomy and safety.

For instance, when a survivor of faith sees graphic images of a fellow Muslim woman being forcibly undressed on a beach in France by armed police, she may believe that calling upon law enforcement for help is no longer a viable option for her. When the murder of three young Muslims in their home is trivialized to having been the result of a parking dispute, a Muslim survivor may feel that their experience of abuse does not warrant reaching out for support. When a survivor constantly hears a barrage of media insults directed towards their faith, and in turn has to apologize for violent incidents that are unconnected to their religious beliefs, their psychological space becomes smaller. When Muslim survivors are nervous about speaking Arabic at the airport in case they are removed from their flight, their voices are, quite literally, silenced—they are walking on eggshells.

In addition to creating a further barrier to accessing services, the impact of Islamophobia provides abusers with an additional tool to exert control and isolate the survivor – when prejudice is rife within mainstream culture, why would a survivor from a marginalized community consider seeking support?

Whilst these are trying times for the communities served by API Chaya, there are concrete ways in which to counter Islamophobia.

Firstly, by looking beyond popular headlines, and seeking accurate information on Islam; secondly, by resisting false narratives and countering them; and finally, by reaching out to vulnerable communities, and showing solidarity in a political climate which serves to deepen divisions, and heightens fear and mistrust of the “other.” By strengthening community bonds, and showing unity in the face of adversity, we can become vehicles for social change and transformation.

For further information on becoming involved in the work of API Chaya or the Peaceful Families Taskforce, please contact info@apichaya.org.

COMMUNITY VOICES

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 11

Filipino Youth Reunite to Elevate!

By Nikki Caintic API Chaya Youth hold an important role in the movement to end violence. Our eagerness to learn and also put our education into action gives us the power to create the future we envision: a future that will one day be rid of violence.

However, as youth, we also face various challenges, one of them being a sense of loss or longing within the journey of our adolescence.

This rings especially true for migrant youth who’ve left their motherland in search of opportunity that didn’t seem possible back home.

Thus, in the Spring of 2015, Filipino Youth Reunite to Elevate, FYRE was launched in collaboration with the Filipino Community of Seattle and API Chaya.

FYRE is a program for young people interested in gaining leadership skills, building community, and learning about issues that impact Filipino youth. We meet every Friday, year-round, on a quarterly basis. Our weekly sessions typically include activities and discussions around gender-based violence, consensual relationships, as well as Filipino identity and culture—all of which are related to and greatly influence who we are today, who we are becoming, and who we want to be in the future. FYRE develops youth leaders and peer educators in nourishing relationships and in challenging rape culture. As young leaders, we strive to not only learn about the injustices we face but also how to make positive change happen within our homes, schools, and communities.

In October 2015, the Filipino community suffered the loss of three lives due to sexual violence. The silence around child sexual

FYRE on retreat. • Courtesy Photo

abuse and incest has been a difficult challenge for so many communities. Moreover, this silence has consequently led to more cases of violence and abuse within our communities.

This reality sparked many dialogues in FYRE about what safety and healing meant for us and for our surrounding community. As youth today, we recognize that violence exists around us—anyone is capable of being harmed and anyone is capable of doing harm. Nevertheless we also acknowledge that we have the power to change this reality and build towards a brighter future through collective education, healing, and action within the larger movement to address the root causes of violence.

Understanding the need to put dialogue into action, FYRE launched our first community zine in November 2016: Siklab ng Puso which loosely translates to “spark within the heart” or “inner spark.” Throughout this zine, we explored the themes of safety and healing and what they meant for us. Using original poems, illustrations, as well as handmade collages,

we spoke to both our personal and collective understanding of the importance of healing and safety within the violent times in which we’re living. From longing, loss, and grief, we found community, purpose, and healing.

Cultural work and art have a transformative power for our communities, as they show both the vulnerability of the person offering their cultural work and also remind the viewer that we are not alone in our struggles.

As youth, it’s sometimes difficult to feel like we have a voice. Nonetheless, through FYRE and the creation of our zine, we’ve learned that our voice is not only important but it is also very powerful. With this zine, we hope to ignite the inner spark within our community to also believe in their voice, take part in our collective healing, as well as participate in creating safer spaces that address the root causes of violence that are deeply embedded in the systems around us.

In the spirit of community healing, FYRE has also been participating in the process of starting a community garden named Lupang Ipamana (or Land of Your Legacy). This March 2017, we will start planting our first seeds and encourage our surrounding community to join us in this cultivation of new life.

As young migrants and children of Filipino immigrants, we honor our ancestral tradition of farming and are hopeful that this garden will also bring our intergenerational community together.

There is a need for people of diaspora both young and old to connect with one another, since there are many lessons that can be shared intergenerationally. Diaspora has kept us separated from one another for so long, as youth we are realizing the need for our com-

munities to reunite. While creating this new garden we also remember the violent history in which this land was stolen from Duwamish, Suquamish, Coast Salish peoples, the ancestral and original caretakers of this area. As Filipino youth, we see the shared struggle here and in our homelands for land and water, through long histories and modern-day migration, and the displacement of the indigenous peoples as well as of our people. Thus, in our healing we acknowledge the importance to commemorate this violent history so that we remain diligent when cultivating new crops to also honor the current struggles facing indigenous people and their fight against the violent displacement from their native lands.

Through personal experiences and shared struggles, we are participating in the movement to end violence and working towards creating the future we envision not only for ourselves but for everyone. FYRE invites youth, students, and our surrounding community to join us in our shared healing as we strive to create safer spaces and work to address the root causes of violence around us.

We the youth are the future. We have the power to change our relationships, our families, our communities. We are leaders now, and our power is only growing. We invite you to join us on the journey of finding and affirming our values, growing our skills in leadership, love, resistance, and building the loving and equitable relationships we want and deserve. Another world is possible, and we the youth are the ones who can truly make it happen. For more information about FYRE, please contact nikki@apichaya.org or visit www.facebook.com/YouthOnFYRE.

12 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE COMMUNITY

Green Dot Middle School principal Walter Chen returns to his roots

By Travis Quezon IE Editor in Chief Walter Chen has been an educator for 14 years and is taking his passion for education back to his roots as the founding principal of Green Dot Middle School, a new charter school in Southeast Seattle.

Born and raised in Kent before his family moved to Mercer Island when he was in elementary school, Chen is now a resident of Rainier Valley.

Chen graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in Economics and earned a Master of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles. He earned his principal’s credential from the University of Washington’s Danforth Educational Leadership Program. And he also taught middle school math in South Central Los Angeles, earning National Board Certification in 2008. Chen returned to the Pacific Northwest in 2010 to teach in the Renton School District. Most recently, he was an Assistant Principal at Aki Kurose Middle School and served the last two years as proud principal of Graham Hill Elementary in Southeast Seattle.

The International Examiner caught up with Chen to talk about the challenges and goals of Green Dot Middle School, reaching out to the API community, and the controversy of charter schools in Washington state.

International Examiner: How did you first decide to become a teacher, and what drives you as an educator today?

Walter Chen: In college I had the opportunity to take a class on public education where I learned about the opportunity gap in communities across America. Growing up I had always taken for granted the fact that everyone had access to a high quality education.

I couldn’t believe how a zip code, race or family income could predict a child’s educational outcome. That’s when I first felt the desire to make an impact in public education.

Today I feel privileged to help ensure high quality educational opportunities for children and families in my own neighborhood where I’m a resident of the Rainier Valley. I also believe it’s important for children of color to see educators who look like them working in and leading schools. Despite the diversity in our classrooms, the teaching force in Seattle remains largely white. If we want future leaders of color, we must start by growing and developing educators of color who teach our children.

IE: What would you like our readers to know about Green Dot Middle School and its location in Southeast Seattle?

Chen: Green Dot Seattle Middle School is opening this August at a temporary site near the Othello light rail station. In our second year we will move into our permanent site in Hillman City, currently slated to begin construction this summer.

The Seattle Middle School will provide a rigorous college prep curriculum, an adult mentor for every child, and parent partnership. Like all charter public schools, we are tuition-free and open to all families.

Walter Chen

We are currently enrolling our founding class of sixth graders and will serve 600 students in grades 6-8 at full capacity.

At Green Dot we have an unwavering belief in every student’s potential and are committed to building deep, caring relationships with our families and community to provide students the best educational experience possible. We believe every student should have the option to attend college and find a career of their choosing, and our teachers and staff will work tirelessly to put them on that path.

IE: What are your personal goals (for the school, the community, and the students) as a founding principal of Green Dot Middle School?

Chen: Southeast Seattle is such a vibrant and diverse community—in terms of race, income, age and religion—and one I’m proud to call my home. Green Dot Seattle Middle School will be a place where all families are welcome and included, and all cultures are celebrated.

Our school will be a joyful and rigorous place for students to learn. My goal is for our school to become a shining beacon in southeast Seattle for what is possible when a caring and committed group of educators come together for the purpose of doing what’s best for kids. It will be a place students are proud to call their school, where teachers feel valued and driven by a shared mission to prepare all students to graduate college.

IE: You’ve been a teacher and a principal in public school systems in California and Washington. What’s it like making the change to charter schools?

Chen: At Green Dot we have the flexibility to think thoughtfully about our curriculum and budgets from the perspective of what will make the most sense for students. For example, if data shows a particular curricular choice is not resulting in significant gains for students in math, we can explore what’s working elsewhere and make a change that will accelerate learning or support intervention where needed.

We also have the autonomy to adjust our staffing model to meet the needs of our

students. For example, if we have more students with special needs or English language learners, we can immediately reallocate resources to ensure those who need the most support are getting it.

IE: Charter schools are a very controversial concept here in Washington. Can you speak to the issues that opponents to charter schools raise, such as how charter schools may take away funding from public schools, how teachers at charter schools may not be held to the same standards as in public schools, and how charter schools are not required by law in the same way that public schools are in terms of accountability and reporting information?

Chen: I find in my meetings in the community that families with school-age children are overwhelmingly in support of having more high quality education options in their neighborhood. Charter schools are public schools that are run by nonprofit organizations. Our students will be taught by educators from the neighborhood who are deeply invested in the well-being of children in the Rainier Valley.

We are free and we accept all students.

We are funded based on student enrollment, just like traditional public schools. If a student transfers from another public school to our school, the funding associated with that student follows him or her. Funding associated with a student moves from one public school to another based upon the decision made by families.

Charter school teachers are certified and highly-qualified just like teachers at other public schools. We follow all Washington state and federal health, safety, civil rights, and anti-discrimination laws, as well as Washington state K-12 education statutes including the state’s learning standards.

IE: What are some challenges you are facing in launching Green Dot Middle School? Who are you hoping to reach?

Chen: Families are still learning about charter public schools and the types of free

options available to them. I can understand the hesitancy over something new that disrupts an existing way of doing things.

The problem is the existing way hasn’t worked for many families—particularly families of color—in southeast Seattle.

Many families have been crying out for public school choice for a long time.

I believe every family deserves a right to know about free, high-quality options available right in the neighborhood. As a longtime public school educator and supporter of Seattle Public Schools, I am hopeful that the district and Green Dot will one day work collaboratively to share best practices for the families we serve. I would encourage parents to learn as much as possible about all public school options in the neighborhood—traditional and charter—and welcome them to attend one of our information sessions.

IE: What do you think is the most important issue facing the Asian Pacific Islander community today?

Chen: The Asian Pacific Islander community is still viewed as one monolithic community by our politicians, educators and decision-makers. The Model Minority Myth sadly ignores the fact that Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong and other Southeast Asian children face opportunity gaps similar to those of Black and Latino students from low-income communities. When we overlook the dearth of educational opportunities in the Asian Pacific Islander community, we fail to allocate our resources in a way that addresses the significant needs facing APIs. IE: Anything else you’d like to let our readers know about?

Chen: Families can learn more and enroll a student on our website (wa. greendot.org/seattle) or can reach us at (206) 305-0646 or send us an e-mail at InfoSeattle@greendot.org. We truly look forward to partnering with families and being a contributing member of the Rainier Valley community.

Announcements Professor Sumida to speak March 18

Bad Panda at Theatre off Jackson

Distinguished educator, accomplished author, and stage actor, Dr. Stephan H. Sumida, Seattle, is the featured speaker at the March 18, Omoide (memories) program conducted by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (JCCCW). Sumida will speak on why there was no mass evacuation of Hawai‘i’s Nikkei population after December 7, 1941 and how acts of resistance mattered then and still matter today based on current events.

The free Saturday Omoide program is set for March 18 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m..

Dr. Sumida’s presentation will be followed by the monthly writers’ workshop at 2:30 p.m. The JCCCW is located at 1414 South Weller St. For more information, contact Omoide@jcccw.org or 206-568-7114.

Fantastic.Z’s first production of the season, Bad Panda, will be playing March 23 through April 8 produced in association with Theatre off Jackson. Bad Panda takes a heartfelt look at relationships in nontraditional families. Written by Megan Gogerty, a professor at the Iowa Writers Workshop, this zoological romance has been performed from Beijing to Baltimore and will receive its Northwest regional premier in Seattle.

Catch it on March 23, 24, 25, 30, and 31; April 1, 6, 7, and 8. General Admission is $20 in advance/$25 at the door. TPS is $15 in advance/$17 at the door. Student or Senior (with ID) is $12 in advance/$14 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., curtain at 8:00 p.m. For more information, visit www. theatreoffjackson.org.

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 13

IE ARTS

Film Reviews: 95 and 6 To Go is charming, tension in Anatahan, Apprentice

By Yayoi L. Winfrey IE Film Reviewer Filmed in 1953, in stark black and white, The Saga of Anatahan looks like a Twilight Zone episode taking place in a tropical jungle. And, just like that famous TV show, the film’s rich storytelling comes with a lesson for humanity.

After a dozen Japanese sailors shipwreck on a small South Pacific island during World War II, they encounter a former plantation overseer (Suganuma Tadashi) living there with a beautiful woman they assume is his wife, Keiko (Negishi Akemi). She is called the “Queen Bee,” but her rightful king is undecided as each man competes to earn that title.

Loyal to Imperial Japan, the men vow to never surrender. Thus, they miss several opportunities to return home when they’re informed the war is over—announcements they view as the enemy’s tricks. Refusing to believe Japan could lose after conquering most of the Pacific, the sailors cling to their newfound island life; growing potatoes, fishing for eels, living in huts and wearing clothing made of bark and shells.

One even fashions a shamisen (Japanese stringed instrument) from wire found in an abandoned plane wreck.

Their leader, a stern officer, forces them on rotational watches to guard the coastline with a machine gun he managed to swim ashore with. But as times passes, the men tire of his useless military mandates and begin brewing coconut wine. Soon, they’re drunkenly singing old Japanese barroom songs accompanied by the shamisen.

But no matter how civilized the sailors imagine themselves to be, they’re keenly

aware there’s only one woman (and already spoken for) among them, driving them to behave like ruthless barbarians. As for Keiko, she does little to spurn their advances and flirtatiously flutters her expressive eyes to the chagrin of her overseer partner.

Based on a true story and written as a novel by Maruyana Michiro, Anatahan, looks like a play with its lean set designs.

Yet, its robust tale is utterly compelling.

Crisply narrated in English by director Josef von Sternberg, the film offers no subtitles but, instead, utilizes an effective method of having the characters speaking their native tongue beneath the voiceover.

‘The Saga of Anatahan’ screened at Grand Illusion Cinema from March 3 to 9. *** Another tension-filled drama is Singapore’s entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category to the 89th Oscars.

The movie, Apprentice, is purposefully and unobtrusively loud. There are metal gates slammed in deafening decibels, harsh entry buzzers, screeching sliding doors, and constantly ringing telephones to remind inmates they are at the mercy of their surroundings.

Twenty-eight year-old Aiman (Firdaus Rahman) was once a gang member, but a stint in the Army straightened him out.

Now, his goal is to be a corrections officer working in rehabilitation. Landing a job at a maximum security prison—the very facility where his own father, a man who died before he was born, had been executed, Aiman is unsure of how he should feel.

His older sister, weary of the poverty brought on by their family circumstances, has found an Australian lover who wants

to marry her. Feeling abandoned and angry over her choice of a new life over him, Aiman attempts to focus singularly on work. But soon, he’s apprenticed to the chief executioner, Rahim (Wan Hanafi Su), who has his own ghosts to contend with.

After assisting in an execution with Rahim, Aiman is troubled by the clinical manner in which the executioner instructed him to fit the rope on the prisoner’s neck for maximum effect, to snap the vertebrae cleanly. As he escorted the inmate to the gallows, Aiman helped soothe his nerves, coaching him how to breathe as the man’s knees buckled. Now, Aiman worries how much he can stomach in his new position.

Further, he’s conflicted over bonding with Rahim, a man he should rightfully hate.

Directed by Boo Junfeng, this multicountry production (Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Qatar) boasts both stellar performances and unbridled suspense.

‘Apprentice’ screens at Grand Illusion Cinema through March 16. *** A charming documentary, 95 and 6 To Go opens with filmmaker Kimi Takesue’s grandfather, Tom, doing pushups.

Considering he’s in his 90s, it’s quite impressive. Tom’s healthy appetite is also impressive as he prepares and devours meals in nearly every scene.

A lifelong Honolulu resident, the Japanese American has experienced a life fraught with pain. Tragically, he lost his mother as a child and confesses that he “felt so lonely” not being called home to dinner like the rest of his friends.

Tom’s wife, Ethel, died in 2007 and he shrugs off Kimi’s suggestions that they

married for love. Yet, the family photos he arranges exposes a visible tenderness between the two.

Kimi’s curiosity leads Tom to reveal his struggles through the Depression and the Pearl Harbor bombing. Asked what living on O’ahu was like during WWII, he replies that for Japanese Americans, “There was no respect for us. They think we the cause of it.”

But there were good times, too, and Tom demonstrates his long-time passion for dancing—showing off steps for the chacha, rumba, tango and more.

While Kimi busies herself recapturing Tom’s life, he helps her in return, by giving her notes on a screenplay she’s written about a character named Koji. In spite of chiding her for not having a real job, Tom becomes intensely involved in Kimi’s script, offering hilarious titles like “Melt in Ice” due to Koji’s cold emotions and “The Bridge of Love” because Koji has a wife in Japan and a lover in Hawai’i.

Slurping soba, crunching pickled veggies, or clipping coupons, Tom offers a stream of decisive suggestions for developing Kimi’s script. It’s his way, it seems, of controlling life (albeit a fictional one) that he was unable to do with his own.

In between footage of their animated conversations, Kimi shows off stunning O’ahu landmarks from Ala Moana Park to Diamond Head and beyond. While the viewer never actually sees her (just her reflection once), they hear her off-camera cajoling that encourages Tom in telling his extraordinary story.

‘95 and 6 To Go’ screens at CAAM Fest, San Francisco, on March 19.

Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West is a novel for our times

By Nalini Iyer IE Contributor Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West (New York: Riverhead Books, 2017) is a novel for our times. This is the fourth work of fiction by Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid whose earlier novels Moth Smoke (2000), The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), and How to Get Rich in Filthy Asia (2013) have established his reputation as an important South Asian literary figure. As we grapple each day with news stories about cities destroyed by civil war, of people fleeing violence and living in refugee camps, of countries refusing to admit refugees because of security risks, of rising xenophobia and racism against refugees, Hamid’s novel takes us into the world of a young couple, Saeed and Nadia, and their lives as refugees.

The novel is set in an unnamed Islamic country and in an unnamed city where Saeed and Nadia meet while taking an evening class in “corporate identity and product branding.”

She works in an insurance company and he is in advertising. Although she wears a black robe that covers her from head to toe, she lives alone in a small apartment, smokes weed, dates men, and has sex with them. He lives at home with his loving parents, dreams of traveling the world, and is in love with Nadia.

As their romance blossoms, the city descends into civil war and neighborhoods become war zones, windows make homes and people vulnerable to bullets, and there are food shortages. When Saeed’s mother falls victim to the violence when searching for a lost earring in her parked car, the couple move in together into Saeed’s apartment and consider leaving the country and taking his father along.

Rumors abound in this country that there are secret doorways that offer magical passage to other cities and countries around the world.

This Narnia-like plot device allows Hamid to focus less on perilous passages and more on the issues of exile, assimilation, home, and belonging.

The couple pay an agent to facilitate their transport but are unable to persuade Saeed’s father to go with them. They are transported first to Mykonos and from a refugee camp there, they manage another transit through a portal to London where they find themselves in a mansion in the city. There they meet other people who have fled their countries as well

to find security in London. They, too, have made their passage through secret doors that magically transport them. Interspersed with Saeed and Nadia’s stories are vignettes that tell of others who see people emerge through portals or who make passages through portals into newer lands. These vignettes make the narrative less about a couple and more about the reasons why people flee and what helps them thrive.

While borders and boundaries seem fluid and porous and easy to cross, they are also perilous in that one does not know where one might find oneself.

Thus for people to survive and thrive, they must be remarkably adaptable. At a newly emerging tent city on the outskirts of London, Saeed helps a family resettle as part of his volunteer work. The family of three—a mother, father, and teenage daughter—arrive with a few bundles and within an hour transform a tent into a home with their sparse belongings. They settle into a space where food is predictably available and some modicum of privacy offered by tents.

Even if no one speaks their language, they can still communicate because of their shared experience of dislocation and resettlement.

Saeed and Nadia eventually find their way to the San Francisco area in yet another refugee settlement.

Hamid explores the relationship between Saeed and Nadia and how each of them changes during their shared journey. The young lovers whose romance enabled their escape together find their relationship evolving into companionship and eventually each one grows into a different person. One yearns to keep moving and not put down roots while the other seeks community with people from the homeland who are similarly displaced. Thus this novel is not just about refugees and their hardships, it is also about relationships and resilience, of community and culture, and of nations and belonging in a rapidly changing globalized world. Hamid’s writing is lyrical, the narrative tightly constructed, and the novel unsettles all we might have thought we knew about war, refugees, and the world we live in.

Mohsin Hamid will be discussing this novel on March 18, 2017 at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium at 2:00 p.m. Event hosted

by Tasveer as part of Aaina 2017. For more information, visit aaina.tasveer.org/2017.

14 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

Arts & Culture Asia Pacific Cultural Center 4851 So. Tacoma Way Tacoma, WA 98409 Ph: 253-383-3900 Fx: 253-292-1551 faalua@comcast.net www.asiapacificculturalcenter.org Bridging communities and generations through arts, culture, education and business.

Friends of Asian Art Association (FA3) P.O. Box 15404 Seattle, WA 98115 206-522-5438 friendsofasianart2@gmail.com www.friendsofasianart.org To advance understanding, appreciation and support for Asian arts and cultures, the Friends of Asian Art Association provides and supports programs, activities and materials that reflect the arts and cultures of countries that make up the broad and diverse spectrum of Asia.

Civil Rights & Advocacy Organization of Chinese Americans Asian Pacific American Advocates Greater Seattle Chapter P.O. Box 14141 Seattle, WA 98114

COMMUNITY RESOURCE DIRECTORY

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Homeownership Services

Professional & Leadership Development

HomeSight 5117 Rainier Ave S Seattle, WA 98118 ph: 206-723-4355 fx: 206-760-4210 www.homesightwa.org NMLS#49289 HomeSight creates homeownership opportunities through first mortgage lending, down payment assistance, real estate development, homebuyer education, and counseling.

Housing Services

Executive Development Institute 310 – 120th Ave NE. Suite A102 Bellevue, WA Ph: 425-467-9365 edi@ediorg.org • www.ediorg.org EDI offers culturally relevant leadership development programs.

WE MAKE LEADERS InterIm Community Development Association 310 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 Ph: 206-624-1802 Services: 601 S King St, Ph: 206-623-5132 Interimicda.org Multilingual community building: housing & parking, housing/asset counseling, projects, teen leadership and gardening programs.

Kawabe Memorial House 221 18th Ave S Seattle, WA 98144 ph: 206-322-4550 connie.devaney@gmail.com We provide affordable, safe, culturally sensitive housing and support services to people aged 62 and older.

Fostering future leaders through education, networking and community NAAAP Seattle services for Asian American Queen Anne Station professionals and entreP.O. Box 19888 preneurs.

Seattle, WA 98109 Facebook: NAAAP-Seattle info@naaapseattle.org Twitter: twitter.com/naaapwww.naaapseattle.org seattle

Senior Services

www.ocaseattle.org

OCA—Greater Seattle Chapter was formed in 1995 and since that time it has been serving the Greater Seattle Chinese and Asian Pacific American community as well as other communities in the Pacific Northwest.

It is recognized in the local community for its advocacy of civil and voting rights as well as its sponsorship of community activities and events.

Education

Seattle Chinatown/International District Preservation and Development Authority ph: 206-624-8929 fx: 206-467-6376 info@scidpda.org Housing, property management and community development.

The Kin On Team is ready to serve YOU! www.kinon.org

Immigration Services

Senior Services Southeast Seattle Senior Center 4655 S. Holly St., Seattle, WA 98118 ph: 206-722-0317 fax: 206-722-2768 kateh@seniorservices.org www.sessc.org Daytime activities center providing activities social services, trips, and community for seniors and South Seattle neighbors. We have weaving, Tai Chi, indoor beach-ball, yoga, dance, senior-oriented computer classes, trips to the casino, and serve scratch cooked lunch. Open Monday through Friday, 8:30-4. Our thrift store next door is open Mon-Fri 10-2, Sat 10-4. This sweet center has services and fun for the health and well-being of boomers and beyond. Check us out on Facebook or our website.

Social & Health Services Asian Counseling & Referral Service 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S Seattle, WA 98144 ph: 206-695-7600 fx: 206-695-7606 events@acrs.org www.acrs.org ACRS offers multilingual, behavioral health and social services to Asian Pacific Americans and other low-income people in King County.

APICAT 601 S King St. Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-682-1668 www.apicat.org Addressing tobacco, marijuana prevention and control and other health disparities in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.

Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs GA Bldg., 210 11th Ave SW, Suite 301A Olympia, WA 98504 ph: (360) 725-5667 www.facebook.com/wacapaa capaa@capaa.wa.gov www.capaa.wa.gov Statewide liaison between government and APA communities. Monitors and informs the public about legislative issues.

Denise Louie Education Center 206-767-8223 info@deniselouie.org www.deniselouie.org

Offering home visiting services for children birth to 3 and full & part-day multicultural preschool education for ages 3 to 5 in the International District, Beacon Hill and Rainier Beach.

Grammar Captive 409B Maynard Ave. South Seattle, WA 98104 206-291-8468 tutor@grammarcaptive.com www.grammarcaptive.com Speak better. Write better. Live better. Improve your English language skills with a professional language consultant at a price you can afford. Learn to write effective business and government correspondence.

Improve your reading, conversation, academic writing, and IT skills.

Washington New Americans Program OneAmerica 1225 S. Weller St., Suite 430 Seattle, WA 98144 Are you a lawful permanent resident? The Washington New Americans program can help you complete your application for U.S. citizenship. Low-cost and free services available – please call our hotline or visit www.wanewamericans.org.

Phone: 1-877-926-3924 Email: wna@weareoneamerica.org Website: www.wanewamericans.org Keiro Northwest 1601 E Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98122 ph: 206-323-7100 www.keironorthwest.org rehabilitation care | skilled nursing | assisted living | home care | senior day care | meal delivery | transportation | continuing education | catering services

Homelessness Services YouthCare 2500 NE 54th Street Seattle, WA 98105 206-694-4500 info@youthcare.org www.youthcare.org

Working to prevent and end youth homelessness with services including meals, shelter, housing, job training, education, and more.

Cathay Post #186 of The American Legion Supporting veterans for over 70 years Accepting new members—contact us today to learn more! (206) 355-4422 P.O. Box 3281 Seattle, WA 98144-3281 cathaypost@hotmail.com

Visit iexaminer.org for daily updates, exclusive online content!

Legacy House 803 South Lane Street Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-292-5184 fx: 206-838-3057 info@legacyhouse.org www.scidpda.org/programs/legacyhouse. aspx Services offered: Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, meal programs for low-income seniors.

Chinese Information & Service Center 611 S Lane St, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-624-5633 fax: 206-624-5634 info@cisc-seattle.org www.cisc-seattle.org Creating opportunities for Asian immigrants and their families to succeed by helping them make the transition to a new life while keeping later generations in touch with their rich heritage.

Want to join the Community Resource Directory?

Contact lexi@iexaminer.org

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Social & Health Services

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Since 1935

Tai Tung Restaurant International District Medical & Dental Clinic 720 8th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98114 ph: 206-788-3700 email: info@ichs.com website: www.ichs.com

Banquet Facilities - Catering - Delivery

Bellevue Medical & Dental Clinic 1050 140th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98005 ph: 425-373-3000 Shoreline Medical & Dental Clinic 16549 Aurora Avenue N, Shoreline, WA 98133 ph: 206-533-2600 Holly Park Medical & Dental Clinic 3815 S Othello St, Seattle, WA 98118 ph: 206-788-3500 ICHS is a non-profit medical and dental center that provides health care to low income Asian, Pacific Islanders, immigrants and refugees in Washington State.

7301 Beacon Ave S Seattle, WA 98108 ph: 206-587-3735 fax: 206-748-0282 www.idicseniorcenter.org info@idicseniorcenter.org IDIC is a nonprofit human services organization that offers wellness and social service programs to Filipinos and API communities.

Parking & Transportation Services 206-624-3426 transia@aol.com Merchants Parking provides convenient and affordable community parking. Transia provides community transportation: para-transportation services, shuttle services, and field trips in and out of Chinatown/International District, and King County.

Come Enjoy the Oldest Chinese Restaurant in Town!

655 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 622-7372 Mon-Thurs 11am-10:30pm Fri-Sat 11am-12am Sun 11am-10pm

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Answers to this puzzle are on Wednesday, April 5.

March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017 — 15

16 — March 15, 2017 – April 4, 2017

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