In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we faced a racial justice reckoning as anti-Asian hate violence escalated across the nation. We witnessed elders in Oakland Chinatown and in other neighborhoods become vulnerable targets of racially motivated violence. While violence against elders and racism against Asians are not new phenomena, there is a renewed urgency to train our attention and ask: How might we center our elders’ voices in the broader conversations and concerns with community safety, adequate direct services, affordable housing, and other issues? Hear the opinions of our elders, community experts, and service providers in tackling this question and find out how you can support local efforts to care for our elders.

This event is part of the “Community Voices to Empower Change” series in partnership with Eastwind Books of Berkeley. This virtual event will be broadcast to YouTube Live. Donations are appreciated and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit calhum.org.

PANELISTS

Nhật Minh Bùi earned her Master’s Degree in nursing at UCSF in 2016 and is certified as an Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. Currently, Nhật’s work focuses on novel approaches to improving dementia care for both patients and caregivers with a particular focus on caregiver education and guidance around managing behavior symptoms.

Art Choi, born in San Francisco, CA, started to worked for the Korean Community Center of the East Bay (KCCEB) in 2009-2014 as the Social Service Coordinator and Immigration Integration Manager. Art began his role as the Rapid Response Coordinator as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. He has now taken on another program as the Health Equity Project Lead and Program Manager. He focuses on programs that need quick and effective responses to the Korean community’s needs due to COVID-19.

Diana Pang is the Resident Community Building Supervisor at the Chinatown Community Development Center.

MODERATOR

Roy Chan is currently Senior Program Manager at National CAPACD, serves on the City of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Commission, and directs the Oakland Chinatown Oral History Project. Previously, Roy served as Planning Manager at Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco and Co-Executive Director at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Much of his interdisciplinary career has focused around building intergenerational bridges and community storytelling to lift up immigrant neighborhoods across the country.