From AAA Wiki

The National Asian American Student Conference (NAASCon) is a biennial conference programmed and run by a group of Asian American student organizers & activists from around the country. The third conference, From Visions to Actions: Let's Get our Movements Going, was held from October 17-19, 2008, at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

History

Since 2001, NAASCon has been an active Asian American student political organization with the mission of educating, fostering dialogue, and mobilizing students through proactive campaigns across the country on issues of importance facing the Asian American community. NAASCon has been at the forefront of major Asian American student campaigns including boycotting Abercrombie and Fitch to gaining support for the HR 333 bill that would provide federal funding for institutions of higher education with Asian American populations of 10% or greater. NAASCon also joined activist groups like GAPMINY and Asian Media Watchdog at the protest against Details Magazine.

Most recently, NAASCon joined Asian Media Watch in a campaign against the Jersey Guys who made racially inflammatory remarks toward Asians and Asian Americans on a local radio station. In 2005 NAASCon began the development of our Asian American resource guide for Asian American students including sections on film, music, literature, and speakers. NAASCon has also launched a resource-building campaign for Asian American Studies—compiling the history, resources, and campaign initiatives from students working for Asian American Studies programs and/or resource centers.

Mission

NAASCon is an organization created by and for students of Asian American descent. NAASCon aims to serve as a forum for Asian American student activists from across the country to compile resources, coordinate campaigns, and build community around shared values of social and economic justice, human rights, and collective decision making.

NAAScon envisions a progressive Asian American student movement that works in solidarity with all oppressed communities to construct a just and equitable society in which human dignity is respected.

In order to achieve our vision, we aim to:

-foster an understanding within the Asian American community of the interconnectedness of the struggles of oppressed people.
-develop the leadership of Asian American students by providing them with tools and skills and effect change on their campuses and their communities.
-build collective power amongst Asian American students in order to work toward social and economic justice for all peoples.
-address inqualities and injustices within our diverse communities.

The 2007-2009 NAASCon board draws its representation from East Asian and Southeast Asian communities; by no means will this entail the exclusion of South Asian, West Asian, Pacific Islander, and mixed race communities and experiences from our board's work. Simultaneously, we recognize that Pacific Islanders may choose to identify as indigenous instead.

We acknowledge the intersectionality of the identities expressed by all members of our AA community, and we will fight for all oppressed peoples in order to advance our vision of a just and equitable society.

We consider "Asian American" to be term of empowerment and collective action; however, we recognize that it is a label that must be constantly reevaluated to support the needs of the ever-changing AA community. We hope to be progressive in our understanding of "AA", as the origins of this term are rooted in our past (and present) struggles to foster a sense of common identity and political self-determination. We will challenge the historical limitations of the term AA by embracing communities that have been historically marginalized or underrepresented in this umbrella, and we hope that you will join us in our efforts by engaging in this discussion, as well as give us important feedback on how we can achieve these goals.

NAASCon adopted the label "Asian American" because of its logic and purpose. The logic of personal investment in the term includes a shared history containing both positive experiences such as art, literature, culture, and struggles, as well as negative experiences of discrimination, hate crimes, prejudice, and endless anti-Asian legislation, actions, and stereotypes. The purpose of the label, which was born in struggle, is nothing less than the affirmation of our existence, a collective spirit that represents, both literally and figuratively, social and political power. However, unless we actively acknowledge the often-ignored ethnic groups, narratives and experiences contained under the label of "Asian American," such a label becomes problematic.

Current Affairs

The 2007-2009 NAASCon national board is comprised of current and former students from UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, the University of Arizona, the University of Michigan, Swarthmore College, Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Roanoke College, and Columbia University. Two AAA senior advisors, Christina Chen and Ryan Fukumori, currently serve on the board, as Executive Co-Chair and Communications Co-Chair, respectively.

The next conference, From Visions to Actions: Let's Get our Movements Going, was held from October 17-19, 2008, at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, as a collaborative effort between the national board and a conference board of students at Emory and other local colleges. The keynote speakers were Debbie Wei, a Philadelphia community organizer and a co-founder of the East Coast Asian American Student Union; and Deepa Iyer, the executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). Information about the conference can be found at http://naascon.org/conference