On Monday, Nathan Vuong and Heidi Lau led a session on bystander intervention. During the pandemic and in the wake of a rapid rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, I often wondered what I would do if an act of hate or violence happened to me or the people around me. Nervous about endangering myself and the people around me, or accidentally escalating the situation, my natural instinct in most situations is to freeze. Thus, I’m glad to have learned the 5 Ds of bystander intervention from our speakers: Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct. The session encouraged us to affirm our concerns about the situation as true and decide which tactic would be most beneficial to employ. I’m looking forward to sharing what I learned and empowering my family members to feel confident about intervening safely to stand up for members of our community from hate and violence.
Nathan Vuong and Heidi Lau during Bystander Intervention Training.
Ben Tran from Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California led a session about policy advocacy. Ben laid out several priorities that nonprofits, legislators, and community leaders are working on, notably funding, language accessibility, mental health, education, data disaggregation, and anti-Asian hate and discrimination. He noted several important bills moving through the California State Legislature that are pertinent to AAPI communities, including Assembly Bill 1084 Bilingual Oriented Social Equity Services and Assembly Bill 1248 to mandate Independent Redistricting Commissions. The legislative process is a high-level process I view as often symbolic wins that depend on accurate and thoughtful implementation to achieve its intended impacts. Important bills being signed into law in California cannot be exciting in and of itself until we know that they will be implemented well to actually support and serve communities. I think often about the spectrum of change and where I can envision myself working in service of the public. In addition to electing good legislators and representatives, It’s also important to consider how we can strengthen downstream work — outreach, direct services, and casework.
We closed the first day of Week 6 by meeting the city councilmembers of Monterey Park. I was particularly interested to hear them list the priorities they’re working on for their city. Beyond a controversial crisis over Tiny Homes in my senior year of high school, I’m curious to know what my elected officials believe to be the core issues of our communities. Despite being born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, I often feel as if I have no real understanding of the issues my neighbors and my community are facing. I left our meet-and-greet thinking primarily about mental health, housing, and economic empowerment but am inspired to continue to learn more about what other issues I believe to be impacting the San Gabriel Valley and predominantly Asian-American cities by extension.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Emma Chen, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.