By Melody Wang
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Concerned Asian Pacific Students for Action wants American
society to look through different eyes ““ A.P.
“Eyes” to be exact.
CAPSA is hosting a two-week long multimedia exhibit in the
Kerckhoff Art Gallery titled “A.P. “˜Eyes’ ““
Reflection on Youth: Past, Present, Future.”
The exhibit will feature various types of art, including
performances, videos, paintings and photos, dealing with the issues
of the Asian Pacific Islander community.
“We called it A.P. “˜Eyes’ instead of
“˜APIs’ for Asian Pacific Islander because it’s
our experiences and histories through our own eyes, instead of
other people telling us what our histories and experiences
are,” said Kei Nagao, external communications
coordinator.
Education and Activism Coordinator Bryant Tan added that the
main goal of “A.P. “˜Eyes'” is to empower
youths not to accept any stereotypes about APIs.
The exhibit began Monday evening with “Blast Off!”
which featured spoken-word artists and recognized those who
submitted work.
“I’m really happy and I think we have a lot of great
work,” said Tiffany Eng, internal communications coordinator
for CAPSA. “We just wanted to make sure we had a lot of
different perspectives and focused on different issues such as
gender, race and sexuality.”
She added that art can reach a lot of different people because
it’s so accessible.
Future events will consist of forums and films to promote
discussions on issues such as hate crimes, veterans benefits and
media representations of APIs.
Wednesday evening, Samahang Pilipino and the Nikkei Student
Union will co-sponsor “Community Justice” with CAPSA.
The discussion will focus on some of the ongoing struggles in the
Asian Pacific Islander community.
“We need to have a voice for APIs,” Tan said.
“We’re not recognized.”
The program will also include bringing youth to the campus to
teach them leadership skills and to encourage higher education.
Tan said that CAPSA members decided to place an emphasis on
children this year as a direct response to Proposition 21, which he
said makes all children seem like criminals and gangsters.
“We know that’s not the truth,” Tan said.
“Prop. 21 is a direct attack on youth.”
Proposition 21, passed by voters in March, lowered the age at
which people can be tried as adults and increased penalties for
certain crimes, among other things.
Nagao said that the artwork of children from the age of eight
will also be displayed throughout the two weeks.
“We’re displaying their work so that they feel like
they’re part of something,” she said.
CAPSA members came up with the idea for a two-week long exhibit
because last year’s one-week program was a success.
“People got a lot out of it,” Eng said. “We
reached out to a lot of people and we wanted to make it an annual
event.”
Tan said that he hopes the event will continue expanding in the
following years.
“Who knows, maybe one day it might not all fit in the
Kerckhoff Art Gallery,” he said.
While the program does focus on API culture and issues, Nagao
said it is important that people not of API descent attend the
events as well.
“I think others will get just as much out of it as
everyone else,” Nagao said. “We’re all learning
together through cultural awareness. It doesn’t matter who
you are.”
For more information on upcoming events, e-mail
[email protected].