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One hundred years ago this month, the U.S. passed the Immigration Act of 1924 (the Johnson-Reed Act), which banned all immigration to the U.S. from Asia. As we commemorate this dark chapter in U.S. history, Asian American communities again face xenophobic rhetoric and policies similar to the pre-Johnson-Reed era.
Please join us in conversation with three Asian American news media leaders serving communities that have been targeted by xenophobic violence and policies in the past – and which face similar threats today: Denver’s Chinatown, destroyed in 1880 by a racist mob; New York City’s Little Syria, destroyed in 1946 by immigration policies and urban planning; and Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, targeted by Executive Order 9066, mandating the forced removal of Japanese Americans during WW2.
How does inflammatory rhetoric in the run-up to the 2024 election mirror the pre-Johnson-Reed era? How are Asian American publishers navigating rising discrimination from Sinophobic property bans to anti-Arab censorship, and what lessons can we learn from the survival and resilience of earlier AAPI news media?
If you have any questions, contact Kavitha at kavitha.rajagopalan@journalism.cuny.edu.
Register for “AAPI Media: Resilience and Rebirth”
Panelists
Annie Guo VanDan (she/her/hers) is the co-founder and president of Asian Avenue magazine, a monthly publication that lifts up the stories of Denver’s Asian communities. She is also the executive director of the nonprofit Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network, where she works to create equitable spaces and opportunities for Asian American Pacific Islanders. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, her family immigrated to Denver in 1988. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia’s journalism school and a Maynard 200 Fellow, a fellowship program for journalists of color.
Adnan Khalil is publisher and editor-in-chief of Al Hawadeth for Arab Americans, a monthly Arabic-language newspaper in New York City and New Jersey. He was born in Jordan to Palestinian refugees, and enjoyed a career as a banking strategic planner and trade union leader before immigrating to the U.S. in 2013. He launched Al Hawadeth the same year. He holds a BSc in physics and sociology from the University of Jordan.
Michael Komai is publisher of Rafu Shimpo, a bilingual Japanese-English daily newspaper based in Los Angeles, California’s Little Tokyo neighborhood. Komai is the third-generation publisher of the newspaper, which has published continuously since 1903 – except during the forcible internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The Center for Community Media’s Asian Media Initiative is the first national program dedicated to building visibility and sustainability in in-language and community-based news media for and by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Launched in 2022, the AMI published the first national AAPI Media Map & Directory in December 2023.