We at Asian American Resource Workshop would like to thank our countless volunteers and members, many of which have gone unacknowledged.  There have been many who have taken great leadership in generating and implementing all the projects and community work AARW has undertaken in its 25 years.  You are the ones who have made the organization what it has been over the last 25 years and tonight we are celebrating your hard work.

1979 – 1984 

Located at: 27 Beach St., Boston

Founding Steering Committee: Fred Ho, Ramsay Liem, Michael Liu, (1979-1980); Program Director, Peter Kiang, (1980-1986)

• Asian American Resource Center is established, spun off from the Boston Chapter of Pacific Asian Coalition (PAC) that included other established Asian American organizations as Visual Communications, LA, Kearny Street Workshop, SF, Basement Workshop, NYC, etc. 1977
• Incorporates as Asian American Resource Workshop, November 10th, 1979
• Organizes the first Boston exhibition of Asian American artists, 1979
• Organizes Asian American poetry, music and art coffeehouses, including the first performances by Southeast Asian refugee groups, 1980 onward
• Conducts art/culture workshops and classes, 1980 onwards
• Produces Asian American history and heritage calendars, 1980, 1982
• Leads workshops on Asian American history, identity and issues for schools and agencies, 1980 onwards
• Forms AARW Media Group and Chinese Folksinging Group, 1981
• Organizes Asian Lunar New Year celebrations that include pan-Asian and African American performances, 1981 onward
• Shows the first Asian American produced feature film, Hito Hata, Raise the Banner, 1981
• Collaborates in organizing Boston hearing of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Incarceration of Civilians, 1981
• Sponsors annual Day of Remembrance events to commemorate the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, beginning in 1982
• Sponsors China Film Week and Asian American International Film Festival, 1982, 1983
• Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of Chinese Exclusion Act with a multi-media production that includes the publication of booklet, Our Roots in History, 1982
• Initiates local Vincent Chin Support Committee, which evolves into the pan-Asian community coalition, Asian for Justice, 1983
• Produces videos, Boston Chinatown History, Staying Well, and a bilingual series on Chinatown culture, 1983-85
• Organizes Chinatown Cable Television conference, 1983
• Co-organizes Dragon Boat Festival, 1983
• Sponsors Asian American Artists Exhibition, 1984

1985 – 1989

Directors: Julian Low (1984-1986), Carlton Sagara, (1986-1987); Executive Director: Fred Dow, (1987-1989)

• Sponsors the Asian American Studies Seminar, 1984
• Produces video, Pei Lee: Portrait of a Chinese Teenager, 1984
• Leads campaign to bring justice for the stabbing death of Anh Mai, 1985
• Organizes East Wind, an art and culture forum, 1985
• Sponsors Asian American Studies Teachers Conference, 1985
• Works with community in support for Long Guang Huang, victim of police brutality, and produces the video, Long Road to Justice: The Case of Long Guang Huang, 1985
• Presents AARW Film & Forum Series, 1985-86
• Organizes Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week events. 1986-1992
• Produces the documentary video, Against the Zone, 1986
• Co-develops Southeast Asian Studies Curriculum Development Project with Chelmsford Public Schools and the Southeast Asian community, 1986
• Institutes Summer Internship Program, 1987
• Conducts an assessment of civil right needs of Asian Americans in Boston with the report, To Live in Peace: Responding to Anti-Asian Violence in Boston, 1987
• Produces documentary video on garment workers, Through Strength and Struggle, 1987
• Organizes Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week: 10th Year Celebration, America is in the Heart: The Strength and Spirit of Asian Americans Through Art and Culture, 1989
• Presents the film: Who Killed Vincent Chin, 1989

1990 – 1994

Located at: 34 Oak St., Boston (1991–1993), 160 Kneeland St., Boston (1993–2002)

Executive Director: Michael Liu (1990–1995)

• Publishes the first Massachusetts Asian Pacific American Directory, 1990
• Initiates Leadership Training Project to mentor and train young people to become effective leaders
• Initiates the creation of Asian Pacific American Agenda Coalition, 1991
• Researches and produces the background paper, Recognizing Poverty in Boston’s Asian American Community for Boston Foundation’s Boston Persistent Poverty Project, 1991
• Publishes The Asian American Comic Book, 1992
• Produces Day of Remembrance programs, 1992, 1993
• Produces the multi-media art installation: Welcome to Asian America, Challenging the Myths, 1993
• Organizes the Korean American and African American Relations Program
• Collaborates on Media Education Project, with Roxbury Community News and Hispanic Office for Planning and Evaluation to document the media’s biased portrayals of community of color
• Launches the Chinatown Voter Education/Registration Project with Chinese Progressive Association
•  Initiates the SafetyNet Violence Prevention Project to help victims of anti-Asian violence.
• Plays key role in the Coalition to Protect Parcel C for Chinatown, 1993
• Organizes book parties and receptions for Gish Jen, Laurence Yep, David Henry Hwang, Jade Ngoc Huynh, Roberta Uno, Karin Aguilar-San Juan, et al., 1991-1994
  

1995 – 1999

Executive Directors: Michael Liu (1995), Koshy Mathews (1995-1996), Tracey Tsugawa (1996-98), Anne Marie Booth (1998-2002)

• Organizes art exhibit for Day of Remembrance: Threading History: The Japanese American Experience, 1995
• Produces art installation, Welcome to Asian America 2: Visualizing a New World, 1995
• Organizes Welcome to Asian America:’96: Drama, Poetry, & Dance, 1996
• Initiates Neighborhood Information Network (NIN), formerly Community Information and Technology Project
• (Launches) Organizes Asian American Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• Co-sponsors the 1st Boston Asian American Creative Music Festival, 1997
• Publishes The Massachusetts Asian Pacific American Directory, 1996, 1998

2000 – 2004

Located at: 33 Harrison Ave., Boston (2002-present)

Executive Directors: Anne Marie Booth (1998-2002), Eun-Joung Lee (2002-2004), Director of Programs: Ching-In Chen (current)

• Brings back the potluck discussion series, 2000
• Brings Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American who challenged the constitutionality of the Japanese American internment, to the Boston area as part of its Asian American Film & Video Festival, 2001
• Co-sponsors 60th anniversary Day of Remembrance program, After Pearl Harbor and 9/11: Civil Liberties Under Threat, 2002
• Joins 12 APA groups to call on New Hampshire attorney general to prosecute the killing of Thung Phetakoune, an elderly Laotian American, by his neighbor, 2001
• Co-produces CreAsian, a pan-Asian art festival, with Boston Center for the Arts, 2001
• The Sticky Rice Project: Uniting Asian Americans Through Anti-racist Education is born, 2001
• Launches the Eating History program, a series of discussions for the Asian American community in greater Boston to learn about our diverse histories and communities, 2002
• Joins in the nation-wide demonstrations against Abercrombie & Fitch, for retailing racist T-shirts featuring demeaning images of Asians, 2002
• Co-sponsors a community briefing on Asian American women’s issues, 2002
• Co-sponsors a roundtable discussion about the Asian American student movement with Azine, 2002
• Hosts a talk with activist author Helen Zia, Our Face in America: Wen Ho Lee and Our History of Mistaken Identity, 2002
• Over 200 community members, including youths, attend Eating History, Beyond Shaq and Yao: A Cross-Community Dialogue about Black-Asian Relations, 2003
• Joins with other Northeast and Asian American groups to protest the US invasion of Iraq, 2003