Shirley Shia and CAPA-BC preparation group (Feb 2023)
I believe that many of you have more or less heard of the Chinese American Parent Association (CAPA) organized by Jean Xu from Howard County. This is a non-partisan, non-profit organization formed by Chinese American parents a few years ago. Its main purpose is to establish a strong Chinese American community and promote Chinese American participation in mainstream American social affairs, such as education, non-partisan elections, and so on. The organization has successfully lobbied for a day off on the lunar New Year in Howard County public schools and helped several Chinese American candidates get elected to the local Board of Education. Currently, CAPA has nine branches in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Through years of hard work, CAPA has achieved remarkable results in many counties and greatly enhanced the civic engagement of the local Chinese American community.
CAPA-BC (Chinese American Parent Association of the Baltimore Community) started relatively early. You may still remember the turbulent atmosphere in American society during the 2016 presidential election. In early 2016, we organized the Chinese American community in Baltimore to march in Washington D.C. in support of Peter Liang. Before the 2016 election, I published many articles under the pen name "Xiake Xing" to guide Chinese American voters and call for unity among Chinese Americans. In 2016 and 2017, we organized students to speak at the Baltimore County Public School Board of Education (BCPS BOE) to push for a day off on the Lunar New Year. In 2017, we organized for many people to go to Annapolis and Baltimore County to oppose illegal immigration, among other things. Later, due to various reasons, CAPA-BC's work did not continue. One of said various reasons was that I was building a nationwide professional Chinese American Cancer Research association, which took up a lot of my time.
Recently, I learned that the Baltimore County Public School issued a professional development day day on the Lunar New Year in the winter of 2023. Although this matter is not directly related to our past efforts, it made me very emotional. It was like a seed that was casually planted many years ago has unexpectedly blossomed. The children who participated in the speeches at that time also benefited greatly from this process. My two sons were in 8th grade and 5th grade at that time. I still remember when we went to the BOE meetings, my younger brother led the adults in reciting The Pledge of Allegiance in his childish voice. When I told my sons that there would be a school day off on the Lunar New Year this year, they were also very happy. I believe that this experience will have a positive impact on all the children who participated in the activities. Therefore, I have decided that it is time to reinvest in a new round of planting and nurturing and fully launch the work of CAPA-BC.
Another aspect is that after three years of the pandemic, I, among many others, have realized that all existing governments, regardless of their structure, have their own drawbacks. As first-generation immigrants, we face many unexpected situations, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to a few balloons. Any changes in the US-China relationship can feel like a mountain pressing on us. In unfavorable situations for immigrants, whether we are being organized or not can make a huge difference because the power and voice of just one individual is too weak. Next year is an election year, and who knows what unexpected situations will arise. Since we have come to the United States and our children have grown up here, this is our home! We should unite and help each other, build a strong community, participate as much as possible in local civil society construction, and voice our opinions for ourselves and for the next generation! The impact of the government on us as Chinese Americans is another reason why I decided to reestablish CAPA-BC.
Although our county's work is a bit behind, our advantage is that we can learn from the experience of CAPA in other counties and avoid making unnecessary mistakes, thus achieving greater success with less effort. Additionally, in recent years, the Chinese American community has become more aware of their participation in American society, and everyone hopes to establish a strong community. Unlike a few years ago, when few people responded to requests for help and contributions, I had doubts about the future. In the recent preparation work for CAPA-BC, I received great support from many friends, including volunteers, selfless donors, and the leadership of the Baltimore Chinese school, which greatly encouraged me. I am confident in building a grassroots organization with everyone and promoting local Chinese American people to expand outward.
Recently, I have registered our organization in the state. A few days ago, our first group of volunteers had a meeting to discuss the goals and priorities of the organization. Our main goal is to cultivate the civic engagement skills of Chinese Americans (both first and second generations) and to understand and participate in the operation of American society. Our focus is on topics of common concern to Chinese American people: education, healthcare, and elections. In education, we will develop the leadership and public speaking skills of second-generation Chinese Americans, organize youth to participate in internship activities at local government departments, participate in community servicechine and public welfare activities, and support lectures related to university applications. In healthcare, many Chinese Americans in our city work at Hopkins, Johns Hopkins University, NIH, and GBMC and can use our professional knowledge to help the local government more effectively use social resources to deal with epidemics, aging, and other issues. We believe that as first-generation immigrants, retirement is a problem we will have to face in the future. Regarding elections, we will conduct some non-partisan activities, such as dialogues with elected officials and promoting Chinese American voting. We will provide detailed introductions to various activities in future series.
Speaking of the organization, we cannot avoid discussing start-up funds, including registration, website construction, invitation of speakers, and activity funds. We have raised some funds, but it is still far from enough. If you agree with our ideas and want to serve the community with us, please lend a helping hand and donate to support us. Our current goal is $1500, and we suggest that each family donate $50. Our organization's operation, especially in finance, will adhere to the principle of openness and transparency, and we will report to stakeholders every year. Currently, we are preparing our bylaws and welcome everyone to participate in the discussion about the bylaws. In a democratic and consultative manner, we will establish principles and methods for the operation of our organization.
But please believe us, we need your participation and the participation of your children more than we need funds because an organization cannot survive on the efforts of a few volunteers alone. The good news is that by participating in the process, children can learn many things that cannot be learned in textbooks, such as how to organize activities, how to deal with people effectively, and how to solve problems. These soft skills are especially important in the era of ChatGPT's existence!
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