2023 October - December Event Recap
AJC Diversity Breakfast
A few OCA-WHV board members attended the annual Diversity Breakfast on Thursday, 11/16/23 at WCC from 7:30 to 10 AM.
Mental Health Projects and Events Oct. - Dec.
A series of Mental Health seminors and events have beening held in Scarsdale, Edgemont, Ardsley, Chappaqua, and India Center of Westchester at Hawthorne for seniors, teens and their parents.
Corky Lee Way Sign Unveiling, NYC. Sun. Oct. 22, 4 pm - 8 pm
More than 200 people (maybe close to 300) attended the remarkable event! The speakers from government, OCA, community, family and friends highlighted Corky’s contribution to our community. The Corky Lee song after the sign unveiling was a sweet hit. People waited in the chilly street for almost an hour to watch the videos about Corky. A crowd of 30ish people were still dancing at the corner of Corky Lee Way at 8 pm, which made the place the hottest spot in the dark. Seven OCA-WHV members showed up to support. Here are the photos and a few short clips.
Double Ninth Celebration at Edgemont
The 2023 Double Ninth Celebration at Edgemont Greenville Elementary School was held on Sat. Oct. 21, 2:30pm - 5:30 pm. 29 senior participants attended the event to meet other seniors in the local community. They played interactive games, board games, cards, or chatting. Psychiatrist Dr. Tan gave a one hour anxiety preventive seminar before a lottery for all participants. Many seniors expressed their thankfulness to OCA-WHV for providing the opportunity. 5 volunteers from Edgemont Chinese Association helped on room setup, signup desk, food/lottery tickets distribution and cleanup. OCA-WHV will collect feedback and adjust the program accordingly for the next event in November. Photos.
Annual Meet the Candidates Forum Tues. Oct. 17, 6 pm
OCA-WHV co-sponsors the event with Pace University for the past decade. Candidates for elective offices attended the forum. They shared their perspectives to the AAPI residents in Westchester, answered questions raised by the audience. Many AAPI residents are first-gen immigrants who are not familiar with the political system, we hope this forum help to connect the candidates with the AAPI communities. Photos.
Chinese New Year Film Series, The Nightingal. Sat. 10/14/23 10 am - 12 pm
Commemoration of the 12th Anniversary of Private Danny Chen's Passing
During the two plus year advocacy campaign to seek justice for Danny, several OCA chapters, including OCA-WHV, helped in: sign petitions, participated in the video, "Bring it Home", sent birthday cards to commemorate what would have been his 20th birthday, attended the court martials, and the debut of the original opera, An American Soldier at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. OCA National also helped to secure meetings at the Pentagon with the community to work on addressing hazing in the military. Phtotos.
In each of the 12 past years, the OCA chapters in New York and New Jersey have co-sponsored the yearly commemoration of Pvt. Danny Chen's death. OCA-WHV President Jaclyn Liu, EVP Dan Lewis, and Mr. Bill Kaung represented OCA-WHV went Manhattan to show our support.
2023 June - September Event Recap
Mooncake Night Market @ ArtsWestchester Fri. 9/24, 5pm-9pm
Despite the heavy rain, hundreds of participants enjoyed hands-on workshops in Chinese calligraphy, lantern making, mooncake stamping, decorative knotting, origami and more, as well as performances by award-winning artists. Performances featured the mysterious and colorful Bian Lian “face changing” mask dance of the Sichuan opera, Chinese and Korean instrumental music, and a variety of folk and traditional dances. We celebrated the magic of the full-harvest moon with an evening of music, dance, craft, food, and private karaoke all night! Photos.
Co-organized by ArtsWestchester and OCA-WHV.
Chinese New Year Film Series, Hi Mom! Sat. 9/16/23 2-4 PM
Hi Mom! is another Chinese movie event that OCA-WHV sponsors, It was a huge success with audiences close to 100! We provided traditional Chinese snack and introduced OCA’s mission and activities to the audience at Scarsdale Public Library.
2023 OCA 4-Chapters & CAA Annual Summer Family Picnic Sat. 9/16/23 11 am-4 pm
OCA New Jersey hosted the annual four chapter picnic at the beautiful Van Saun Conty Park. more than 50 people attended the picnic, we chatted with friends while enjoying the delicious foods. Different generations team up representing each group to 'compete' in various Olympic games that are either intelligence or physically challenging. Photos.
A group of Asian American high school interns gethered together to discuss various topics that Asian Americans related topics, including Affirmative Action, Asian American Representation, Mental Health, Model Minority Myth, Advocacy etc, . Interns learned more about Asian American history, gained better understanding of OCA-WHV as an advocacy non-profit organization, as well as improved their leadership skills through the reading project. Photos
Ten high school interns prepared six reading sessions for 4-7 years old students, the topics cover AAPI Kids Diversity & Inclusion. Hundreds of students and their caregivers enjoyed the stories and activities. We received very positive respons from the parents and the libary. Looking forward to next year's program.
2023 April - June Event Recap
The 26th Annual Asian American Heritage Festival was held on Saturday June 3rd, 2023, 12pm - 6pm at Kensico Dam Plaza, Valhalla, NY 10595. Nearly 6 hours performances featuring Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnanese etc. ethnic dances, and live songs, attracted thousands of local residents and many vendors. see more
The 2023 APA-Youth Advocate Leadership Training was held on Sunday (06/11/2023) at the Scarsdale Public Library, which is sponsored by OCA National annually. This half-day interactive seminar was specifically designed for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) high school students, aiming to empower AAPI youth with valuable resources and guidance for advocacy leadership. 24 students attended the event.
In Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of OCA, OCA-WHV held the Dance Night Party on Saturday May 6th, 7-10pm. About 50 ~ 60 OCA-WHV members and friends enjoyed a night of various dances and met new and old friends.
AAPI Month Film Screening : And Then They Came For Us
Thur. May 18th. 7 pm at White Plains Library
The guest speaker Mr. Takeshi “Tak” Furumoto, from New Jersey, born in one of the internment camps. He presented the documentary film of Japanese internment in the 1940’s And Then They Came For Us. He shared his experiences during this period and follow by discussion on this period in the USA’s history. About 60 people from various ethnic groups attended the event.
NYC 2nd Annual Heritage Parade
Sunday May 21, 2023
The AAPI Heritage Month Parade commemorates and celebrates Asians and Pacific Islanders cultures in the United States, and pays tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and contributed to America’s growth and prosperity. Four OCA chapters (New Jersey, Long Island, New York and Westchester/Hudson Valley) joined the NYC's 2nd Annual Cultural and Heritage Parade on May 21, 2023. Celebrated the Heritage Month together!
2023 Jan. - Mar. Event Recap
Tue. 1/24/23 Lunar New Year Celebration With County Executive Latimer 5:30-7 PM
OCA-WHV President Jaclyn Liu and board members attended the Lunar New Year Celebration held by County Executive George Latimer. Representing OCA-WHV, Jaclyn accepted a proclamation from County Executive Latimer.
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Sat. 2/4/23 Annual Retreat 9 AM - 2 PM
The OCA-WHV board of directors’ annual retreat was held on Feb 4, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. We welcomed four new board members -- Jeanhee Chung, Bing Dang, Liping Jiang, and Kasama Star. After board member self-introductions, Jean Chang briefly refreshed the board on Robert’s Rules of Order. Jaclyn outlined structure changes in board positions and filled all positions after talking with her fellow board members. In the afternoon, Meow reviewed 2022 accomplishments and the board set goals for 2023.
Sun. 2/12/23 Chinese New Year Film Series, NaZha 7-9:30 PM
OCA-WHV co-sponsored a program with the Chappaqua Library that was led by the Chappaqua High School Chinese Club. OCA-WHV board member Meow Yee gave an overview of OCA to the audience, and we talked about the Corky Lee Street Co-naming project our chapter is sponsoring. Almost one hundred people watched the movie “Na Zha” in Mandarin with English subtitles. The movie, which incorporates modern film technology to creatively present Chinese culture, was humorous and entertaining and was particularly enjoyed by the younger attendees.
Sun. 2/12/23 MANNGO At Scarsdale Public Library 1 - 4 PM
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The MAANGO team (Making Asian American Noticeably Grow Outwards), is a group of high school students who have researched and created a series of interactive lectures on AAPI history. They are recruiting and training more student instructors to teach through various venues such as weekend schools, cultural centers, and high school clubs. The event was well attended, with a culturally diverse audience including students from several Westchester high schools and some parents. OCA-WHV sponsored the event. The MAANGO team organized the event through presentations, games, and discussions to introduce their AAPI history education materials and teaching plans. Dr. Bing Dang, our VP of Youth Programs, gave a brief speech to introduce OCA to the audience and invited them to sign up for our Young OCA (YOCA) group.
Sun. 2/12/23 HXGNY Chinese New Year Celebration 2 - 5 PM
The Huaxia Chinese School of Greater New York Lunar New Year celebration attracted hundreds of families, teachers, and sponsors. OCA Vice President of Membership, Grace Pan, hosted the OCA-WHV desk in the afternoon to talk to visitors and promote OCA-WHV programs.
Sun. 2/12/23 Annual Lunar New Year Parade In Chinatown 10:30 AM -3 PM
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OCA WHV participated with our sister OCA chapters (NY, NJ, LI), Chinese Adoptee Alliance (CAA, formerly Families with Children from China) and the Chinese Progressive Association in the New York City Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade on February 12 with a private pre-parade party beforehand to kick off the festivities. A wonderful time was had by all with a lion dance and lots of food at the party plus warm and sunny marching weather. Join us next year. The more the merrier!
Sat. 2/18/23 Hudson River Museum Lunar New Year Celebration 1 - 4 PM
The Lunar New Year Celebration at the Hudson River Museum was another successful event that OCA-WHV supports. We facilitated a Lion Dance, Origami, Chinese calligraphy, a Tai Chi demonstration, and Chinese folk dance in addition to a special showing of The Sky Tonight: The Sky Lore of China, featuring traditional Chinese constellations planned by the museum. The event attracted over 500 attendees.
Sat. 2/18/23 WACA Chinese New Year Celebration 2 - 6 PM
Many kids and families visited the OCA-WHV booth at the WACA festival. Our young volunteers helped them with origami, face painting, and balloon twisting. We gave away many complex origami foldings, almost 200 balloon bunnies, swords, flowers, etc. People also signed the Corky Lee Co-naming petition. Almost half of our board members helped at the event, introducing OCA-WHV programs to our visitors.
Sat. 2/18/23 NAACP White Plains Greenburgh film showing of Selma
OCA-WHV joined our partner, the NAACP of White Plains/Greenburgh for a film showing of Selma, the telling of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama, in 1965. This was one of the most important events in the civil rights movement chronicling the tremendous discrimination and blockage of the Black right to vote in the South, even after segregation was repealed. The march resulted in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and is something we can all learn from. This video is available from the Westchester Library System -- Selma by Ava DuVernay. Watch the trailer.
Sun. 2/19/23 Corky Lee Photographic Justice Film Viewing and Filmmaker Discussion
OCA-WHV attended the film screening and discussion with the filmmakers of “Photographic Justice – the Corky Lee Story” about renowned Asian American photographer, historian, and activist, Corky Lee, who passed away from Covid two years ago. OCA Westchester is working with our sister OCA chapters (LI, NY and NJ), CAA (Chinese Adoptee Alliance, formerly Families with Children from China) and Think!Chinatown, to co-name Mosco Street in NYC Chinatown in Corky’s memory.
For over 50 years, Corky was constantly photographing and advocating for the Asian American community in NYC and across the nation. He was in Detroit after Vincent Chin was killed by white auto workers, photographed police brutality against Chinese residents in Chinatown, worked with Sikh Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans and others, co-founded the Asian American Journalists Association and so much more. OCA WHV had a long relationship with Corky.
Stay tuned for more information on the Mosco Street Corky Lee Way co-naming effort.
For over 50 years, Corky was constantly photographing and advocating for the Asian American community in NYC and across the nation. He was in Detroit after Vincent Chin was killed by white auto workers, photographed police brutality against Chinese residents in Chinatown, worked with Sikh Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans and others, co-founded the Asian American Journalists Association and so much more. OCA WHV had a long relationship with Corky.
Stay tuned for more information on the Mosco Street Corky Lee Way co-naming effort.