Please join us for the fourth webinar of the series on the "China Initiative," Legal Resources and Policy Advocacy: How to Combat Racial Profiling Under the “China Initiative,” on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 8pm ET/ 7pm CT/ 6pm MT/ 5pm PT/ 3pm HT.
The recent acts of violence and the rise in Anti-Asian hate, along with the government’s heightened scrutiny and racial profiling of scientists and researchers of Asian and Chinese descent, particularly through the Department of Justice’s “China Initiative,” have caused immeasurable harm to the Asian American community, leaving lives in shambles and eroding the health of our democracy. This comprehensive webinar takes a deeper dive into how we can empower impacted persons and the broader Asian American and immigrant community to take action to protect their civil rights and advocate for policy reform. Policy makers, civil rights organizations, and the academic community will share their insights on topics including policy and advocacy engagement, access to available legal resources, and building narratives to lift up the voices of impacted people and combat xenophobia.
If you missed the previous webinars or want to view the recordings, please click on the links below.
Frank H. Wu serves as the eleventh President of Queens College, City University of New York. Prior to joining theCity University of New York (CUNY) system, Frank served as Chancellor & Dean, and then William L. Prosser Distinguished Professor at University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Before joining UC Hastings, he was a member of the faculty at Howard University, the nation’s leading historically black college/university (HBCU), for a decade. Frank is the author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White. Prior to his academic career, he held a clerkship with the late U.S. District Judge Frank J. Battisti in Cleveland and practiced law with the firm of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco – while there, he devoted a quarter of his time to pro bono work on behalf of indigent clients. He received a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. with honors from the University of Michigan.
John C. Yang is the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC in Washington, D.C., where he leads the organization’s mission to advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all through policy advocacy, education, and litigation. He has served in leadership positions for the American Bar Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, among many others. Prior to Advancing Justice | AAJC, John had served as a political appointee in the Obama Administration addressing U.S. trade and economics, the Asia-Pacific Legal Director based in Shanghai, China, of a Fortune 200 company, and as a partner at a large DC-based law firm. He also serves on the diversity council for several Fortune 500 U.S. companies. John is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Susan C. Lee is the Maryland State Senator and Senate Majority Whip. She is an attorney and has served in the Maryland State Senate since 2015 and also was in the Maryland House of Delegates for 13 years. She is a founder and past Chair of the Maryland Legislative Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus; former President of the Women’s Legislative Caucus; and is the first Asian American elected to the Maryland State Senate. Susan has been a leader in passing landmark laws to fight domestic violence, human and labor trafficking, child and senior abuse, sexual assault, hate crimes, home invasions, crimes against immigrants, gun violence, pay inequity, identity theft, cybercrimes, and online fraud and to support education, civil rights, telehealth, privacy rights, cybersecurity and bioscience.
Patrick Toomey is a Senior Staff Attorney in the ACLU National Security Project, where he works on issues related to surveillance and privacy, racial profiling and discrimination, and national security prosecutions. Patrick is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. After law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Nancy Gertner, U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts, and to the Hon. Barrington D. Parker, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Moderator:
Michael German is a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice, where he focuses on intelligence and law enforcement oversight and reform. Michael previously served as an FBI special agent for 16 years, and as national security policy counsel at the ACLU. He is the author of Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy, published by The New Press in 2019.
