Asian American entertainers Kollaborate for free virtual weekend of empowerment

By Louis Chan

ASAM NEWS

Asian Americans from the arts, entertainment and new media will gather this weekend virtually for a free conference meant to inspire and empower members of the community.
This year's speakers and performers include AJ Rafael (artist), Lynn Chen (director/actress I Will Make You Mine), Sherry Cola (Good Trouble) Iram Parveen Bilal (I’ll Meet You There, director), Andrew Ahn (Driveways, Director) Andrew Ahn (Driveways, director), Ashima Shiraish (American rock climber) and Jeff Staple (Stapel Design).

“Through this conference, we aim to create important conversations between industry leaders and aspiring creatives, artists and professionals that will not only help grow this community but also stimulate awareness and movements,” conference spokesperson Sung Choe said to AsAmNews. 

“During this pandemic, there are a lot of difficulties we, as a community, must face, and Kollaboration wants to do what it can in order to provide a place for empowerment.”

In this time of high unemployment and uncertainty, the conference will also offer information about career paths, industries and best practices to turn your dreams into reality, according to Choe.

The virtual conference will feature eight panels and guest performances that will be streaming on Facebook and YouTube live.

Attendance is free. You can register at empower.kollaboration.org.

TGIF FEATURE: OK, millennials, it's time to register to vote!

REPRINTED FROM ASAM NEWS

ASIAN/AMERICANS are the fastest-growing minority group in the U.S. and will command buying power in excess of $1 trillion by 2018. Yet half of all Asian Americans do not vote, including just 37 percent of Asian/Americans aged 18 to 34, representing one of the lowest voter participation rates of any racial or ethnic demographic.

To help close this gap in a critical election year, #IAmAsianAmerican  — a new initiative formed in conjunction with APIAVote (apiavote.org), Kollaboration (www.kollaboration.org) and 18 Million Rising (18MR.org) — is launching this campaign to engage Asian American millennials to become active participants in the electoral process.

On October 16, 2016, #IAAA aims to register at least 15,000 new voters with a first-ever national concert event taking place in four cities with major Asian American populations: New York, Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. 

The free events will combine food, live music and speakers and on-the-ground engagement in each city — including a flagship red-carpet celebrity event at Los Angeles’s historic Wiltern Theater, expected to draw 2,000 attendees, which will also be live-streamed to the three other participating cities and locations across the country. CLICK HERE to secure your individual or group tickets for the FREE concert in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles event will be emceed by comedians Jenny Yang (Comedy Comedy Festival; Buzzfeed Video) and Parvesh Cheena (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), and will feature as headliners a cappella sensations The Filharmonic (Pitch Perfect 2) and America’s Best Dance Crew champions Poreotics, as well as a selection of artists from 18 Million Rising’s just-released album Voices of Our Vote, YouTube superstar AJ Rafael and K-pop wunderkind / star of Nickelodeon’s Make It Pop! Megan Lee — as well as many other celebrity performers, speakers and presenters, to be announced.

For information about the free concert in New York, Chicago and Virginia/DC, see below.

Long Island City Landing
52-10 Center Blvd, Long Island City, NY
5-10pm

EDEN CENTER
6751 Wilson Boulevard, Falls Church, VA
5-10PM

#iamasianamerican Chicago
BUTTERCUP PARK
4927 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL
6-10PM