AsianWeek, the most widely read Asian Pacific American newspaper in the United States, is committed to promoting and participating in events that celebrate the diversity of our community. We play an active role in organizing and publicizing Bay Area festivals, sponsoring and hosting community events, and spreading health awareness on Hepatitis B. Here’s a look at some of our community involvement and descriptions of organizations we have partnered with.

FESTIVALS

AsianWeek promotes cross-cultural and interracial cooperation with major outdoor events in San Francisco, including the Castro Street Fair, Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival Street Fair, Haight-Ashbury Street Fair and Nihonmachi Street Fair. AsianWeek also plays an active role in the planning committee for the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, and Pistahan Filipino Parade and Festival.

Asian Heritage Street Celebration

A celebration of all Asian cultures, the goal of the annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration is to promote and foster Asian Pacific American identity by bringing together the APA community and encouraging the sharing of differences and appreciation of diversity. The Street Celebration features live entertainment, scrumptious pan-Asian cuisine, more than 150 arts and crafts and food booths, a popular karaoke contest, J-cars and more! The AsianWeek Foundation, working with more than 50 other community groups and representing over 525,000 members and associates in the San Francisco area, hosts San Francisco’s largest all-Asian event each year. The location of the street fair rotates each year to showcase the different Asian enclaves in San Francisco.

Castro Street Fair

The Fair is centered at the intersection of Castro and Market Streets, right in the heart of the Castro district. It is always scheduled for the first Sunday in October and is one of the biggest street fairs in San Francisco.

Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival

During the Moon Festival, Chinatown’s historic Grant Avenue becomes a pedestrian-only bazaar with live entertainment between California and Broadway, and Pacific Street between Stockton and Kearny. Admission is free.

Haight-Ashbury Street Fair

The Haight-Ashbury Street Fair is a nonprofit organization, dedicated to celebrating the cultural history and diversity of one of San Francisco’s most internationally celebrated neighborhoods — the Haight-Ashbury district. The annual street fair features arts and crafts, food booths, two musical stages and more.

Nihonmachi Street Fair

The Nihonmachi Street Fair has been a platform where Asian and Pacific Islander nonprofit organizations participate to raise much-needed funds and spark awareness. The Nihonmachi Street Fair is an important outreach tool that has continued to serve these communities.

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival started as a great display of Japanese cultural heritage and pride. Community groups came together in the spirit of unity, some taking form for the first time in order to participate in the Festival. Throughout the 40 years, it has grown to encompass the many facets of the Japanese community. Throughout the two weekends, the streets of Japantown become a live stage where guests have the opportunity to see Japanese dancing, singing, martial arts demonstrations, as well as taste traditional and nontraditional Japanese delicacies.

Pistahan Filipino Parade and Festival

Experience the best of Filipino art, dance, music and food, including celebrity world-class entertainment, cultural exhibits, the “Adobo Cook-off” and the largest Filipino parade on the West Coast! The annual festival takes place in August at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

6th Street Fair

Bringing the entire Sixth Street community together in an all-embracing spirit of love, respect, diversity, and acceptance, the fair combines music, dance, and entertainment provided by multi-ethnic and multi-generational artists from the local community with access to free community resources. The joyful event celebrates creativity and life and offers our less fortunate sisters, brothers, elders, and children a welcomed respite from the struggles in their daily life.
The mission of Positively 6th Street Fair is to connect local residents, some of whom are homeless or formerly homeless, with tools for personal change, improve the perceived image and reality of the neighborhood through positive celebration, increase community cohesion, demonstrate that Sixth Street is home to a viable community, provide positive role models and sources of entertainment for inner-city youth, and support the local economy through apolitical means.

SPONSORSHIPS

AsianWeek sponsors APA events that celebrate and communicate our diversity and richness. AsianWeek can provide your nonprofit group or event with advertisements, editorial support, website exposure and electronic announcements. With a circulation of approximately 50,000 and a popular website, AsianWeek’s media sponsorships are a great way to publicize your event. Please fill out the questionnaire form (click here for the form in Word format). Once we receive your form, we will review it and contact you if we are able to be a media sponsor. Here are some of the organizations and events AsianWeek has been pleased to support:

AIDS Walk San Francisco

Benefiting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and other HIV/AIDS organizations serving the six Bay Area counties, the walk takes place every year.

APA | FIVE

APA | FIVE originated in early 2006 when its founders realized the need for more organized, structured leadership and mentorship opportunities in the Asian Pacific American community, across all professions. They are hosting a leadership conference on Aug. 31 to Sept. 2.

Asian Community Night With the Oakland A’s

AsianWeek is one of the community sponsors for the Aug. 3, 2007, fundraiser for the Asian Community Mental Health Services. We have been a proud supporter of this event since 2002.

Asian Pacific Americans for Progress Presents National Town Hall on Hate Crimes: Remembering Vincent Chin

In June 1982, Chinese American Vincent Chin was killed in Detroit by two white autoworkers, one of whom had recently been laid off. This hate crime, motivated by anti-Japanese sentiments, served as a rallying cry for the Asian American community and is often considered the beginning of a pan-Asian American movement. Twenty-five years later, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and local partners around the country, look back in time and assess where we are now.

Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach - Anniversary Lu’au With Master Chef Sam Choy

For 30 years, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach has worked to tear down long-standing barriers that have denied APIs equal justice and equal access to our legal system.

Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center — HIV Matters: Looking Forward

Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center’s mission is to support, empower and advocate for API communities, particularly those living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS. They held their annual fundraising event in May 2007.

Chinese Culture Center Cinema Presents 3rd Reel China Documentary Biennial

The Chinese Culture Center is proud to introduce C4 (Chinese Culture Center Cinema). C4 features the screening of unique Chinese and local Chinese American films each year in the center’s auditorium. This summer, C4 will join Reel China’s 3rd Documentary Biennial to showcase Chinese independent documentary films.

Citizens for the World — BARE Campaign

Citizens for the World is a nonprofit organization that aims to promote awareness about poverty issues affecting Asia. They hosted the BARE Campaign, a fashion show in March 2007 in which men and women wore personalized jeans they designed to speak out against poverty.

Gay Asian Pacific Alliance — GAPA’s “To Boldly Go!” Banquet

The Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) in the San Francisco Bay Area is an organization dedicated to furthering the interests of gay and bisexual APIs by creating awareness, developing a positive collective identity and establishing a supportive community. Their annual banquet takes place each fall.

‘Hyphen’ - ‘Mr. Hyphen’ Contest

Celebrating Asian American men who devote tremendous time and effort to worthy community organizations, the annual “Mr. Hyphen” contest invites contestants from Asian American nonprofits all over the country. Organized by Hyphen magazine, contestants strut their stuff in fashion, talent and a rousing Q&A — all in the name of winning a donation to their chosen 501(c)3 organization.

Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California’s Youth and Children’s Cultural Arts Programs (JCCCNC) – Asian Americans on Broadway

This annual event is a musical concert of Broadway’s best. In 2006, performers included Alvin Ing, Michael K. Lee, Sophie Oda, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Alan Muraoka, Christine Toy Johnson and Deborah Lew. This year’s event, “Asian Americans on Broadway – Heart and Music” is directed by Alan Muraoka with Christine Toy Johnson and Hazel Anne Raymundo who return to San Francisco with Deborah Lew, Telly Leung, and Jose Llana sharing new songs and stories about their triumphant journeys to Broadway.

Kaiser Permanente San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival

AsianWeek continues to be a proud media sponsor of this festival, which takes place on Treasure Island in San Francisco each September. The event features over 100 dragon boat teams and 2,500 dragon boat paddlers from across North America. Dragon boat teams range from novice to competitive. Novice teams represent local Bay Area corporations, public agencies, and non-profit community organizations. Recreational and competitive teams practice year round and are coming from all over the United States and Canada to battle it out in the championships. In addition to the exciting dragon boat racing, the Festival features many fun cultural activities – an entertainment stage with live dance and music performances, Dragon Land, a children’s activity tent, and a variety of food, arts & crafts, and other vendors.

Kimochi Inc’s Sansei Live

The annual event is a fundraiser for Kimochi Inc., a nonprofit that has been providing quality programs and services to the seniors of Japantown/Western Addition, San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.

KTSF 26 – Cooking With Passion

Asian fusion cook-off where 12 amateur contestants teamed up with 12 of the Bay Area’s finest chefs on Nov. 19, 2006.

Media Action Network for Asian Americans – 10th Media Achievement Awards

MANAA is the only organization solely dedicated to monitoring all facets of the media — television, motion pictures, print, advertising, etc., and advocating balanced, sensitive and positive coverage and portrayals of Asian Americans.

Miss Asian America Pageant

Founded by Rose Chung, the Miss Asian America Pageant has been the premier event in Asian American community for the past two decades and the longest running Asian American pageant in the United States.

Oakland Chinatown Street Festival

Established in 1988 by the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, the StreetFest was created to encourage a sense of community in a place where diversity in people and businesses thrive. Browsing the 9-10 city blocks one will find a little bit of almost everything the Bay Area has to offer.

Organization of Chinese Americans’ 29th Annual Convention

Founded in 1973, OCA is a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States. OCA aims to embrace the hopes and aspirations of nearly 12 million APAs in the United States. Their 29th annual convention took place on June 28 - July 1, 2007, in Sacramento and aimed to “Light the Torch for the Next Generation.”

Remembering 1882

In 1882, Congress passed the nation’s first immigration legislation — a law to prevent people of Chinese descent from entering the United States. The law would tear apart families, cut the nation’s Chinese American population in half, and remove their right to become U.S. citizens.

“Remembering 1882″ explores the historical debate around the Exclusion Act, from its origins through its full repeal in 1968, the civil rights struggle of Chinese Americans and their allies, and the historic importance of habeas corpus in the Chinese American community.

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

The Center for Asian American Media presents the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) every March. The SFIAAFF is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 130 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose. Since 1982, the SFIAAFF has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers, as well as a vital source for new Asian cinema.

Tenderloin Autumn Moon Festival

Hosted by the Vietnamese Youth Development Center, which provides youth with support and practical assistance as they adjust to new lives in America, the festival takes place each October.

Worldly

As the nation’s largest world music organization, Worldly presents the best of the Dhamaal Artist Collective. They host a variety of performances in San Francisco.

COMEDY NIGHT

Each May, in honor of APA Heritage Month, AsianWeek hosts free comedy nights featuring talented Asian American comedians. Previous featured comics include Ali Wong, Samantha Chanse, Edwin Li, Kevin Camia, Tapan Trivedi, Sheng Wang, Tessie Chua, and Leah Eva. We are planning on hosting more throughout the year, including the AsianWeek/Lorraine Hansberry joint comedy night at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco on Aug. 18.

HEALTH AWARENESS

San Francisco Hep B Free Campaign

“B Sure, B Tested, B Free” is the message the San Francisco Hep B Free Campaign is spreading to encourage all Asian Pacific Islanders to get tested for hepatitis B, a life-threatening disease responsible for 80 percent of all liver cancers among APIs.

Co-launched by the AsianWeek Foundation, along with the Asian Liver Center at Stanford and the San Francisco Health Department, this major collaborative effort brings together city government, private health care and nonprofit community organizations, in a two-year campaign to screen, vaccinate and treat all API residents for hepatitis B (HBV). The campaign will spread its message with media outreach, including Asian television, print, radio and mainstream media outlets.

The SF Hep B Free Campaign is being looked at as a statewide and national model. Hep B is 100 times more prevalent in Asian than non-Asians, with older generations of Asians often being overlooked by mainstream health campaigns. Hep B, which can be prevented by a vaccine, causes 80 percent of all liver cancer.

To collaborate with AsianWeek or for more information on our community involvement, please contact:

Angela Pang
Community Editor
(415) 321-5894

apang@asianweek.com