On Sunday October 2, I volunteered with VietLead, a Vietnamese community organization in Philly. If you remember from my previous post on Grassroots AAPI Voter Registration, I was trained on how to help people register to vote. My friend I knew from working on an ECAASU Philly bid two years ago reached out to me to get involved. This was my first time doing voter registration, and I think I can say that it is a very rewarding experience I hope to continue.
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Tag Archives: Philadelphia
All Access Philadelphia Concert
Last Saturday night, I attended All Access Philadelphia at the Electric Factory, a free concert supporting abortion rights and access. The event combined live performances and DJ sets with educational facts about abortion and personal story video clips. There were even nonprofit organizations like Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and Women’s Medical Fund where concert goers could sign up to volunteer or learn more about women’s reproductive health policy. The lineup included Rye Rye, Tunde Olaniran, Rocky Rivera, Joie Kathos, and Pinkwash with DJ sets by DJ Diamond Kuts, DJ NiiLO (Bryn Mawr alum), DJ Kash.
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Grassroots AAPI Voter Registration
This past Saturday, I attended a voter registration workshop hosted by Asian Americans United, APIAVote, Cambodian Associations of Greater Philadelphia, and VietLead. The goal was to increase voter participation among Asian Americans in Chinatown. I had never registered anyone else to vote except myself, so I was curious what the process looked like on the grassroots level.
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Spring Break 2016
Here’s how I spent my Spring Break:
Philadelphia Flower Show:
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Helen Gym’s Closing Keynote on Community Day of Learning
Councilwoman Helen Gym gave the closing speech for Community Day of Learning 2016. Gym is the daughter of immigrant parents raised in Ohio. She attended the University of Pennsylvania for both her undergraduate and graduate studies, was the director of Asian Americans United, and helped found Philadelphia Parents for Public Education in 2006. She is an advocate for community organizing and has helped prevent the siting of a baseball stadium and casino in Chinatown.
Magic Gardens
One of the classic Philadelphia tourist attractions is Magic Gardens, a courtyard on South Street covered in mosaics and interesting objects. It is artist Isaiah Zagar’s largest public artwork and he completed the gardens in a 14 year time span (1994-2008). Almost every Bryn Mawr student has pictures of themselves at Magic Garden on their Facebook profiles.
Chinatown Night Market
Tonight, Chinatown’s streets were transformed into a crowd of food trucks and food stands, music, entertainment, and more for the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. Night Market. 
Night markets are popular food and entertainment attractions in Asia, especially among the young people who like to go out late. Unlike tonight’s temporary pop-up night market in Philly, night markets in Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, etc. are permanent structures. I hope to travel to Asia someday to experience an authentic night market, but for now, this is the closest I will get.