Filipino American

Noel Shaw Papers

APA Staff
Date Range: 1992 – 2003
Survey Conducted: Thu, 2010-11-11
Creator: Shaw, Noel

History: Born in 1961 in New York City, Noel Shaw is a filmmaker and writer whose work explores the experiences of the Filipino diaspora and highlights the diversity within it. Most recently, he directed, produced, and wrote the short Kundiman (Pinoy Noir Films, 2008), which illustrates the impact of politics on an individual’s life. His work has been screened at the London Film Festival, Brussels International Independent Film Festival, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and the Asian American International Film Festival in New York City. He served as the Distribution & Marketing Director at Third World Newsreel from 1999 to 2001 and as the Publications Director at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop from 2001 to 2004.

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Peeling Records

APA Staff
Peeling logoDate Range: 1995 – 2003
Survey Conducted: Sun, 2012-11-04 and Thu, 2009-09-17
Creator: Peeling

History: Peeling was a New York City based collective (1995-2005) of writers, performers, directors and producers. Using autobiography as a departure point, their collaborations were an exploration of contemporary Asian American identities through the development of original theater work. Originally founded in 1995 as “Peeling the Banana” by director/performer Gary San Angel at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the group developed many of its pieces through physical theater and improvisation work, which were later transcribed; others were written and further developed through group workshops. At the time, no other such group existed on the East Coast and many talented artists got their start in or had at one time been members of the group. With sold out performances at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Second Stage, Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles), the Desh Pardesh Festival (Toronto), as well as numerous colleges and universities, Peeling the Banana presented its poignant blend of poetry, theater, dance, and music to audiences across the country.

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Ma-Yi Theater Company Records

APA Staff
Date Range: 1989 – 2008
Survey Conducted: Mon, 2008-11-24
Creator: Ma-Yi Theater Company

History: The Ma-Yi Theater Company is a non-profit professional organization that gives voice to Asian American experiences through the development of plays and performances that push Asian American aesthetics beyond stereotypical Orientalist markers. The name “Ma-Yi” comes from the pre-colonial name of the islands that the Spanish named the Philippines. Ma-Yi was founded in 1989 by a group of six former University of the Philippines students and Godabil Theater Company members. Godabil arose in the Philippines during the politically tumultuous last years of Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship (1965-1986). Member actors employed vaudeville expressionism as a form of street protest until notice of its activities by the military impelled some of its members to emigrate. Years later, several former members reuniting in New York City decided to found the Ma-Yi Filipino Theater Ensemble, Inc. as a means to address concerns about the stereotypical nature and paucity of roles available to aspiring Filipino actors. The company originally held a predominantly Filipino orientation but it has since expanded to become a venue for pan-Asian American talent and works. The company initially solicited and translated plays from the Philippines, but soon found that plays produced by Filipino Americans better resonated with their America-based audience. In 1999, the company made a decision to expand their mission to cover works of American playwrights of all Asian origins. Read more →

Robert Lee and Eleanor Yung Papers, Asian American Arts Centre Collection

APA Staff
Date Range: 1968 – 2001
Survey Conducted: Tue, 2011-01-25
Creator: Lee, Robert (b.1944) and Yung, Eleanor (b.1946); Asian American Arts Centre

History: Partners Robert Lee, an author and curator, and Eleanor Yung, a choreographer and acupuncturist, were both involved in establishing the Asian American Arts Centre (AAAC). In addition to the AAAC, Lee and Yung have held leadership roles in national and New York City-based Asian American cultural and political organizations, dedicating their careers to supporting Asian American artists and their work. Read more →

Filipino American Human Services, Inc. Records

APA Staff
Date Range: 1992 – 2010
Survey Conducted: Thu, 2010-03-04
Creator: Filipino American Human Services, Inc.

History: Founded in 1993, Filipino American Human Services, Inc. was the first social services organization to serve the Filipino and Filipino American community in New York City. Recognizing that Filipino Americans were underserved in the realm of social services, the Asian American Federation (AAF), under the consultation of its two Filipino board members at the time, Dr. Jean Raymundo Lobell and Attorney Reuben Seguritan, organized the Filipino American Planning Initiative Forum in November 1992. It was a result of this forum and funding from AAF that FAHSI was founded. Read more →

Asian/American Center (A/AC) at Queens College Records

APA Staff
Date Range: 1949 – 2010
Survey Conducted: Mon, 2010-07-19
Creator: Asian/American Center (A/AC) at Queens College

History: The Asian/American Center (A/AC) at Queens College, City University of New York, is committed to producing and supporting community-based research on the diverse populations that make up the Asian diaspora in the Americas. Founded in 1987, the A/AC organizes research projects, conferences, and seminars, in addition to publishing a series of working papers by academics and community leaders, all of which examine the history and other aspects of Asian American experiences. The A/AC also works to support Asian American Studies. In 2010, for the first time at Queens College, the A/AC began offering courses in the field, allowing students to minor in Asian American Studies. The A/AC is also building a new resource lounge, which will house multimedia materials on Asian Americans.

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Asian Women in Business Records

APA Staff
Date Range: 1995 – 2010
Survey Conducted: Mon, 2009-02-23
Creator: Asian Women in Business
*Note: As of 2021, Asian Women in Business is no longer an active organization.

History: The non-profit organization, Asian Women in Business (AWIB), was founded in 1995 to provide resources and support for Asian women entrepreneurs. AWIB hosts workshops, seminars, conferences, and networking events to support the development of Asian women in business and since its founding has served over 27,000 women and people of color through its programming. Driven by a desire to increase the number of women and minority owned businesses, AWIB sponsors an annual Procurement Conference, at which minority women business entrepreneurs have the opportunity to establish relationships with corporate and government buyers, as well as an annual Asian Women’s Corporate Leadership Conference and Leadership Awards Ceremony and Dinner. To encourage young Asian women to attend college and assume leadership positions, AWIB awards an annual academic scholarship.
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Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) Records

APA Staff
Colored drawing of two hands shaking. One represents AFL and the other CIO.
Date Range: 1992 – 2011
Survey Conducted: Wed, 2011-05-11
Creator: Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)

History: Dedicated to the needs and concerns of Asian Pacific American (APA) workers the foundations for the creation of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) were laid in 1990 when a number of APA labor activists presented the AFL-CIO with a proposal to better address a continued under-representation among APA workers in the labor movement by forming a national APA labor organization. Following the lessons learned from the examples of APA labor leaders in history, they understood the necessity of forming labor alliances, and sought to get more APA workers into unions, especially, those working in historically important industries such as garment factories and restaurants.The founders recognized that, in addition to traditional issues like fair wages, health care, and dignity, APA workers faced other challenges and workplace discrimination. Despite the popularity of a ‘model minority myth’ about Asian Pacific Americans, there are many misunderstandings about the ability of many Asian Pacific Americans to achieve economic security and prosperity. While the median income of APA workers is higher than the national average, there is tremendous difference between specific ethnic groups – some experience high rates of poverty and others have incomes that are substantially loser than the national average. Other disadvantages related to immigration status, discrimination, language ability and education force many Asian Pacific Americans into low-paying and insecure jobs, often accompanied by exploitation, discrimination and harsh conditions.

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Asian American Writers’ Workshop Records

APA Staff
Date Range: 1992 – 2009
Survey Conducted: Wed, 2009-03-25
Creator: Asian American Writers’ Workshop Records

History: Asian American Writer’s Workshop (AAWW) was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit literary arts organization dedicated to the creation, publishing, development, and dissemination of Asian American creative writing. AAWW supports writers of the Asian American community by making grants, offering workshops, helping to publish and publicize their works, establishing an in-house reading room to facilitate access to Asian American literature, and instituting the Annual Asian American Literary Arts Ceremony, held since 1998 to recognize outstanding writing in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, memoirs, stage plays and screenplays. In addition to sponsoring readings, book parties, and panel discussions for writers, AAWW runs various youth arts programs that engage NYC students in discussions of race and identity, offers writing classes, and instructions on making videos. Semi-annually, AAWW publishes literary anthologies and the Asian Pacific American Journal . It also publishes Ten magazine, which features articles about writers and writing. Through its programming and service as an educational resource center for Asian American literature and awareness, AAWW seeks to encourage the telling of diverse stories and diverse ways of telling stories for the important contributions they make towards increasing community visibility and the building of a collective history.
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Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) Records

APA Staff
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund logoDate Range: 1974 – 2005
Creator: Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)

History: Founded in 1974, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. By litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing, AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.
Currently, the organization focuses on economic justice for workers, immigrants’ rights and post 9/11 civil liberties, voting rights, language access to services, affirmative action, youth rights and educational equity, housing and environmental justice, and the elimination of hate violence, police misconduct and human trafficking.

Summary: The collection consists largely of litigation files from AALDEF’s cases, dating from 1970 to 2005. These include immigration, affirmative action, and workers’ compensation cases; suits against restaurants such as Jing Fong, New Silver Palace, East River Chinese Restaurant; suits against the City of New York; and suits against other employers. General subject files contain clippings, correspondence and other information about immigration, labor, and housing, including the first Chinatown Labor Fair. These range in date from 1978 to 1992.

Total Size: 27.0 linear feet
APA-related Size: 27.0 linear feet
Arrangement: other
Location: Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University
Bibliographic Control: finding aid
Finding Aid Link: http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/tam_321/
Conditions Governing Access: Contact repository for detailed information on conditions governing access.