Happy Lunar New Year! 🐉
It’s the year of the wood dragon which represents courage and good fortune. May you and your loved ones have good fortune. May we all have the courage and safe space to stand in solidarity with one another, and against injustices and inequities.
RIT Adult English Class students at our Newcomer hub in Oakland, last December.
RIT welcomes and partners with refugees and immigrants from 40+ different countries around the world. We are inclusive of all newcomers’ document status, gender identity, migration journey, language, religious and cultural backgrounds. In our community, we hold space for all people, and share and celebrate knowledge, cultures, and languages together.
Top picture: Grace (right), RIT Staff, presenting about the Lunar New Year at RIT’s Community Hub in Oakland. Narcy (left), RIT Staff, translating for our Mam and Spanish speaking students.
Bottom picture: Sonia, RIT Staff, also shared about her family's immigration journey.
For the Lunar New Year, RIT program managers Sonia and Grace held an activity with 70 students in our Adult English Classes in Oakland and San Francisco. Grace is a first generation immigrant from Hong Kong, and Sonia identifies as a third generation Chinese American. The adult class students have immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan, Algeria, Burma, Cameroon, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mongolia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Grace, RIT Staff, presenting about the Lunar New Year to our San Francisco Adult English class.
Grace and Sonia did a Lunar New Year presentation to share about different communities and holidays in the U.S. They shared that being American is not synonymous with belonging to one race, skin color, language, culture, or experience. After the presentation, one of the students from Mongolia shared about her family’s Lunar New Year traditions. The celebration was completed with some delicious Lunar New Year treats. Some of the students were also inspired to attend the San Francisco Chinatown Lunar New Year parade last weekend.
Happy Black History Month!
RIT Board Member, Deborah Samake, presenting about Black History Month and being African American to our Oakland Adult English Class.
Another cultural activity was held by RIT’s Board Member, Deborah. She came to our Oakland Adult English Class to present about identity and heritage, and the significance of the words and names we use to identify ourselves culturally and racially. Deborah shared what it means to be African-American in the U.S. both historically and in current times.
Through these presentations, RIT students learn about diverse racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds and identities in the U.S. These conversations and spaces provide an opportunity to collectively check and unlearn our own biases.
In the past year, RIT served 100+ newcomers from Africa and Afro-Caribbean countries. The top countries from these regions are Cuba, Haiti, Eritrea, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Students received services such as Adult English classes (including Vocational English) and case management from multilingual case workers.
Picture from Migration Policy Institute
Many newcomers from Haiti, Cuba, and other countries such as China and Russia are seeking asylum at the Southern Border. Most of their migration journeys are often dangerous through many countries in South America to get to the U.S. To learn more details about the migration journeys of Haitian refugees, please click this link to one of our newsletters published last year.
Building Community Partnerships
Augusto, RIT Staff, tabling at the Harmony of Heritage event, Oakland
This month, RIT also participated in Harmony of Heritage, a Lunar New Year and Black History Month celebration event hosted by Asian Health Services (AHS). RIT staff shared about our services and connected with local community partners. AHS plays an essential role in health care access and advocacy for Asian and Pacific Islanders, and their establishment in 1974 was influenced by Black Activists, particularly the Black Panther Party. The February event was in solidarity and recognition of social changes and influence that Black activists and communities have contributed to immigrant and marginalized communities.
“There are such things in the world as human rights. They rest upon no conventional foundation but are external, universal, and indestructible. Among these, is the right of locomotion; the right of migration; the right which belongs to no particular race, but belongs alike to all and to all alike.”
- Frederick Douglass advocating for Chinese and Japanese immigrant rights in 1867, Boston
We would also like to uplift the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) who provides legal services for Black immigrants. BAJI recently led a defensive asylum workshop at RIT's community hub for our Haitian students.
Lastly, our long-time partner Burma Refugee Families and Newcomers (BRFN) is an African immigrant co-led Ethnic Community Based Organization. They focus on supporting Eritrean and Afghan newcomers with case management services.
As we celebrate Lunar New Year and Black History Month, we are also thinking of communities around the world struggling for freedom and safety. In particular, we’ve been thinking about these news:
We are concerned about the “border bill”: Significant inequities in immigration policies and laws that provide access to asylum for some migrants but not others. We saw this in discussions around the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H. R. 815) (more info here). Acts like this violate the human right "to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution" (United Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14). At this time of increased polarization and politicization of border policies, we urge all to center these rights and the humanity of all.
2 years of war in Ukraine: we reaffirm our support of those seeking refuge from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 10+ million people from Ukraine have been displaced. RIT provides case management services to Ukrainian refugees in the Bay Area in both Ukrainian and Russian.
Political persecution in Russia: The death in prison of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny has brought worldwide attention to repression inside Russia, namely of people who speak out against the war and of LGBTQ individuals. Many Russians have crossed the Southern Border to seek asylum in the U.S. RIT stands against state violence all over the world, and in solidarity with asylum-seekers from Russia.
3 years since military coup in Burma: It’s been three years since Myanmar's military deposed the democratically elected government. Approximately 2 million people are currently displaced and pro-democracy voices in Burma remain severely persecuted, some of whom (including Gen Z student activists) have applied for asylum in the U.S.. RIT has been serving Burmese communities in the Bay Area for many years.
We demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza: It has been 141 days since the Hamas attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and kidnapped some 250 hostages. Since then, Israel's attack on Gaza has been non-stop. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, due to this war 29,195 Palestinians have been killed, 2.2 million are at imminent risk of famine, and 1.7 million are internally displaced (75% of Gaza).
Finally, we’d like to share some local opportunities to support displaced communities:
This rainy season we are collecting warm jackets and coats, winter gear (umbrellas, stroller covers, rain ponchos), and other essential school supplies. These items will be shared with immigrant and refugee students and their families at RIT's community hub and in our Afterschool Programs. If you can, please consider donating: bit.ly/rit-drive or scan the QR code in the flyer. Thank you for your generosity!
Thank you for your continued love and support!
RIT Team