On June 7th, JCYC Executive Director Jon Osaki and an all-star cast of Black and Asian American leaders participated on the Commonwealth Club of California’s “Building A Future Of Black And Asian Coalition” in-person panel discussion. The event was co-moderated by Michelle Meow, Producer and Host of “The Michelle Meow Show” and Derick Brown, Senior Director of the University of San Francisco’s Leo T. McCarthy Center. Jon was joined by the following panelists:
- Renard Monroe, Founder and Executive Director of Youth 1st and President and Founding Member of Invest Black;
- Shakirah Simley, Executive Director of the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center; and
- Sarah Wan, Executive Director of the Community Youth Center.
The panelists explored the need for and examples of solidarity between the Asian and Black communities. Jon commented on the key issues discussed during the panel and history of solidarity in San Francisco’s Western Addition: “The Black and Japanese American community in the Western Addition has a history of living and working together, lifting each other up and we are very proud of that.”
Check out the powerful discussion between our Asian and Black leaders here https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/archive/video/building-future-black-and-asian-coalition.