AAPI Rising is a storytelling, workshop initiative to humanize Asian American life in the South and combat xenophobia while building partnerships with social groups, student groups, small businesses and communities in the Greater New Orleans area.
AAPI Rising in the South Speaker Series
An educational speaker series in which we explore questions of identity, place, and empowerment so we can build power and community through a digital platform, offering a connection in the age of social distancing while asking difficult questions. We invite speakers working in Asian American communities as well as Black and Brown communities to discuss their journey and create calls to action for our next generation of leaders.
Upcoming Sessions
March 31, 2023 | 3pm CST
AAPI Rising in the South Speaker Series
AAPI Womxn: Leaders, Culture Bearers, & Storytellers
Celebrate #WomxnsHistoryMonth with VAYLA on Friday 3/31. Join @grandmafun and VAYLA’s Executive Director, Jacqueline Thanh, MSW, as they discuss what it means to be leaders, culture bearers, & storytellers as #AAPIWomxn in the South.
Past Sessions
March 31, 2022 | 5pm CST
AAPI Rising: Soul Care
Asian Femme Vigil & Healing Meditation
Facilitated by AAPI Women of VAYLA
March 9, 2022 | 6pm CST
AAPI Rising: Soul Care
Community Medicine & Mindfulness Meditation
Facilitated by Alec Devaprasad, Community Outreach Coordinator
February 2, 2022 | 6pm CST
AAPI Rising: Soul Care
Community Medicine & Mindfulness Meditation
Facilitated by Anthony Johnson, Esq., Deputy Director
December 15, 2021 | 12pm CST
AAPI Rising: Soul Care
Community Medicine & Mindfulness Meditation
Facilitated by Jacqueline Thanh, MSW, Executive Director
August 18, 2021 | 4pm CST
Round Table with VAYLA
Moderated by Jacqueline Thanh, MSW, Executive Director
Featuring:
Anthony Johnson, Deputy Director
Ellen Lu, Program Coordinator
Zachary Lang, Earth Rising Coordinator
Thuy Vu, Special Programs Coordinator
June 21, 2021
Uplifting AAPI Means Dismantling Anti-Blackness
Featured Guests:
Jacqueline Thanh (Moderator) – Executive Director of VAYLA
Kimberly Ha – Artist and Photographer @off.gp
May Wen – Founder of Asians For Justice
Recording: Watch Now
May 17, 2021
The Taste of Resilience & Community
Featured Guests:
Jacqueline Thanh (Moderator) – Executive Director of VAYLA
Stephen Deaderick – Food and Travel Blogger @thenola15
Vivi Nguyen – Founder of Radical Joy Bakery
Recording: Watch Now
August 12, 2020
Intersectionality in the New South
Featured Guests:
Anthony Johnson (Moderator) – Deputy Director of VAYLA
Jacqueline Thanh – Executive Director of VAYLA
Ursula Price – Executive Director of New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice
Mary Moran – Executive Director of Our Voice Nuestra Voz
Recording: Watch Now
May 22, 2020
Journey to Leadership
Featured Guests:
Jacqueline Thanh – Executive Director of VAYLA
Luan Vo – Youth Leader
Recording: Watch Now
May 8, 2020
Leaders in Conversation
Featured Guests:
Jacqueline Thanh – Executive Director of VAYLA
Victoria Huynh – Vice President of the Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS)
Recording: Watch Now
Artist Spotlight Series
The AAPI Rising Artist Spotlight Series is a new project where VAYLA teams up with local artists to capture stories of our community in the south through a Vietnamese American lens.
A New Orleans Story: Bánh Tét by Andrew Bui
Honoring our Vietnamese roots & in celebration of Tết, VAYLA teams up with emerging cinematographer Andrew Bui, a local artist and native son, to bring us along a New Orleans Story on the history and culture behind Lunar New Year Bánh Tét (Vietnamese sticky rice cakes). Watch the film to follow Mama Bui from her kitchen to the Village D’LEst market to see how history is made.