Caaav: Organizing Asian Communities

U.S. Justice organizations have spoken. A coalition of leading Black, Indigenous, people of color (POC), and multiracial justice organizations in the United States and allies, convened by Rising Majority , call on Biden, Congress and people of conscience to stop the Israeli assault on Gaza. Stop the genocide now, declare a ceasefire and end the occupation.

For people of conscience and progressive movements in the United States, we see many similarities between the resistance movement of Palestinians to military occupation and the movements we are part of here to end racist policing, incarceration, occupation of Indigenous territories, and white supremacist, Christian fundamentalism targeting Black people, people of color, immigrants, women, LGBTQ people, and the poor and working class. We see our struggles for a true, working class democracy and an economy that functions for the many and not the few reflected in the struggles of the Palestinians to determine their own future, control their own destinies, and to live without displacement, dispossession, and death.

We call on the U.S. government to secure a Ceasefire Now, Stop the Genocide and end the Israeli assault on Gaza. We call each other to action because our struggles are inextricably linked. We call on all people of conscience around the world to rise up to in Gaza.

As U.S. justice organizations, we cannot allow genocide in our name.

➡️ Read the call & act:
therisingmajority.com/gaza (link in bio)

This Sunday, CAAAV Chinatown Tenants Union celebrated the last few years of organizing at our first Summer Celebration in 2 years.

We have supported one another w mutual aid during the pandemic, fought to , protested outside the Mayor's house against rent hikes, and rallied against the 4 waterfront luxury towers and to pass the Two Bridges Community Plan We fight for a vision of a world where we can not only stay in our homes but also one in which housing is a human right

Today was a time to unite and celebrate our resilience in the years past. It was also a time for our talented members to perform dancing, singing, and folk poetry. This year, we are ready to build our power until we can win.

More info on the Two Bridges Community Plan:
https://citylimits.org/2022/04/12/opinion-to-protect-chinatown-and-the-les-pass-the-two-bridges-community-plan/

https://twobridgescommunityplan.wordpress.com/

On Wednesday, the Astoria community mobilized to share our opposition to the IQNS rezoning at the Community Board 1 public hearing. Working-class Bangali families in the neighborhood, who are clear that luxury development is about profit at the expense of the working-class, were excited to talk about how this rezoning would impact their lives.

Imagine our disappointment when our people - many of whom took time off work to speak - were denied the right to share their story. Despite promises that no one would be turned away to speak, a majority of the Bangali tenants did not get their one minute of time to speak. Those who could only come after work arrived as early as 6:45 PM & were denied entry.

Whether they choose to listen or ignore us, we have been abundantly clear from the beginning: NO Innovation QNS Rezoning. NO to luxury development that displaces our people. We won’t stand by as you destroy our neighborhood 🥊🥊🔥

This past week, we came together for an intergenerational CAAAV Chinatown Tenants Union Organizing Committee retreat.

Our sharpest and most developed member leaders shared their collective self interest, and committed to each other. We are stronger together not only because of our numbers, but because of the different paths and experiences that brought us to this moment. We ground in vision for neighborhood power in the fight against real estate and for our working class communities! Onwards!

We're growing our Queens Organizing Team! 🎉 🌱

CAAAV is looking for a Membership Organizer for our Astoria Chapter. The Membership Organizer is primarily
responsible for building a base of working class Bangali immigrants in Astoria. This position is responsible for identifying new members through outreach, developing the leadership of members, running meetings and political education workshops, and supporting powerful campaigns that intervene in the gentrification of New York City.

If you or someone you know may be interested, click here for more info and to apply!https://caaav.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Astoria-Membership-Organizer-2021.docx.pdf

Two days ago, CAAAV leaders called CAAAV Chinatown Tenants Union members asking if they wanted to roll through the People's Plan NYC rally at Tweeds.

Our response to the city's proposed cuts 📉 on the backs of working class people and investment 📈 to criminalize our communities?

No way! We know what austerity means for working class communities like ours.

And we show up because we're willing to fight for our vision of the city.

Happy International Womens' Day! On this day we re-commit to gender justice and remember all the women and gender oppressed people who go unnamed in the history books yet moved the world.

Racial capitalism is also a patriarchal system that oppresses gay, le***an, bisexual, q***r, trans and gender non-conforming people as it does women. Just as we fight for racial justice, workers justice and housing justice- we must also fight for gender justice. ✊💥

To our CAAAV community:

CAAAV is at an exciting juncture in our history and making some big and bold changes this year! We’ve gone through a thorough and thoughtful organization-wide process to come to these decisions, which will position us to strengthen and grow our organizing, build our staff capacity, and make a significant intervention in the gentrification of Chinatown, Queens and New York City.

Based on our thinking about our neighborhoods, our long-term strategy, our opposition in the real estate industry, and the ways gentrification has changed and shifted in this current moment, we’ve decided that:

✅ We are closing our public housing organizing in Queensbridge and nearby complexes. We have exhausted our base building in public housing, and we still don’t have enough power. The driving force for the privatization of public housing is the gentrification of the whole neighborhood, and the only solution is neighborhood-wide power.

🌳 So, we will be testing building a new CAAAV base in Astoria! Just a short walk away from Queensbridge, Astoria has a huge concentration of working class Bangali immigrants - far more than the number of Asian tenants in public housing. Our existing Bangali leaders are excited about this decision and will lead the growth of this new chapter.

🎈 We are bringing youth into membership and leadership in our neighborhood chapters. Siloing youth members in their own chapter, with the goal of prioritizing their leadership, actually devalued and relegated their leadership to matters only concerning young people. With this change, youth members will be leading work in and for their whole neighborhoods.

💪 We are doubling down on our efforts to pass the Two Bridges Community Plan in Chinatown. We will know the outcome of this campaign by the end of this year, and we intend to win.

🌱 We are growing to a team of 18 full- and part-time staff! We will also grow our Development capacity by increasing our individual donor and major donor organizing this year, as well as building out our capacity for communications and media work.

We would not be able to make these strategic decisions without the care and support from you all, our CAAAV family.

🎉 🌿 Support and resource our exciting shifts at http://caaav.org/donate ! 🌿 🎉

Donate to CAAAV: Invest in Grassroots Power! | CAAAV PowerBase CAAAV’s purpose is to develop the leadership of working class Asian immigrants to make a significant intervention in the gentrification of NYC by building neighborhood power in Chinatown and Queens. Chinatown and Queens are neighborhoods where Asian immigrants are the fastest growing driving force...

🎉 Join our team! 🌱 We're hiring for two positions-- a Finance + Operations Manager and CTU Youth Organizer!

If you or someone you know may be interested, click here for more info and to apply! https://caaav.org/take-action/job-opportunities-2021

Join our team as our Chinatown Tenants Union Youth Organizer.🌱✨ Applications are due next week, 2/21!

🎈 JOIN OUR TEAM!! 🎈

CAAAV is looking for a Youth Organizer for our Chinatown Tenants Union (CTU), which builds neighborhood
power in Chinatown with working class Chinese immigrants. The Youth Organizer is primarily responsible for building a base of working-class Chinese youth within an intergenerational CTU membership. This position is responsible for identifying new youth members through outreach, developing the leadership of youth members, running meetings and political education workshops, and supporting powerful campaigns that intervene in the gentrification of New York City.

For more info on how to apply, visit:https://caaav.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CTU-Youth-Organizer-2021-1.pdf