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July 26, 2002
"Dale Asis of CAAELII"
An interview with Dale Asis of the Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois, and a 2001 Leadership for a Changing World awardee. Questions and answers will appear below starting at 1 pm EST on Friday, July 26. You may ask a question in advance by clicking on the "Submit a Question" button. Due to time constraints, not all questions will be answered. You may need to refresh your screen during the interview to read the most recent responses. read background Leadership for a Changing World
Welcome to Leadership Talks with Dale Asis, Director of the Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois (CAAELII), and a 2001 Leadership for a Changing World award recipient.
Dale, can you briefly give us a little background on yourself and tell us how you came to social justice work?
Dale Asis
I am an immigrant son of Filipino parents, and I continue to live in an immigrant neighborhood in Chicago. I have seen firsthand how my family, my neighbors and my community seem to be 'invisible' and have not had the ability to speak up and be heard. In my experience, many immigrants and refugees do not have an effective voice in their own communities. I compare the new immigrant experience to that which many European immigrants faced a century ago. Today, the colors of faces and the smells of foods in ethnic neighborhoods have changed, but the struggles and social problems are strikingly similar. Yet the current environment of welcoming new immigrants is not the same today.
Arlington, VA
Arabs don't seem to be represented in the name of the coalition. Does CAAELII provide services to these communities?
Dale Asis
Yes. The Arab American Action Network, a new partner to the coalition, serving Arab immigrants in the southwest side of Chicago. CAAELII will have a planning session next month and is contemplating changing its name because it is too long.
Toronto, Canada
Congrats Dale!
Question:
If you were to pick two key factors that has made the Coalition effective, what would they be?
Thanks.
Amanuel Melles
Dale Asis
A group of dedicated individuals who are committed to the coalition's cause through good times and bad times. And the second would be a funder that has the commitment and the vision that the coalition's work will succeed.
Dayton, Ohio
How can deliberative political methods help build community across diferences in race, class, gender, sexual orientation and human abilities?
Dale Asis
It is easy to divide people between the usual categories and "boxes" of class, gender, sexual orientation. I have always believed in looking beyond those differences, and it's always worked for us to find the common denominator between us that we can connect with each other. And hopefully, that common denominator will help us achieve a common goal, which is creating social change for our community. Because it's easy to say I'm this and you're that.
Selma, AL
How have you been able to work effectively across such diverse ethnicities and cultures in building your coalition?
Dale Asis
You might be looking for the ‘recipe’ for successful multi-ethnic coalition building. Well, there is NO one recipe, just ask anyone who cooks barbeque ribs; there are a thousand and one recipes. But I can tell you the important ingredients necessary for successful multi-ethnic organizing:
1. You need an effective bridge builder. This might be a person or a group of dedicated individuals who truly believe that for effective change to happen they must believe in a clear set of goals that can effectively create social change for their communities.
2. You need a common issue that binds everyone together. For us it was citizenship. It could be ESL, youth programs or community organizing. I think you need this one issue everyone can identify with and then work together in bigger, more challenging activities.
3. The most important ingredient is a funder that is willing to take risks, a funder that is patient because it takes more than a year for things to take shape, a funder that believes in the vision of the bridge builders and is committed for the long term.
Detroit, Michigan
There seem to be many different pieces to your work. What is the process that your organization goes through when deciding on a new project or issue to take on?
Dale Asis
The coalition works through and decides on a new project based on consensus of all the partner agencies agreeing the new project is important. The directors of the many partner agencies meet every other month to decide on the key issues. These community organizations have links and ties to the many immigrant communities served. We are "close to the ground" and know the issues that they are facing.
New York, NY
How have the communities you work with been affected by 9/11?
Dale Asis
While grieving the loss of life from the September 11 tragedy, we also have been in turmoil over the tension, hostility, outright violence and suspension of civil liberties to Arab and Muslim peoples living in the U.S. – including Sikh Americans living in the Devon neighborhood and Bosnian Muslim Americans living in the Rogers Park neighborhood here in Chicago. The collaborating partners decided to respond to the situation by creating a grassroots campaign to stop the rising occurrences of hate crimes and xenophobic violence. The coalition has aired a series of television commercials on Chicago-area stations, calling for an end to anti-immigrant sentiments and hate crimes in the wake of September 11. One of the three commercials runs with the slogan, "Anti-immigrant is anti-American."
Washington, DC
What specific training/technical assistance programs/curriculum, etc...does the Coalition envision to help address some of the issues identified?
Dale Asis
The Coalition recently developed a teacher's toolbox, a series of educational materials helping citizenship students learn the value of civic participation and increase their critical thinking. The teacher's toolbox is developed by experienced teachers from the different neighborhoods. Latino, Chinese, Korean, and Indian teachers have collaborated to put together their best lessons to help our students become active participants in the community. Some lesson topics are how to vote, how to report police abuse, and how to become active in your neighborhood.
Sumter, SC
What do you think of John Ashcroft's new TIPS program? How do you think this will impact immigrants in your community? My thoughts would be that they would feel even more disenfranchised and unable to turn to social services when they need them.
Dale Asis
Due to the September 11th tragedy, most Americans do not have a clear distinction between immigrants who contribute and are the backbone of the American economy and those who are terrorists. It is important that people realize that there is a difference, that not all immigrants are terrorists. We have developed a series of public service announcements, PSAs, that want to change the rising anti-immigrant sentiment. One of the PSA's topic is "anti-immigrant is anti-American."
Boca Raton, FL
What was the reaction to your public-service campaign after Sept. 11? Was it positive or negative?
Dale Asis
It had a lot of positive feedback. In fact, it had a lot of attention beyond television, the main channel we wanted to show it on. The PSAs are placed in a lot of film festivals and have played to the philanthropic community who wanted to be informed of the increasing anti-immigrant sentiment after September 11th. Local schools in Chicago have also requested copies of the tapes to be incorporated into their schools' curriculum. These PSAs were created by youth and community leaders from our organizing project, so the messages are real and are from the people who are affected by the increasing intolerance.
Denver, CO
Do you involve youth in your work and if so, how do you keep youth consistently engaged in your projects and programs?
Dale Asis
Yes. We have two youth groups involved in our community organizing projects. A South Asian youth group and a Korean youth group are involved in our community-building projects where we develop leadership skills and teach them to be active in their communities. The challenge of keeping the youth continually involved is to give them increasing responsibilities and give them a chance to formulate their own issues and agenda. Youth leadership, given a space and a chance, can have unique and innovative ways to do things.
Cleveland, Ohio
Many immigrants work two or even three jobs to make ends meet. How do you motivate those individuals to spare some of their time to help in the work of CAAELII?
Dale Asis
Self-interest. We find what motivates them and we use that self-interest to make them involved in their community. For example, the Cambodian Buddhist group we work with was faced with losing their meditation garden at the beginning of the year. An unscrupulous condo developer bought the land and was going to build a three-story condo building on their Buddhist meditation garden. We used their "self-interest" and this issue that is so close to them to rally and organize to stop the condo development. Last month, the condo developer donated the land back to the Cambodian community, and the city of Chicago will donate landscaping and has designated it as an urban garden space.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
How supportive have you found the current administration in your efforts to establish an INS ombudsman?
Dale Asis
We have found key allies in the House and Senate who have championed the cause of establishing an INS ombudsman. We are fortunate to have Congresswoman Schakowsky and Senators Kennedy, Durbin, and Lieberman to support the establishment of an INS ombudsman.
Washington, DC
What has been the biggest barrier that you have faced as a leader in regards to challenging current INS practices?
Dale Asis
Believe it or not, there has been relatively little opposition to reform INS. Both Republican and Democratic congressional offices are inundated by INS complaints, so it is regarded by all that reform at the INS is long overdue. Senator Durbin from Illinois recently stated at a press conference that 85 percent of his staff spends time solving or adjudicating problems related to INS.
Boston, MA
When will the Indpendent Monitoring Board release the results of the INS survey?
Dale Asis
The Independent Monitoring Board will release a comprehensive INS nationwide survey in mid-August 2002. This report will compare INS service before and after September 11th. We wanted to emphasize and highlight the other mandates of INS to deliver services to immigrants and refugees, and to effectively deliver these services professionally and in a timely manner there must be a change in the INS. We are recommending to establish an ombudsman that will be able to resolve problems and complaints. This is not a new idea! Other branches of government have similar functions, including the IRS, EPA, and other agencies of government.
Hartford, CT
Who funds CAAELII? Aside from the economic downturn, do you think it will be more difficult or less difficult to get funding for immigration efforts post-9/11?
Thank you.
Dale Asis
Our funding sources include state funding, foundation sources, corporate support, and community donations. With the sudden decline in stock market equity, we are also foreseeing a decline in philanthropic support. We will have a strategic planning session next month and one of the main topics, besides finding a new name, is to find a self-sustaining enterprise for resources.
Leadership for a Changing World
We have time for one more question. Dale, how do you take care of yourself and your staff to prevent burnout while tackling difficult social issues?
Dale Asis
I build a support system of family and friends that helps keep me grounded and balanced in life. My close personal friends and family have shared my values and kept me growing. They also have been with me through the good times and the tough times. I also have learned to trust my staff to carry out the work and for me to take some time off.
Leadership for a Changing World
Thank you for joining us for Leadership Talks. For more information on CAAELII, you may contact Dale Asis at:
Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois
1016 W. Argyle
Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: 773 784-2900
Fax: 773 784-2984
Email: daleasis@hotmail.com
Web: www.caaelii.org
Dale Asis
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