I chose to make a website about community organizing around Asian-American student needs in urban public schools, because I was interested in what was being done to help students whose voices and problems are not normally heard in the discussion surrounding public education. Many Asian-American students live in urban areas with high concentrations of poverty, and may be undocumented and/or unfamiliar with the English language and culture. All of these obstacles can hinder their ability to receive a quality education. Due to the model minority myth, these students are often overlooked and unheard in conversations surrounding education reform. I was curious to see the steps that grassroots organizations were taking to address these issues and how community organizing can lead to change in schools.

Through creating this website, I have learned that grassroots organizing can be an effective way to empower youth and advocate for change in urban communities. I was surprised to discover numerous organizations advocating for Asian-American youth, located in major cities from San Francisco to New York. These organizations not only advocate for educational equity, but also raise awareness about issues such as immigration reform, health equity, and civic engagement. These matters are especially relevant for Asian-American immigrants and low-income individuals who often live in urban communities. It seems like many of these grassroots organizations take a holistic approach to serving their community, covering issues that affect all aspects of daily life.

In terms of education reform, it was interesting to see the different issues and topics that each group focused on. There are many factors that can be detrimental to the experience of Asian-American students in school, such as the school to prison pipeline, a lack of ELL resources, bullying, etc. Through my research, I noticed that grassroots organizations would often pick one of these issues to focus in on, rather than try to tackle all of them. There were many successful reforms came as a result of community organizing efforts, such as having cultural translators placed in school, improving ELL programs, and implementing restorative justice practices. Even if campaign efforts did not lead to concrete “wins”, organizations still succeeded in raising awareness for the issue and empowering youth to take action. Although these community groups often had limited resources, they used them to the best of their ability and were able to effectively present their opinions and campaign for change in public schools.

A majority of the organizations and social media connections that I found also sought to refute the model minority stereotype. This stereotype negatively impacts both Asian-Americans and other students of color. It promotes the idea that the United States is a meritocracy, basically saying that if Asian Americans can succeed in school, it’s because of their own hard-work and that other minorities should be able to do so as well. It ignores all of the systemic factors that affect the achievement of racial minorities. Before this project, I had vaguely known about the term, but had never explored it in depth and didn’t really understand the broad implications that it has. It’s important for people to realize how this stereotype negatively affects all students of color, even if it may come across as a seemingly “positive” attribute for Asian-Americans compared to other racial stereotypes. It was cool to see research and advocacy work being done on an issue that is relevant to my own experiences. The results of grassroots organizations’ efforts on disproving the model minority stereotype are less tangible than their other campaigns, because it involves changing a mindset rather than having concrete reform implemented in schools.

The discussion around problems facing urban education is often demoralizing and depressing. There are so many factors at play, that at times, it seems like there will never be a solution. However, seeing the work that these organizations are doing and the success that they have achieved is inspiring and uplifting. Youth activism and development is especially encouraging, as these students will take the information and skills they’ve learned from their community organizations into the future. Ultimately, this project allowed me to learn more about an area that I was not that familiar with, and gave me hope that communities and advocacy groups have an invested interest in improving education for Asian-American students.