To our communities,

The BRAVE Study Team writes to express our solidarity with the ongoing Black uprising and the SCOTUS decision to uphold DACA. The BRAVE Study team has always believed that no human is illegal and human rights are inherent to all. We also recommit ourselves to immigrant and racial justice, and are reflecting on how we as a study can be stronger active allies to the Black community.

On October 25th, 2016, the BRAVE Study, in collaboration with The California Endowment, hosted a webinar to disseminate study findings and to facilitate a panel discussion on the social, economic, and health needs of undocumented API youths.

To our communities,

Over the past year the BRAVE Study has had the privilege of hearing the stories and experiences of young undocumented people and learning about their struggles, loss, growth, and activism. But in the aftermath of the latest election, we have also been witness to a renewed resurgence of fear and hostility across the country. As programs, such as DACA, hang in the balance of the current political climate, we recognize the deep precariousness, fear, and anxiety that many of our friends, family, and community members continue to live through each day. Yet we have also seen mobilization, organization, and active resistance against the systems and rhetoric of oppression. As one wise Standing Rock water protector stated, “Let us not operate out of fear. Let us operate out of hope, because with hope everything is possible.”

We are Israt and Jenny, two core members of RAISE (Revolutionizing Asian Immigrant Stories on the East Coast). Both of us wanted to share the work of writing a blogpost for the BRAVE Study, so decided to transcribe a conversation we had together as if interviewing one another

by Young Seok 'Kevin' Lee

I remember passing swaths of big blue

at the tender age of five

by Josue Chavarin

Having the opportunity to work on the BRAVE study with Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants has made me think about my upbringing and about my immigrant story.

by Josue Chavarin

Having the opportunity to work on the BRAVE study with Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants has made me think about my upbringing and about my immigrant story.

by Josue Chavarin

Having the opportunity to work on the BRAVE study with Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants has made me think about my upbringing and about my immigrant story.

by Iyanrick John

As the child of immigrants from Pakistan and India, I am very aware of the challenges that immigrants face when they come to this country. When they first arrived in Maryland in the mid-60s, it was challenging for my parents to adapt to life in the U.S.

by Tu My To

My parents and I arrived in the United States on October 1994, all our possessions neatly packed in several boxes and suitcases. Armed with plenty of wool coats for the ‘cold’ American (i.e. Los Angeles) climate and a few English words (Yes, No, and Thank you), our family was ready to start anew in a country we knew so little about.

by Jason Melo

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, being a half-Asian/half-white kid isn’t the strangest thing in the world but it definitely makes you think a bit about your identity. My mother comes from a Filipino heritage and my father comes from an Azorean Portuguese one.

by May Sudhinaraset

Growing up in Long Beach, California, I was raised in a very Caucasian neighborhood. As a descendant of Thai/Chinese ethnicities, I felt very different from the other kids.