Political Tour of Communities


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Political Tour of Communities

This assignment is due by February 20.

The late Professor Yuji Ichioka was an example of a scholar who was intimately linked to the communities he studied. Not only did he regularly share his research through lectures in community settings, he also helped pioneer the concept of "community classes" as a way for students and teachers to promote awareness about Asian American Studies. Professor Ichioka also emphasized community education and organizing around critical issues. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he and his wife, Emma Gee, helped to build the antiwar movement while fighting for the creation of Asian American Studies on campuses. In Los Angeles, Professor Ichioka is well-known for his work in Asian Americans for Peace in that period and annual educational commemorative events around the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Professor Ichioka’s intimate knowledge of Asian American communities was due to his ability to work with both community leaders and "ordinary" people. For example, among the groups that he proudly participated in was a community basketball group.
In the spirit of Professor Ichioka, each student from our class is required to participate in and/or lead a political tour of a community where low-income Asian Pacific immigrants and other immigrants either live or work in Southern California, such as Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Little Saigon, or the Garment District. Political tours are different from tourist tours and community tours (see Aimee Pham’s "Notes on Political Tours" at the following website:)

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/aasc/classweb/winter02/aas197a/notespt.html

Each student is required to write an essay (four pages minimum) around the following questions:

1. Why did you choose the particular community for your political tours?
2. What have you learned in your previous Asian American Studies, Ethnic Studies, and related classes about this community?
3. How did you prepare for your political tour? For example, what did you find out about the history of this community, size of population, other demographic characteristics, etc.? What are current issues of residents relating to peace and justice — e.g., housing, health care, education, police abuse, etc.? Where did you find information for your tour preparation?
4. What did you learn from your political tour? How will you incorporate this information into your perspective about peace and justice in this period? How can you share this expanded awareness with others, especially other UCLA students?
5. What are ways that you will continue to increase your understanding of this particular community? Be specific.
6. Do you feel that in the future you can lead a future political tour for other students? Why or why not?
7. Begin to envision an expanded role for students in our communities. Based on your political tour, what can this expanded role be? Be specific.


Kelsey Kikuye Iino and Michael Li
, "Our Political Tour of Little Tokyo"

Allan Lo, "Political Tour of Chinatown"