The Department of Asian American Studies in collaboration with the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory proposes a year-long public speaker series and symposium to address the problem of anti-Asian racism. These events aim to combat the lack of awareness and understanding of historical and contemporary forms of anti-Asian racism, and to develop new frameworks for understanding present day racial justice struggles. Drawing on the new public openness to addressing anti-Asian racism, and the galvanization of Asian American communities in the face of racial violence, the proposed events mobilize a range of testimony, dialogue, artistic expression, activism, and scholarship, to examine the distinctiveness of anti-Asian racism, to build cross-racial coalitions, and to expand knowledge of contemporary racial politics.

The series culminated in a two-day conference with speakers and a performance by world-renowned jazz artists The Vijay Iyer Trio.