The Southeast Regional Conference of Asian American Leaders has invited cultural activists such as Cambodian spoken-word artist Anida Yoeu Ali and international Nathan’s hotdog-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi to UF to address issues of race, religion, class and sexuality.
The conference, which will take place today and Saturday at UF, was created by the Asian American Student Union at UF in an effort to reach out to students about issues pertaining to the Asian-American identity.
“I am hoping that the people will learn to be better leaders, become aware of issues and become active about them because these issues are recurring,” said the conference’s marketing director Bernie Amaro.
This year, the conference’s workshops include exercises in writing personal stories, expanding as an entrepreneur and reflecting on the suicide of Rutgers University’s Tyler Clementi.
Stars of Asian-American pop culture, such as YouTube’s Ryan Higa and Kobayashi, have also shown support by agreeing to come to Gainesville in person to speak at the conference.
Other speakers will be Shukla Bose, founder of the Parikrma Humanity Foundation; an education activist organization bringing schools to the underprivileged areas of Bangalore; and White House adviser Miya Saika Chen.
