In continuing with celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, The Spot will host our very own Movie Night on May 24th at 5:30PM!

Come join us to catch Christopher Woon’s amazing documentary, Among B-Boys!

Check out the synopsis:

Among B-Boys is a project documenting the widespread and lasting phenomena of the Hip Hop artform of “B-Boying” (and B-Girling) on the Hmong American community. It has been estimated that 80% of Hmong males that grow up in the U.S. are exposed to and at least try breakdancing while growing up. While this statistic is unconfirmed, it does well to demonstrate a well accepted perception of how widespread B-Boying is in their community.

“Among B-Boys” explores a movement of Hmong youth with a starting point in the California Central Valley, going back to the early 1990′s in Fresno, CA. Many of these b-boys/b-girls are on a quest for respect and even fame through their skills. In this search for success in the Breaking world, these youth must also navigate their way and strike a balance between their identities as Hmong and B-Boys. How do they seek to fulfill their own goals while dealing with the expectations of their parents? Complicating the issues are the pasts of their older brothers who were the first B-Boys, and many of whom also became involved in a gang culture that created rifts in the community that are still needing to be healed.

NOTHING!

… or do we?

I’m excited to debut a project that has been months in the making.

Think about what your relationship with your parents are like. Is it hard to talk to them? Do you speak the same language?

What makes it difficult, or easy, to have a good relationship with them?

If any of those questions made you think, slide through for a night of art and performances!

Be a part of a bigger conversation to begin untangling our complicated family dynamics.

The Info:

Kick off your Saturday Night with us!!!

We had fun playing Table Tennis, Monopoly Deal, Headband, Street Fighter, Chess and Connect Four!

Great job OYEAs for hosting yet another successful event!

Don’t forget that The Spot will be hosting a Chinese Calligraphy Art Demonstration and Karaoke Night this Friday evening too!!

Please enjoy the pictures below!

In celebration of API Heritage month, The Spot will host a Chinese calligraphy art demonstration will be hosted at The Spot this Friday!

In addition we will also be having karaoke!

Come through this Friday and enjoy some art and singing!

Snacks will be provided.

Yesterday, thanks to community support from a dear friend (who owes us $20) we were finally able to assemble our long awaited Table Tennis set!! It was indeed a labor of love to assemble but the results were totally worth it!

Folks have already begun training for next round of Olympics and tomorrow’s Game Night event as well!

So far, it looks like Priscilla (Met West intern) and Poe Meh (OYEA participant) are our front runners!

Peep the pictures and video by clicking here

Hey everyone!

In honor of May being Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, The Spot will be hosting a series of Friday evening events and everyone is invited!! To sweeten the deal, all the events are free!!!

Here is a list of what’s to come for the month of May on Fridays:

May 3rd 5:30PM-7:30PM: Game night featuring table tennis, board games, card games and video games all free and snacks will be provided!

May 10 6:00PM-7:30PM: Calligraphy and Karoake Night! Come through to receive a Chinese calligraphy lesson, then sing your favorite songs on our karaoke machine!

May May 17 5:30PM-7:30PM: Friday Food Night! If you’re feeling a little snacky and want to try some new food from different cultures, swing by and grab a plate and make a new friend!

May 24 5:30PM-7:30PM: Movie Night! On this night, The Spot will be screening Among B-Boys! Among B-Boys is a fascinating documentary about Hmong folks, their history and their involvement/contributions to the Break Dancing community. A must see!

May 31 6:00PM-8:00PM: Serve the People general meeting! If you are interesting in learning more about API history, culture, politics and how to apply that to community organizing as a young person, come check them out!

Friday, May 3^rd @ 5:30 – 7:30PM
Game Night: Street Fighter Tournament, Board Games, Ping Pong Tournament

Friday, May 10^th @ 5:30 – 7:30PM
Art & Karaoke Night: Calligraphy Art Demonstration & Karaoke Singing

Friday, May 17^th @ 5:30 – 7:30PM
Food Night: Sampling of home cooked dishes from the diverse households of the youth at The Spot

Friday, May 24^th @ 5:30 – 7:30PM
Movie Night: Viewing of “Among B-Boys”

Friday, May 31st  @ 5:30 – 7:30PM
Serve The People Night: Poetry and Cultural Awareness

For more information on any of the above activities, please contact Mike (michael@thespotoakland.org) for more details. We hope to see you all there!

Each of the OYEAs did a great job of explaining their dishes and sharing their own new years and family customs and traditions to our guests! Our guests were able to enjoy various fried noodles, Karenni deep fried papaya fritters, salt and pepper chicken wings, Pandan gelatin, three different types of egg rolls and Lumpia, just to name a few!

Our guests also participated in a fun activity called Chubby Bunny in which they stuffed their mouths with marshmallows.

Another highlight was actually a surprise performance by one of our newest OYEA members, Poe Meh. She did a wonderful job singing a song in her native language and impressed us all!

We had a great turn out and were pleasantly surprised when a large group of our young upstairs neighbors (ages 4-9.5) decided to join our event and added a much needed boost of youth energy!

Please click here and here to view Poe Meh’s performance and check below for photos of our Friday Food Night!