A Video and Essay Contest to tell “Asian American Stories”
A Video and Essay Contest to tell
“Asian American Stories”
Silicon Valley Community Media (Ding Ding TV) and our valued sponsors are proud to promote a series of Video Essay Contests to tell the Asian American Stories.
Asian Americans have been in this country in significant numbers since the Gold Rush days and have helped build the Intercontinental Railroad. However, over the years the net gain in numbers of Asians immigrating to this country has been insignificant.
This scenario has been changed with the enactment of the 1965 Immigration Act which removed de facto discrimination against all but western Europeans. Since then Asians have immigrated to the US en masse. Prior to 1965, there were less than a million Asian Americans. Today, less than 60 years later, the Asian American population in the US exceeds 24 million.
Purpose of the “Tell Asian American Stories” Video Essay Contest:
Through the years, the contributions of Asian Americans to this country have been significant.
A few recent examples are:
- Steven Chen, a Taiwanese American, alongside Bangladeshi German American Jawed Karim, and their partner Pennsylvania native Chad Hurley are the inventors of YouTube.
- Flossie Wong-Staal, a Chinese American scientist, is a leader in AIDS research;
- Eric Yuan is the founder of Zoom, a video communications tool that went public in April 2019; Zoom usage surged during the coronavirus pandemic.
- The list goes on and on…………
It is a fact that Asian contributions have been substantial and the daily lives of Asian Americans have been completely woven into the fabric of everyday America. Yet, to many younger Asians and mainstream Americans, we are still strangers, even though our numbers exceed 6% of the US population and are fast growing.
The Theme of the 2022 – 2023 Essay Contest is “All of Us Belong Right Here”
During the recent COVID-19 epidemic, the hate crimes against AAPI have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, revealed that anti-Asian hate crime increased by 339 percent in 2021 as compared to the year before, with New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities surpassing their record numbers. Moreover this trend has not stopped in 2022.
Because of this, Silicon Valley Community Media (Ding Ding TV) and the National Asian American United (NAAUnited) and other organizations have published a video called “All Of Us Belong Right Here” to emphasize the strength of America is our diversity. Thus, the Theme of the 2022-2023 Video and Essay contest will be All Of Us Belong Right Here.
Eligibility;
This Video Essay Contest is open to all independent journalists, ethnic media, event organizers and civic organization contestants.
There will be two categories of contestants
- Junior Contestants for ages 12 – 18 years of age
- Regular Contestants for 18 years old and above
Contestants are required to submit in English a video essay of less than one minute in length to be accompanied by a written essay of less than 150 words. The theme should focus on “All Of Us Belong Right Here”. Submissions are accepted immediately and opened until April 15, 2023.
A diverse Panel of Judges will select one (1) First Prize Winner ($3,000), two (2) Second Prize winners ($1,500 each), and three (3) Third Prize winners ($1,000 each). Additionally, a $1000 prize will be awarded to the Most Popular entrance as selected by Viewer’s Choice and the first 30 submittals will be awarded $100 each.
Contest Information and Rules:
Please visit the following website for detailed information and Contest Rules
