(NAME-MCE) An America Free of Racially Insensitive Gestures

[Anselmo Villanueva]

February 12, 2009

OCA National Center has posted what we hope will be a very important
blog entry concerning the recent flood of media coverage around the
Miley Cyrus slant-eye photo. It is at this juncture where we have
decided to fuel this attention around an educational piece. We believe
this is an opportunity for OCA and APA youth to express their views on
how America can move beyond these offensive actions. We hope this
blog/petition will receive many stories we can collect and add to our
educational piece that all OCA chapters will be able to use.

This is an excellent way to motivate OCA Chapters to get involved, and
we hope you'll be interested in this important stance. This way we can
mobilize efforts to not simply make this a single issue, but one where
anyone can get involved.

To recap on what has happened at National concerning Miley Cyrus, here
is a timeline of events:

On February 02, 2009 a personal photograph of celebrity Miley Cyrus
making slant eye poses with her friends was leaked onto the Internet.
OCA issued a statement on February 3, 2009, where we stated that we wish
for Miley to apologize to the APA community On February 5, 2009 Miley
released a lukewarm response on her blog stating, "I've also been told
there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends
making goofy faces! Well, I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics
and took them wrong and out of context"! OCA felt that this was not a
really apology and media continued to press for an apology.
On February 9, 2009 Miley released an official apology on her website
where she stated the following, "I have learned a valuable lesson from
this and know that sometimes my actions can be unintentionally hurtful.
I know everything is a part of God's ultimate plan, and mistakes happen
so that eventually I will become the woman he aspires me to be."
On February 11, 2009 a Los Angeles women has filed a $4 billion lawsuit
against Miley's slant eye photograph on behalf of the APA community; OCA
is not affiliated with this lawsuit. We are continuing to monitor the
media stories to ensure we are not associated with the suit.

Again, we strongly encourage you to visit the blog at
http://ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=an-america-
free-of-racially-insensitive-gestures.html&Itemid=246<http://ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=an-america-%0Afree-of-racially-insensitive-gestures.html&Itemid=246>and
ask for story
submissions from the APA community. Please also encourage others to sign
our petition. And feel free to pass this information along.

Best regards,

Sarah E. Smith
Communications Manager
OCA National Center
1322 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
202.223.5500 t
202.296.0540 f
ssmith at ocanational.org
www.ocanational.org

 OCA is a national organization dedicated to advancing the *social*, *
political*, and *economic well-being* of *Asian Pacific Americans* in the
United States.
 To fulfill its mission, OCA has established the following goals:

   - to advocate for social justice, equal opportunity and fair treatment;
   - to promote civic participation, education, and leadership;
   - to advance coalitions and community building; and
   - to foster cultural heritage.

 Founded in *1973* as the Organization of Chinese Americans, OCA aims to
embrace the hopes and aspirations Asian Pacific Americans in the United
States.

 OCA is engaged in organizing its over *80 chapters and college
affiliates*across the nation to develop both leadership and community
involvement. OCA
chapters and our college affiliates are establishing strong local programs
in all parts of the country.

 OCA's base in Washington, D.C. gives the national office an effective
vantage point for monitoring legislation and policy issues affecting Asian
Pacific Americans. In addition, OCA is able to build national support and to
work in coalition with other national groups around issues affecting Asian
Pacific Americans.

 OCA takes no collective position on the politics of any foreign country,
but instead focuses on the welfare and civil rights of Asian Pacific
Americans in the United States.

  *"Embracing the Hopes and Aspirations of Asian Pacific Americans"*