Recent events have focused new attention on the troubling ways in which the mainstream news media often cover Asian American communities and issues.

There has been a huge backlash over a racist report on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor that purported to show how people in Manhattan’s Chinatown feel about the contentious presidential election.

Several days later, another all-too-common incident touched a nerve after a high-profile Asian American editor chose to speak out. On Oct. 9, Michael Luo of the New York Times wrote an “open letter” to a woman on the Upper East Side of Manhattan who told his family to “go back to China.” The front page piece inspired Asian Americans from all walks of life to share their own stories, using the hashtag #thisis2016.

At our 9th Annual Asian American Community Development Conference, we’ll be tackling the issue of media bias and how we can proactively shape our own stories. The conference, which takes place Wednesday, Oct. 19, includes a session especially relevant to the times. It’s called, “Challenging Mainstream Narratives: Reclaiming & Amplifying Our Data and Stories.”

It will be led by Joyce Li, who works in the office of the New York City Council Speaker. Panelists include Kate Hamaji of the Center for Popular Democracy, Dr. Danielle Moss Lee of the YWCA, Ryan Letada of NextDayBetter, Gautam Srikishan of StoryCorps and Diane Wong of 18MillionRising.

In addition to this engaging discussion, we’ll be hearing from New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim, who has spoken out passionately this month about the Fox News segment. Assemblyman Kim will deliver opening remarks.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Social Movement | Social Enterprise.” AAFE will be joined by 300 policy experts, community development practitioners, funders and civic leaders to discuss our shared vision of equality and prosperity for all. We have published the complete schedule on our conference website.

You can register here.