By Leonard Chan

This is not a report on the conference sessions and presentations itself. It’s more of a journal of notes, memories, and thoughts from current and past experiences as an exhibitor at this conference.

In prior years, AACP used to religiously go to the CCSS conferences. It was the main event each year that we really felt we needed to attend. The conference would usually alternate between Southern and Northern California.

Even though AACP staffing, economics, and the conference itself have changed over the years, we still try to catch the conference whenever it is near to us, like this year when it came to Santa Clara. This was our first time going to an in-person conference since the start of the pandemic. It was good to be at a conference again, especially CCSS.

In case you’re wondering, I’m writing most of this at the conference during the quiet periods while sessions are happening. There have already been a few attendees that have told me that they’re glad to see us since they’ve frequented our booth in prior years.

A few of the visitors have already recommended a couple of books to us. I met one author so far, who is interested in sending us some copies of her books.

Friday’s keynote speakers (Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi) have dropped by to say hi and to leave some copies of their book with us (Wherever There’s a Fight; Stan has also worked with another author on Fred Korematsu Speaks Up). We have arranged a book signing with the authors, but so far it is unclear as to whether the conference organizers will allow us to do it at a convenient location. I’ll probably try to track down one of the organizers to find out.

I just heard from one of the other exhibitors that the information on the CCSS website may have been carry overs from the previous year’s description. So it looks like there won’t be a night time open period (where there are no conflicting sessions) in the exhibit hall after the keynote presentation. This is a bit of a disappointment, since there are few time slots when the attendees can conveniently visit us. Added to this disappointment is that a night time session along with a book signing at our booth could have been a good draw. On the other hand, I kind of welcome the chance to get home at a decent hour. The next day begins at 7:30am (kind of early for this night owl :).

I just met an attendee with relatives that were at the Topaz and Poston Internment camps and also had relatives that moved to Utah to avoid being incarcerated. My conversation with this attendee spurred others by our booth to join the conversation.

At the same time, someone from the San Diego school system asked for our contact information so that we could help advise them on AAPI books. I’m hoping that these contacts will be fruitful, especially since California has just produced its first K-12 curriculums for ethnic studies. So often we speak with people at events and never hear from them. I’m guessing that conference attendees are inundated with piles of information that often get stored away in files or round files. I’m reminded of the times when I used to attend computer conferences (1980s and early 90s) and would come back with piles of handouts that I would seldom leaf through.

I sure hope things will be different. That’s why I’m making an effort to get people to view and sign up for our newsletter. It’s one way to stay in touch. If you’re one of those people reading this right now, it was nice meeting you and thank you for reading and signing up for the newsletter.

Another exhibitor just stopped by to tell me about her organization called the Kaur Foundation. She handed me a list of Sikh related books – we even carry some of them, like “Fauja Singh Keeps Going” and “Step Up to the Plate.” While some of the books feature Sikh traditions and culture, many simply feature Sikh characters. What a great resource – I hope to use this list for our newsletter featured books and for selecting books for our inventory. Here’s a link to this list. This is truly one of the benefits of coming to conferences.

We have less than an hour before the keynote speech is to begin. I should probably start getting ready to go to it. I hope David, our new volunteer, will get here soon, but I’m sure he’s having a tough time with the rush-hour traffic. I can only image what he is contending with.

Yesterday, when I came down in the afternoon to set up our booth, I was also frustrated by the terrible traffic. They had closed down the major freeway to the conference hotel in both directions. I was glad that I got in before the posted close of the exhibit hall with 30 minutes to spare. Fortunately, as I kind of expected, they were not strictly holding to their posted times.

I was reminded of the time I attended a CCSS Conference in San Diego and we got there late. There was a lot to set up and we ended up staying way past closing time. We were glad to find someplace that was still open late for dinner.

Right now, the exhibit hall seems relatively quiet. Exhibitors are coming by to look at each other’s booths. I’m glad the conference organizers have supplied us with a goodie bag of snacks.

I just met Katie Quan, one of our former volunteers with AACP. She helped create and moderate a panel session for the Association of Asian American Studies Conference for us.

Katie now has her own business called REALSOUL and is an exhibitor at the conference. REALSOUL, put simply, is working to connect Asian Americans and other ethnic communities through interactive discussions and activities. Check out their website.

The exhibit hall closed at 6 and David (yes, he made it) and I went over to the hall where Elaine and Stan were speaking. We missed the beginning of their presentation. The organizers had told Stan that we were not going to be allowed to sell the books at the ballroom where they were speaking, but that we would be able to sell them at the Ethnic Studies forum discussion session after their keynote presentation.

Elaine and Stan gave a great presentation covering points from their book. It was a shame that we couldn’t sell their book right after their session. Book signings work best when the speakers can do it right after their presentation.

We went over to the Ethnic Studies forum which was a good distance from where Stan and Elaine spoke. We were unsuccessful in selling any there, but reminded the people in the room that we would have signed copies for them the next day at our booth.

I wish I could have stayed and had discussions with some of the teachers in that room, but I needed to leave to go back to the office and make some handouts. There are so many questions I have about the new California Ethnic Studies curriculum and its implementation.

I finally got back to the store around 8:30 and left close to 10pm. I’m surprised that the food truck parked across the street and the dance studio next door are still doing business at those hours, but they were finally gone by the time I finished my task and left.

That’s it for Friday – just enough time to eat dinner and wash. Saturday will be an early 7:30am start.

Saturday

Today the day began rather slowly. Most of the attendees didn’t drop by in the morning before the sessions began even though the hotel had the usually “continental breakfast” items of pastries and coffee to attract them. What? No juice? :)

The person in the booth next to us asked the question of which term I use – “Internment” or “Incarceration” to describe the Japanese American experience during World War II. I had to admit that I was still using the term “internment.” I said to him that “incarceration” was more descriptive of the JA experience and that I used both. He said that he might use the topic of which term to use to get students to think on the subject.

A teacher named Robert from East LA is a department head for his school. He went around the exhibit floor after visiting us and then came back to tell me that we were his favorite booth.

He was interested in a lot of our books, but was flying home and couldn’t carry much. Robert did get a number of our books, including the new Larry Italiong book (The Untold Story of Larry Itliong: Labor Rights Hero). He said that the area he grew up in had quite a few Filipino Americans.

I had a similar conversation with the customer right before Robert, about Larry Italiong and how there weren’t enough books about him and the Filipino Americans’ contributions to the farm labor movement.

Although Robert teaches American History, he was also interested in finding some ancient Chinese and Japanese history books. It’s something I should consider bringing for future CCSS conferences. Another attendee also asked for such materials. Robert and the other visitor to our booth, if you’re reading this, here’s the book that I know we have in stock – “A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun.” Like most such abridged history volumes, this is meant only as a starting point. Tuttle, the publisher of this book, is pretty reliable in producing a lot of good books that we carry. Here’s one of their history books on China - A Brief History of China: Dynasty, Revolution and Transformation: From the Middle Kingdom to the People's Republic (we should probably stock this one. I’m curious if it has anything on the Punti-Hakka War; the books I’ve seen don’t cover it well and I’d like to learn more about it).

Maureen Stephens, from Brown University, another exhibitor from a neighboring booth, dropped by to let me know of their new curriculum material on Vietnamese American history. She said that she’d be happy to send me a review copy of the material when it came out. I’ll keep you informed when I hear from her.

Carrina, one of the CCSS organizers, has just informed me that next year’s CCSS conference will be in Garden Grove from March 8-10.

Catching up on some book recommendations from yesterday – someone mentioned a picture book by Vivienne Chang called “This is Not My Home.” Another book recommendation was “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story” by actor Simu Liu (known for the lead role in Marvel's first Asian superhero film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”).

I just met Wilma (Gray), who said she was involved in the Canadian Redress movement in the 90s. She was interested in getting a copy of John Teteishi’s new book called “Redress: The Inside Story of the Successful Campaign for Japanese American Reparations.” I mentioned to her about a great documentary on the Japanese American redress movement. Wilma said she hoped to be back to pick up the book. Gee, I should look for the title of that documentary. I wonder if I could contact Lewis Kawahara (the retired instructor from College of San Mateo) for the name of the film. He used to hold an AAPI film festival each May and that was where I saw it.

Maureen from Brown University had another Maureen (McCorry) in her booth. Maureen M. said that she saw us at a Day of Remembrance event in Merced and that she was from Merced (and all over). She described what she does and I said that she was one of the ones working in the trenches of teaching – those vital educators that are trying to bridge political divide and get people out of their bubbles to talk and learn from each other. Now that I think of it, there were a number of exhibitors like REALSOUL and Kaur Foundation that were doing similar things to Maureen M.

Well, the morning sessions have ended now. This will be the prime time in the exhibit hall. So I’ll break from taking notes and report back when it’s over.

The people seem to come in batches which kind of reminds me of trick-or-treaters. One was interested in Hmong books. I was able to sell her two of my favorites from 2021 newsletter book selections (The Most Beautiful Thing and Yang Warriors; check out my November 2021 newsletter article on my favorite children's books from that year). Another visitor that came in this group was interested in Filipino books. She showed a book her friend had written called “ABC: Adobo, Boba, Chai.” Someone else around this time also bought “Fauja Singh Keeps Going.” I think I sold three of my favorite children’s books from 2021 in just 10 minutes.

Wilma came back to pick up the copy of “Redress” that she saw earlier. Interesting thing was that she was flipping through the book and it landed on a photo of Hiroshi Kashiwagi (a dearly departed friend of ours; we published his books). Wilma said that she’d send me information on the redress movement in Canada. She also picked up a copy of “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up” and “Wherever There’s a Fight.” I’m glad we’re selling some of the books we brought for Stan Yogi.

A customer that bought books earlier came back with a friend. We started talking about Morro Bay (the first recorded Asian landing in what is now the United States) and the Foreign Mission School in Connecticut. I got one of them to look at our June summer travels newsletter series which featured these sites.

I’m hearing quite frequently from attendees about how they appreciate us being at the conference and that they love our selection of books.

The person that asked me earlier about Internment versus Incarceration came back and asked about a book he could read to a friend that was not doing well. I got him a copy of “Swimming in the American.” I don’t know if it’s my bias, but I can imagine Hiroshi Kashiwagi reading the book to this person’s friend. Hiroshi, thanks for doing all those signings and reading for us. I can still hear your voice.

Frances Kakugawa, I just sold one of your books (Kapoho : Memoir of a Modern Pompeii). The customer said she was from Hawaii and never heard of your town. I told her that was because it didn’t exist anymore.

Many of the books I sold today were by friends and people that we know. The relationships we’ve had with authors are paying off. It really helps to have heard their presentations and readings, and have done interviews with many of these authors. I just talked to another customer who thanked us very much for what AACP does. A lot of credit goes to all of you that create these wonderful books.

There’s about 20 minutes left for today and I think the last big rush to the exhibit hall has finally come to an end.

There’s still some exhibit time on Sunday (about two and a half hours), but many of the people I talked to today gave me the sense that a lot of people may not come back tomorrow. Some of the exhibitors have packed up and left the conference by the end of Saturday.

Some of this may seem self-congratulatory to those of you that are reading this. But I hope that this also gives you a sense of what we do and little bit about the people we meet and the interesting things we learn from each event.

I would just like to add that the days and days of preparing for this conference seemed fruitful. Picking and buying the books to bring to such a conference reminds me a little like creating a mixed music play list for someone or maybe a like gift-giving for someone that you don’t know.

I’m finding that the selection of books I bring really has a creative aspect to it. By the very nature of what I choose to display, you can get across various themes and messages. It’s gratifying to know that the attendees have been receptive and appreciative of our selection.

I’m happy to report, that by the end of the conference we sold nearly all of the Stan Yogi books that we brought.

On to preparing for the next event – the Lunar New Year Celebration in Lodi this coming Sunday.