THE CHICAGO CHAPTER
The local Greater Chicago Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans is involved in a variety of social, civic and educational activities. Recent projects of the Chicago Chapter include: the Lunar New Year - Year of the Dragon Commemorative Stamp Ceremony at the main Chicago post office, The Project to Promote Literacy and Diversity Book Donation Program, the “D R A G O N Millennium?2000 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Commemorative Bookmark Project, and the OCA-Chicago Inter-Generational Paper on Asian American Attitudes Towards Family Values, Interracial Dating and Marriage. For these projects, The Greater Chicago Chapter has won eleven national awards in the past three years. Join our winning chapter today!
THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Founded in 1973, the Organization of Chinese Americans, Inc. (OCA) is a national non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization of concerned Chinese Americans. OCA is dedicated to securing the rights of Chinese American and Asian American citizens and permanent residents through legislative and policy initiatives at all levels of the government. OCA aims to embrace the hopes and aspirations of the nearly 2 million citizens and residents of Chinese ancestry in the United States as well as to better the lives of the 10 million Asian Americans across the country.
OCA's primary objectives include:
- Promoting active participation of Asian Americans in both civic and national matters.
- Securing social justice, equal opportunity, and equal treatment of Asian Americans.
- Eliminating prejudices, stereotypes and ignorance of Asian Americans.
- Promoting the cultural heritage of Chinese and other Asian Americans.
To achieve these objectives, OCA is engaged in organizing its 44 chapters across the nation and its Hong Kong chapter to develop both leadership and community involvement. New chapters and our organizational and 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 Chinese Americans and Asian Americans. In the D.C. metro area, OCA is able to build national support and to work in coalition with other national groups around issues affecting Asian Americans. In addition, OCA publishes IMAGE magazine, which serves as a communications link between chapter members as well as an informative source on federal and legislative initiatives and policies relevant to the Chinese American and Asian American communities.