Table Talk | Family Ties: Connection and Conflict
During this conversation, we'll unpack how the bonds and conflict within families can impact the experience of living and dying well as an Asian American. We will examine ways in which family dynamics are inherited, created, nurtured, and/or destroyed in Asian American households which ultimately contribute to our identities, values, goals, and ideas. While we may have shared experiences and value, we acknowledge all Asian American families are unique in their communication, relationship, and connection. It is in how one perceives the quality of this communication, relationship, and connection that will influence all interactions within a family. Join us for this intergenerational conversation to help you discover ways on how to create the family ties you want and cherish.
Speakers:
Lily Liu, The "Dragon Daughter" Family Caregiver
Based in Washington, D.C., Lily is a professional storyteller. Her career highlights include writing speeches for non-profit executives and managing public-outreach campaigns. During the past decade as a family caregiver, she has shared her lived experiences in blogs, as a keynote presenter at conferences, and on social media.
Sandy Chen Stokes, RN, MSN, Founder, Board Member, Former Executive Director and Former Board Chair, Chinese American Coalition for Compassionate Care (CACCC)
Sandy is an internationally recognized speaker. She has been providing groundbreaking end of life education and training for the Chinese community and health professionals since 2005. She created CACCC’s Heart to Heart® cards and developed the Heart to Heart® Café, where the cards are used to facilitate end of life conversations that lead to Advanced Care Planning. In 2009, Sandy was one of 15 to receive the American Cancer Society’s National Lane Adams Quality of Life Award for her work with the CACCC. In 2011, she was one of ten in the nation who received AARP’s Inspire Award.
Tida Beattie, End of Life Doula & Community Educator
Tida is a 2nd generation Thai-American end of life doula and community educator. I evoke awareness and support healing at the intersection of social justice, wellness, death and grief in pursuit of whole living and peaceful dying for immigrants and the next generations.
Joseph Lam, Co-Creator, Parents are Human
Joseph Lam is a first-generation Chinese-American and the Co-founder/CEO of Parents Are Human (parentsarehuman.com), a bilingual connection card game designed to spark meaningful conversation between you and your family.
About Table Talk
Table Talk is an honest, lively, and unscripted conversation among health professionals, spiritual and faith-based leaders, artists and other creative individuals to address this central question: "What does it mean to live and die well in our respective communities?"
Every community and culture -- Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, Disabled, LGBTQ+, etc. -- has its own unique perspective and shared truth. How do we deal with serious illness, dying, grief, discrimination, and inequity? What does it mean to flourish, celebrate, honor, and connect?
Many of us describe more than one of these groups as home, and many of us have experienced oppression based on multiple aspects of our intersecting identities: race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and more. At present, we have few spaces to talk about these questions freely, in ways that make sense for who we are. That’s why Reimagine launched Table Talk. While this ongoing series is explicitly created by and for underrepresented communities, we invite people of all backgrounds to join us to witness, listen and learn. Ultimately we are creating space rooted in the principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in order for everyone to thrive.
About the Organizers
Elizabeth Wong has been a registered nurse since 2003 supporting women in childbirth and advocating for family-centered care. Out of her passion for empowering adult children who are confronted with aging parents, like her, she trained to become an elder care and end-of-life doula. She is committed to sharing this role with the Chinese American community through outreach and education. From this endeavor, she and Holly created Death Over Dim Sum. She also volunteers for Hospice by the Bay.
Based in Seattle, Holly Chan is a user experience designer who has been intrigued by designing for death ever since she was a teenager. Inspired by their shared experiences as Chinese American women passionate about improving end-of-life care, she and Elizabeth met in San Francisco and founded Death over Dim Sum. This event series was envisioned to adapt the conversation about end-of-life to the unique needs of Asian Americans. Besides brainstorming the myriad of ways the end-of-life experiences of Americans can be improved for individuals and their families, Holly is also an advocate for social justice through design.
