Organization of Chinese American Women

What We Do

OCAW Hawaii is a local chapter. OCAW is America's premier national organization which is an international non-profit organization with headquarters in the greater Washington D.C. region. It focuses primarily on the concerns and needs of the Chinese and Asian Pacific American women.

Our Mission

Hawaii

1) To encourage the participation of Chinese American women to positions of leadership, civic responsibility, and community service.

2) To promote equal rights and opportunities for Chinese American women at work, in the community, and at home.

3) To integrate Chinese immigrants into mainstream activities and programs by skills training and building bonds of common interest with others.

4) To share knowledge and experience, particularly those unique to the Chinese American experience, that can lead to personal enrichment, professional development, educational excellence, strengthen family values, and improve quality of life.

5) To foster a positive image of Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans.

Human Rights

Education

Per USCourts.gov:

Annotated…

“The main point and purpose of the 14th amendment that was ratified in 1868, was to grant citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States – including former enslaved people – and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws“.

Three important points include:

1. Keeps membership in the United States from being defined by race or ethnicity;

2. Governments cannot violate human and civil rights;

3. Equal rights are for all.

To redefine the USA as “white again” goes against the 14th Amendment.

Further, Title IX specifically prohibits sex discrimination.

On the recent reversal of “Roe Versus Wade” by the US Supreme Court:

Hawaii was the first state of the union to allow women the right to choose abortion within a definition of safety.

The late Governor John A. Burns, who was a staunch Catholic, signed this into Hawaii State Law in 1970.

The Star Bulletin Editor, A.A. Smyser wrote on March 21, 2000, thirty years later, excerpt:

THIRTY years ago, on March 11, 1970, Gov. John A. Burns, a Catholic, sent the state Legislature the most memorable message ever received from a governor.

He began: "House Bill 61, relating to Hawaii's century-old abortion law, is now Act 1 of 1970. The measure became law without my signature.

"I have declined to sign this bill after much study and soul-searching, after receiving competent advice from island and national specialists in law, medicine, theology, human rights and public affairs, and also sincere prayer to the creator named in our nation's Declaration of Independence as the source of our inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Hawaii thus became the first state to make abortion legal. It was followed the same year by Alaska, New York and Washington. On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the right to abortion is protected by the Constitution.

Burns wrote: "I have made my decision. I stand by it. It is the decision of the governor of Hawaii, not the private and personal whim of John A. Burns. It reflects my best judgment as governor, made after consultation with the best minds in the state, in regard to what is best for all the people of Hawaii."

That year, Alaska and New York followed in passing that law in their states. In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States made it a Federal Law.

Today, the US Supreme Court has chosen to reverse this decision.

We must take a stand to note that this is not right.

Therefore, the OCAW Hawaii Chapter recognizes its mission and have passed the resolution in protest of the violations of human rights and that of minorities and women.

Resolution

The Organization of Chinese American Women Hawaii Chapter reaffirms that the following individual liberty and rights are absolute and protected under the U.S. 14th Amendment with respect to:

· Women’s access and choice of reproductive health care as affirmed by Roe vs. Wade in 1973; the basic freedom to decide by the individual woman and her doctor should not be interfered by third parties.

· The personal freedom to choose a marriage partner (be it inter-racial or same-sex) should be codified and passed by the U.S. Senate as in the Respect for Marriage Act.

OCAW History

8/8/21 Speaker Queenie Mow Chee

OCAW began as an Auxiliary to the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) and became an independent entity in March 1977. At that time, four Chinese American women, Canta Pian, Anchen Lin, Julia Chang Bloch, and Pauline Woo Tsui started an independent direction with emphasis placed on the betterment of Chinese American women and promotion of their causes.

During the 1970s, there were growing opportunities for women to gain equality and fairness in the job market. OCAW was able to receive sizable federal grant money to help with teaching and sharing important steps to minority women. In 1978, OCAW’s first national conference was held in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The keynote speaker was Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink. She was the principal author of Title IX Educational Amendments in 1972. Representatives from the following OCAW chapters attended: Baltimore; Central Virginia; Chicago; Colorado; Dayton, Ohio; Delaware; Detroit; New England; New York; Pittsburgh; Southern Alameda County, California; St. Louis, Missouri; Washington, D.C.; and Wisconsin. (At that time, OCAW had 26 charter members. Dr. Margaret Lee, who later became the first OCAW Hawaii Chapter President, was one of them.) On November 2, 1981, OCAW was granted IRS 501(c)(3) status.

Hawaii Chapter Established
It was December 1988, when Julia Chang Bloch was invited to be a guest speaker at a state conference by Governor John Waihee of the State of Hawaii. It then became timely and appropriate to establish a Hawaii Chapter, and so the plan was set in motion.
Anita Wong, who was the Associated Chinese University Women’s incoming president, was contacted by Julia and asked to assemble a group of influential Chinese American women to consider starting a chapter in Hawaii. Thirty-two ladies answered the call to this first meeting at the King Tsin Restaurant on King Street.

In 1989, the OCAW Hawaii Chapter was established and Dr. Margaret Lee became its first president. Experienced and able, she had previously served as the Los Angeles OCAW Chapter President.

32 Years of Activities
It will be 32 years this year (2021), since 32 ladies first met to discuss the formation of the Hawaii Chapter. Over the years, some of the important programs we held in Honolulu included assisting immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship by practicing the verbal interviews; supporting a series of seminars at the State Capitol for high school students to learn the process of legislation; donating to various local Chinese community projects; and recently, supporting Chinese American women in film production and writing. We continue to have concern for those underprivileged and those seeking U.S. Citizenship, and thus support the works of The Legal Clinic, Palolo Chinese Home, and the Lanakila Meals on Wheels Program.

Founders

Canta Pian was the Director of Economic Support for Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
Anchen Lin, was a clinical social worker, married to the late Professor Jimmy H.C. Lin. The University of Maryland was a recipient of several endowments in memory of her late husband, a beloved professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a prolific inventor.
Julia Chang Bloch was born in Shandong, China, but grew up in San Francisco from the age of nine. She attended the University of California at Berkeley, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Public Policy. She then went on to Harvard University for her Master’s degree in Government and East Asian Regional Studies. She was conferred an honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Northeastern University. Julia was the first Asian American woman to be appointed as an Ambassador (Nepal) for the United States. Her works and achievements are numerous and amazing. She is married to an extremely supportive husband, Mr. Stuart M. Bloch, an attorney of note in Washington, D.C.
Pauline Woo Tsui was born in Nanking, China. She attended school in Shanghai at the prestigious McTyeire School and graduated from Saint John’s University. With the Japanese invasion, Pauline and her mother were able to exit China as they were American citizens. Pauline would go on to attend Columbia University in New York, and she earned her Master’s degree in Music Education. She and her husband T.L. Tsui, a Taiwan Chinese diplomat, have two children. Pauline served as a translator for the U.S. Army Map Service for many years. She was our Executive Director and Acting Executive Director of OCAW until 2007.
A common thread that linked these ladies together was the fact that they all experienced what it was like to be a woman, and a minority, working in the United States. Having experienced the challenges and succeeding in spite of them, they wanted to reach other Chinese American women to help them achieve parity.

OCAW Proposed meeting schedule 2025

MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS