Organizations

The Chinese Progressive Association, originally called the Chinatown People’s Progressive Association, was founded in 1977 to advocate “for full equity and empowerment of the Chinese community in the Greater Boston area and beyond.” Early projects included promoting the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, working with tenants on eviction and other tenant issues, and organizing community support for victims of racial violence, including Wei-ti Choi in 1979 and Long Guang Huang in 1985. The Association also organized celebrations in recognition of Chinese holidays, such as the August Moon Festival, Chinese New Year, and Chinese National Day.

In the early 1980s, the Association registered voters, raised awareness of electoral issues in Chinatown, worked for bilingual education, and lobbied Massachusetts politicians to provide forms and office support in Chinese. The Association also provided limited translation services, created bilingual pamphlets on workers’ rights, and held informational sessions on unemployment insurance and workers’ rights.

In the mid-1980s, the Association worked closely with displaced garment workers from the P & L Sportswear and Beverly Rose Sportswear factories to establish Commonwealth-funded bilingual retraining programs and greater awareness for the issues concerning garment workers and, more generally, immigrant workers in Boston. The Association’s involvement with the garment workers led to the founding of the Workers’ Center in 1987. In 1988, the Center produced a video documentary about the garment workers, “Through Strength and Struggle” (Box 10).

In the 1990s, the Association and the Workers’ Center advocated for workers’ rights, increased awareness of exploited workers in American sweatshops, and they promoted the increase of unemployment insurance benefits provided by the state. The Association worked to ensure that the Commonwealth’s new unemployment claim telephone system provided multilingual access for all state residents. The Association also became involved in the struggle between Chinatown residents and the City of Boston over the proposed development of Parcel C in Chinatown. The New England Medical Center had negotiated with the City to build a multi-story parking garage on Parcel C which had previously been promised to Chinatown as land for a community center. The Association’s advocacy, along with that of other community groups, led to the withdrawal of the Medical Center’s plan. Chinatown was formally granted land for a community center, and discussions over future development began in the late 1990s. In addition, in 1994 the Association began the Chinese Youth Initiative program designed to bring Asian and Asian-American youth to work in the Chinatown community during the summer.

The Association continued its work on tenants’ rights, workers’ rights, and local Chinatown issues into the 2000s, becoming involved in, among other projects, a campaign to re-establish a branch library in Chinatown. In 2000, the Association, along with other community organizations and activists, was one of the members of the Chinatown Initiative group convened to update the 1990 Chinatown master plan. This process included holding community meetings and conducting interviews of Chinatown residents to develop a sense of the community’s vision for Chinatown. The Association also continued its involvement in land issues, advocating for a community voice in the development plans for Parcel A and Parcel 24 in 2003 and 2004 respectively. In 2005, the Association joined the Chinatown Gateway Coalition to work toward the goals laid out in the revised Chinatown Masterplan 2000, including addressing the shortage of housing in Chinatown, quality of life issues caused by the proximity of Boston’s red-light district (the Combat Zone), and maintenance and improvement of Chinatown’s physical environment. The Association continues its work on tenants’ rights, workers’ rights, political empowerment, and local Chinatown issues, including a campaign to re-establish a branch library in Chinatown and to secure the future of Chinese and Vietnamese bilingual ballots for Boston voters.