ARE ASIANS THE IGNORED MAJORITY?

TORONTO, ON – Sat. April 3rd, 2010, 7:30-10:30pm

The Asian Summit invites Asians and South-Asians to come together to discuss issues that effect our community. This is one of the few times both communities will unite on a shared platform to address challenges that are quite different although Asians and South-Asians come from the same wider continent.

A popular and talented Korean spoken word artist, rapper and singer, sun a.k.a The Real Sun, is the Summit’s featured performance artist. Gifted South-Asian Toronto Poet who leads Ignite Poets and studied cultural issues, like those the Summit will address, for her Masters thesis - Sheniz Janmohamed - is the special guest artist. Both will also act as hosts of the Asian Summit, which poses several questions of Asians and South-Asians under the umbrella question, ‘Are Asians the Ignored Majority?’ on the talk show. “I like the question because its broad enough to ask many other important questions of the talk show panelists, whether they are east Asian or South-Asian,” said Sheniz Janmohamed, “Like, Is Canada’s multi-culturalism real or are Asians and South-Asians expected to keep discussions of issues in our communities to ourselves? Shouldn’t we be able to discuss things out in the open like this event provides us an opportunity to do?”

The Asian Summit will be held at University of Toronto’s George Ignatieff Theatre at 15 Devonshire Place, just south of St.George subway station, just east of Spadina and south of Bloor, downtown Toronto. The Summit will be held as the talk show component of Toronto Poets’ 86th Saturday Night Love night of talent, talk and teaching. Both sun a.k.a The Real Sun and Sheniz Janmohamed have been featured at Saturday Night Love in the past. In addition to closing with a talk show component, each Saturday Night Love event consists of talent acts and a teaching component. There will be other Asian performers accompanying sun a.k.a The Real Sun and Sheniz Janmohamed, and an open mic component for new talent that registers to perform leading up to the event.


Our panelists will include the talented South Asian actress and playwright Anita Majumdar (The Misfit, Fish Eyes). Don't miss this opportunity!


Mortgage-broker Tricia Trotter will be the teacher for the evening, educating first time home buyers and taking questions from the theatre on establishing and re-establishing credit, and all the steps involved with buying a home and preparing to do so. Toronto Poets thanks the its generous sponsors, The Dream Decade Challenge, Arang TV and Asian Freedom Arts School.

Toronto Poets started the Increase the Peace campaign in 2002 east of Toronto, and has taken it across the GTA, sending poets east to Ottawa, north to Brampton, south to New York, and as far west as Guelph since then. Toronto Poets is a registered non-profit corporation whose mission is to Increase the peace by helping people to be healthy, wealthy and wise, first in Toronto, and then worldwide. For more information visit www.torontopoets.com/poetry/. View the video preview of this event on Toronto Poets’ video channel: www.youtube.com/TorontoPoets/ , along with videos from past Toronto Poets Increase the Peace events. Toronto Poets helps people rise out of poverty by giving free financial, job-search and career planning advice out in the Saturday Night Love Inspirer in print and online: www.torontopoets.com/inspirer/

Media Contact: Toronto Poets Asian Summit featured performer and Asian Summit co-host sun a.k.a The Real Sun sun@therealsun.com and Toronto Poets Media Relations Officer, Special Guest performer and Summit co-host Sheniz Janmohamed shenizjanmohamed@torontopoets.com 416-737-0843 416-737-0843.