Introduction: NABEA’s Japan Chat Club is a community-driven program founded and led by Ashley Hayes and supported by Harvey Beasley; it was created in June of 2021, just 2 years after NABEA’s founding in 2019. As part of NABEA’s mission
Why I Joined NABEA – Brandy Darling

The Black girl that speaks Chinese. That was the way people identified me in my small, predominantly-white college in Connecticut. At first, it really bothered me because what did race have to do with my intellectual ability? Nothing. Little did
Why I Joined NABEA – Payge Jennings

Being Black and studying in Asia never seemed weird to me until other people told me it was. Growing up in Maryland, I had a lot of classmates who were of Asian descent. More specifically, I had a lot of
Why I Joined NABEA – Shahn Savino

I never wanted to learn Mandarin. It was my school’s first year offering the language and I had no interest in it. As a proud Haitian-American, I wanted to learn French. It would help me with Creole and I could
Why I Joined NABEA – Khyle Eastin

No matter how much time passes, I’ll never forget something my mom imparted to me on my first day as a middle schooler at my new school: “In a perfect world, everyone would have access to the opportunities you’ll have here.”…