Courtesy of Caroline Tanbee Smith

For many Asian American immigrants, activism and politics don’t run in the family. 

Historically, New Haven has not had a large Asian American and Pacific Islander population. But the number is growing every year — from four percent in 2010 to seven percent in 2020 — and new Asian American shops and markets are popping up all over the city. 

A generation of Asian American leaders are finding their own ways to fight for change in New Haven – whether through organization, public service or community-building. Some found their way to Yale and New Haven from immigrant families, and with a deep sense of community and shared stake in the city’s future, they now call New Haven home. 

The News spoke to three local organizers to learn how their Asian American background informs their community advocacy. 

John Lee ’18 DIV ‘26: An “embodied” connection to New Haven

John Lee ’18 DIV ‘26, the grandson of North Korean immigrants, grew up in the predominantly white suburbs of Baltimore. His main source of Asian American community was the local Korean church, and when he came to Yale as an undergraduate, he naturally found community in a Korean American church in Westville. Since he couldn’t speak Korean well, he gravitated towards the younger, English-speaking churchgoers, volunteering and helping out with the youth programs. 

As he worked with New Haven students as a LEAP site coordinator, he noticed how neighborhoods close to Yale struggled with housing, unemployment and a lack of resources in schools and libraries. At the same time, he began meeting city activists and organizers from New Haven Rising — an organization that advocates for racial, economic and social justice. Their ideas for solidarity and reform were energizing, he thought.

After graduating, Lee stayed at Yale to study at the Divinity School and eventually became a key leader for New Haven Rising. 

On a typical day for Lee, he wraps up class at Yale to meet directly with residents and other organizers. He goes to East Rock Magnet School every week to teach students to cycle, and in his free time, he traces the city’s streets on his bike, writing poetry about Elm Street or Whalley Avenue. Sometimes, he challenges kids to foot races at a Newhallville school he used to mentor at; when the weather’s nice, he might take on Alders Caroline Tanbee Smith ’14 and Eli Sabin ’22 LAW ’26 in basketball. 

For many immigrants, it’s difficult to tangibly relate to systemic, historical problems in America, Lee said. As an organizer, a big question for him has been identifying personal points of connection to engage people. 

For him, it’s an “embodied” relationship with New Haven. He sees this connection as grounded in his faith but also in his sheer love for the city: its charming size, diverse neighborhoods and history. “It’s a very rich place that has a lot of the patterns of American history that are confusing, beautiful [and] painful,” he said.

When people have an embodied relationship to a place, Lee thinks, they “hold a lot of what that place has meant” and can pass that along to future generations.   

“I love New Haven, and I love walking out my door and being a part of the city and being among neighbors. [But there are] young people who are like, ‘I take a lot of pride in being here or I have a kind of vision, but it’s getting harder and harder to live in the city.’ So that tension is where I locate a need for change,” he said.

Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith ’14 SOM ’25: The activist spirit

New Haven is a “city that fights for itself,” Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith ’14 SOM ’25: of East Rock said. “It’s a city where you can feel the spirit of advocacy, the entrepreneurial spirit really ripple through the sidewalks and streets.”

When she arrived at Yale as an undergraduate, Tanbee Smith felt the urgency of wanting to be a part of something bigger than herself. She got her start mentoring at New Haven Academy and interning at the mayor’s office. 

She described how her mother, in South Korea, would often go to student protests and have to flee from the police. Yet now, in America, her parents were nervous when Tanbee Smith initially proposed becoming a politician. 

“I sometimes wonder if a lot of us have that experience of our parents having that advocate spirit when they’re in their home countries. Then, when they come here, it’s different,” she said.

Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston is one of her heroes: “a ferocious, fiery but humble leader.” Seeing her run for city council years ago affirmed Tanbee Smith’s desire to run for office.

After living in New Haven for over a decade and growing confident in her values — developing a “really strong spine,” she says — she ran for office in 2023 and became alder of East Rock. Since then, she’s worked on issues ranging from traffic safety and climate justice to economic opportunity. 

“I think love is built and cultivated over time. And I just, I love this place, and it’s the place I want to be, hopefully for the rest of my life,” she said. 

Chistine Kim ’99 and aapiNHV: Scaffolding of support
Over the pandemic, Christine Kim ’99 felt “paralyzed” by the rise of anti-Asian sentiment nationally and locally. Her and other Asian American residents realized the necessity of more dialogue and a space for an Asian American community in the city. 

In 2021, she co-founded aapiNHV, New Haven’s first organized community for Asian Americans, with Tanbee Smith and several others. 

People come in and out of the group, Kim said — a reflection of the transitory nature of New Haven she finds dynamic. She loves how the group is diverse in all regards: age, skin color, ethnicity and socio-economic. 

Tanbee Smith found the friendships she formed with other Asian American women — from aapiNHV’s team to her Korean American co-founder in Collab, an accelerator for small businesses — “edifying” for her confidence as an Asian American advocate. “They poured into me, and I hopefully poured into them as well,” she said.

Now, Tanbee Smith is appreciative of the opportunity to build the “scaffolding” for Asian Americans to see themselves as politicians and advocates, to spark the “fight and advocacy” embedded in their family’s histories. 

Since its inception, aapiNHV has gathered in support of community members, held potlucks and hosted pop-ups at New Haven’s night market. In the coming years, Kim hopes to continue the space for Asian Americans to gather and support each other in business ideas or community projects.

“I think it’s really important for young people to be able to imagine a future for themselves and, you know, representation can help to establish that kind of horizon line. You’re like, ‘Hey, I could do that too,’” Tanbee Smith said.

Building spines and bridges

For some kids that Lee has worked with in New Haven schools, he’s the first Asian person they’ve spent time with and befriended. 

“Those moments are wonderful. It was never my intention to go in as an Asian representative, but I do think there was something fun and joyful about being a surprising presence,” he said. 

Tanbee Smith echoed this, describing her appreciation of being “more than one”: half-White and half-Korean, part of the LGBTQ+ community and from an immigrant family, grew up in the South but now in the Northeast. Though she struggled in her youth with wanting “simplicity,” she’s grown to cherish her multitudes. 

“Being able to build bridges or see multiple perspectives is something that feels pretty baked into my DNA,” she said. 

Her proudest moments during her time as an alder have been when, sitting across the table from a neighbor who disagrees with her, they are able to find a “shared underbelly of respect.” Her experience being multi-racial and Asian American, she says, has provided her some of the crucial tools to find this common ground. 

In January, when anti-immigration flyers were distributed in East Rock, Tanbee Smith was astonished by how resolutely the community rallied around their immigrant neighbors. Though “hateful actions” are sometimes inevitable, she believes that the most important thing is how a community responds. 

“I think New Haven is a city that responds with love,” Tanbee Smith said. “That moment of anti-immigration flyers being distributed in the neighborhood, kids picked them up and threw them away. [Even] a dog ate one. New Haven has a spine of values that it returns to.” 

In 2006, William Tong became the first Asian American elected to Connecticut state office.  

Correction, April 14: A previous version of this article misstated that John Lee ’18 DIV ‘26 was the son of North Korean immigrants. Additionally, Lee’s role in LEAP was site coordinator, not mentor and counselor.