Anime Expo Lite 2021 Presents Building a Stronger Community AAPI Panel

KABC's David Ono joins Lily Welty Tamai of UCLA and Social Activists Connie Chung Joe and Mitch Makai for the “Building A Stronger Community” panel;
All Anime Expo Lite panels also to be available via VOD July 5th to 16th

Santa Ana, CA, June 29, 2021 – Anime Expo Lite 2021 delivers an insightful forum to explore the range of social and political issues facings America's diverse AAPI communities in a panel called “Building a Stronger Community” that will be part of this year's two-day, livestream convention running Saturday, July 3rd through Sunday, July 4th.

Over the past year, there has been a spike in crimes against the Asian and Asian American community. Join David Ono (Evening news anchor for ABC7 News), Lily Welty Tamai (Lecturer for UCLA), Connie Chung Joe (CEO, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles), and Mitch Maki (President, Go for Broke National Education Center) for an informative exploration of the history of anti-Asian discrimination and what steps we can take to support our community.

“Asians and Asian communities across the country have experienced a terrible increase in hate and violence over the past year and we are augmenting our programming this year with a special forum to explore these issues and discuss solutions that we can all do to have impact at a local, regional and national level,” says Matthew Thomas, Sr. Director of Operations. “We invite everyone to catch this session and learn how they can become more involved in this important cause.”

Tickets to access this year's Anime Expo Lite programming are $5 each, with all proceeds benefiting the Hate Is A Virus commUNITY Action Fund. After the stream concludes on July 4th, ticketholders can re-watch the content, as well as access additional programming, on a VOD basis from July 5th -16th, 2021.

Anime Expo Lite 2021 marks the 30th Anniversary of the long-running annual convention.
Anime Expo is the biggest North American fan celebration for Japanese pop culture including anime, TV & film, fashion, video games, manga, dance, live concerts, collectibles, and exclusive convention merchandise, presented as an unforgettable experience for fans of all ages.

Registration information:
• Dates - July 3-4, 2021 / 12pm – 8pm (PST)
• Ticket Registration: https://www.tixr.com/groups/animeexpolite/events/anime-expo-lite-2021-benefitting-hate-is-a-virus-23015
• Registration $5 (+ processing fees) – all proceeds to benefit the Hate Is a Virus commUNITY Action Fund

To receive Anime Expo Lite new & programming updates, please sign-up at: https://mailchi.mp/anime-expo/lite-2021.

About SPJA
SPJA is a non-profit organization dedicated to popularizing and educating the American public about Japanese entertainment and pop culture, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. For more information, please visit www.spja.org.

About Anime Expo
Anime Expo (AX) brings together fans and industry from Japan, the US, and all over the world for the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. Taking place every year since 1992, Anime Expo celebrates the best in Japanese entertainment and pop culture. For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org.