Aoki Center Blog

Titled “The City Is Native Land,” this episode centers on Indigenous presence, belonging, continuity, and care within urban spaces across California.

Hosted by Victorio L. Shaw (Hoopa), the episode invites listeners to reconsider cities not as neutral spaces, but as layered Indigenous homelands shaped by memory, responsibility, survival, and relationship to land.

Book Talk: Ryan Lee Cartwright

May 20 | 4:30pm | Shields 205

Join the Davis Humanities Institute for a conversation with Ryan Lee Cartwright (UCD American Studies) about his book, Peculiar Places, and the intertwining of race, disability, and class in America. Reception to follow.

Register here.

King Hall Professor Jack Chin will speak on a panel at Voices of the Valley: A Community Movie Night at UC Davis, May 13, 5:30-8 p.m., 1002 Cruess Hall. Free admission; RSVP at 1882foundation.short.gy/Voices.

We often think of Chinatowns in cities like San Francisco or New York when we think about Chinese communities. But the Chinese were a key part of California's agricultural history. What can we learn about these Chinese communities in rural areas?

The panel will accompany three short Chinese American documentaries that capture these stories:

King Hall Professor Raquel Aldana appeared on Beyond Borders: The Immigration Evaluation Podcast to talk about “Credibility, Trauma Science, and What the Law Really Needs from Mental Health Professionals.” Professor Aldana is an expert on the intersection of immigration law, trauma science, and credibility adjudication.

On November 11, 2025, the Aoki Center sponsored an online interview with Donald K. Tamaki, who served on the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. King Hall student Jenny Feng ’26 conducted the interview, which also featured Aoki Center Director Kevin Johnson and Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin. Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth Sarine assisted with the project.

Watch the interview below:

Read the California Reparations Report.

On Feb. 25, the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies at UC Davis School of Law and a coalition of constitutional, civil rights, and other scholars led by Professor Evelyn M. Rangel-Medina filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara. A team from Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle LLP acted as pro bono counsel.