Wimberley Asian Americans invited to Voices at the Table

Voices at the Table this Sunday features the Asian Americans in our community who will speak about their lives in Central Texas. Everyone is welcome to listen and join the Zoom forum from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

This will be the fourth of six monthly “Voices at the Table” conversations designed to help foster dialogue about issues of race and social injustice within Wimberley and Hays County, with voices of color given priority.

“With the recent acts of hate toward our Asian population across the nation, we bring to the table the voices of both young and older generations of Asian Americans in our community,” said Sandra Organ Solís, who started the forum with her husband, Carlos Solís.

Sandra is calling this month’s discussion “Generations to Generalizations” to acknowledge the Asian American experience in Central Texas from one generation to the next. “This discourse will offer some perspectives and history from those often generalized by their surviving, striving, and (the illusion of) thriving in America,” Sandra wrote on the Voices of the Table website: https://table.yosoyx.net.

“Come to listen and learn about our region’s relationship to a few of the many people who come from more than 16 countries that comprise the continent of Asia, and the Pacific Islands, to make America their home,” Sandra wrote.

One of the panelists Sunday will be Mary Gail Nagai Jacobson, “a beloved member of the Wimberley community,” Sandra said, “who will share her family history in the state from her perspective as a third generation or Sansei.”

During World War II, Mary Gail’s grandfather, a rice farmer in the Houston area, was taken from his home by the U.S. government and placed in a relocation camp. His two older sons, one of whom was Mary Gail’s father, were already in the U.S. Army engaged in the conflict in Europe. His youngest son (a teenager) and older daughters took over running the farm in the absence of their father while he was in the relocation camp.

Sandra and Carlos began Voices at the Table in January as a follow-up to events that occurred last year that sparked community conversations of race relations in Wimberley.

Over 100 people have registered for the forum and 50 to 60 have attended each one. The presenters have included Black and LatinX youth and adults who have discussed their lives in Wimberley, and scholars and authors who have added historical and cultural perspectives. Audience members have listened intently and interacted with thoughtful comments and questions.

“The stories have been authentic, genuine and compelling and have been very impactful on those who have come to hear,” Sandra said. “They’ve perhaps discovered they had biases and didn’t realize it.”

Those interested in registering for this Sunday’s Voices at the Table forum may do so at the following website: https://table.yosoyx.net.