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Hi APIQWTC. My name is Sammy Wills, and I'm super 
grateful to be one of the 2015 APIQWTC  Scholarship

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recipients. I'm making this video to introduce 
myself and to also give the warmest thank you

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to all the people who made this possible. I'm 
sorry that I cannot be there in person to accept

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the scholarship. I'm actually studying abroad in 
Cape Town, South Africa right now, and I'm making

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this video from the District 6 Museum right 
here in Cape Town. I've had a really great

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time exploring the outdoors, going to museums, 
seeing the sites, and participating in student

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movements to dismantle the institutionalized 
racism and colonization that have oppressed

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Black, Colored, queer, trans, feminist, student, and 
worker communities right here in

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post-apartheid South Africa. Just this past week, the 
Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town was

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taken down in a historic and monumental feat. 
Back home in the Bay Area, I'm a student at

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Stanford University and I also participate 
in student activism with the Stanford Asian

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American Activism Committee and with the Filipino 
American Student Union. I'm pursuing a degree in

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Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity in 
a minor in Education. My studies focus on the

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development of LGBTQ and Asian-Pacific Islander 
community and identity. Off-campus, I'm also part

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of the amazing team at API Equality Northern 
California, where I work as Program Assistant

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Through our work, we have been able to partner 
with APIQWTC for our Dragonfruit project, which

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collects the oral histories of LGBTQ Asian 
Pacific Islanders and community members

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and hearing about the stories of those who took 
part in the Black Power Movement and in the Labor

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Movement has been really really impactful for my 
personal development and for the amazing work

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that we do at API Equality Northern California, so 
in the future, I really really hope to continue as

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a Community Organizer working specifically 
to train generations of grassroots leaders

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to develop concrete organizing skills and 
a political framework that centers on Queer

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Justice. It's so so important to have spaces 
like APIQWTC to work to support students in their

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Ambitions and to also provide community, deep 
knowledge, and a whole lot of love, so please

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support the APIQWTC Scholarship Fund to ensure 
that young people who are queer trans and API

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can continue to do the work that empowers our 
communities. I want to give another huge thank

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you to everyone at the banquet and a big thank you 
to everyone from APIQWTC. See you when I get back.