Policy and litigation updates from Advancing Justice | AAJC
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Black Lives Matter

Our liberation is tied with the liberation of Black people. Until there is justice for Black lives, there can be no justice for us all. 

As Asian Americans, we stand together with the movement for Black lives to fight for transformative change to a system that incarcerates, dehumanizes, and oppresses Black Americans. We will continue to speak out for justice, taking the lead from local and national Black-led organizations and standing in solidarity with the movements. We also commit to addressing anti-Blackness in our own Asian American communities, many of whom are here in this country due to the civil rights struggles spearheaded by Black Americans.

We commit to continuing to fight back against the virulent racism of this Administration and political leaders at every level. We are a partner and ally in the struggle to create a country based on economic and racial justice. 

Read more, see our resource page on anti-Blackness in the Asian American community, and also read our joint AAPIs for Black lives letter.

Spotlights 

In case you missed it, here are a few notable AAPIs we featured for AAPI Heritage Month with our Asian Americans Advancing Justice sister organizations. 

Marcus Mariota 
Marcus Mariota is the first Oregon player of Samoan descent and the first player from Hawaii to win the Heisman trophy. He is currently a quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL. 
 

Sakharam Ganesh Pandit  
Sakharam Ganesh Pandit was an Indian American lawyer and civil rights activist. Pandit immigrated to the U.S. in 1906 and became a citizen in 1914. He represented Bhagat Singh Thind in the Supreme Court case United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, in 1923, which found that Indians were ineligible for United States citizenship. The case was finally reversed by legislation in 1946.

Dorothy Cordova
Dorothy Cordova is an activist, professor, and the co-founder of the Filipino American National Historical Society. 
 
EYE ON THE NEWS

Our director of immigration advocacy Megan Essaheb spoke to the Associated Press in response to Trump's threats to end DACA following the favorable Supreme Court decision.

John C. Yang talked to the Washington Post about the impact shrinking newsrooms could have on coronavirus coverage.

We are disappointed to see that diversity in the media has not increased. The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition released their annual Report Cards for the 2018-2019 season and the major TV networks have not progressed in diversity onscreen. 
During this trying time for the AAPI community we are coming together to help each other through the rise of harassment and violence. Our own Marita Etcubañez spoke to Supermajority News about several campaigns we are a part of to help the community including our multilingual Stand Against Hatred website and our partnership with Hollaback!. Read more. 
We were thrilled to have support for AAPIHM from 88rising for their Asia Rising Forever virtual concert as part of a collaboration to fight hate and xenophobia. The energetic event highlighted Asian and Asian American artists broadcasting the diversity within the industry. 
OPPORTUNITIES

We are accepting applications to our virtual 2020 Youth Leadership Summit through July 8. College student leaders, apply here!

We are hiring for a Program Coordinator of our new Preventing & Combatting Racial Profiling Project (Mandarin fluency required). Learn more and apply.
APIAVote Presidential Town Hall 
2020 Presidential Town Hall and National AAPI Leadership Summit
On Saturday, June 27, the 2020 Presidential Town Hall and the National Asian American and Pacific Islander Leadership Summit will take place. The Presidential Town Hall is a forum for Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to push for issues that concern our community. There will be over 5000+ AAPI professionals and community leaders from all the country that will directly address the needs of our community ahead of the General Election.

In conjunction with the Presidential Town Hall, the National AAPI Leadership Summit will be held from June 22 to July 2. This summit includes four specific tracks for participants to join learning how to further engage our community through workshops and meetings.  

We encourage everyone to participate in the town hall and be part of uniting all our voices for political engagement. 

Register Here. 
Looking Back at AAPIHM

Stand With One, Stand with All
Our president and executive director John C. Yang joined the BUILD Series panel and sat down with Curtis M. Wong at HuffPost, CSMI President and CEO Karen Eng and actor Tamlyn Tomita. They discussed that this year's AAPIHM has certainly been different due to COVID-19 but nonetheless the community continues to be incredibly resilient.  

Essential, Not Expendable 
We joined Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and Empowering Pacific Islander Communities to celebrate essential workers during AAPIHM. During the pandemic it was imperative that we participated in honoring the efforts of AAPIs who are working on the front lines day in and day out, putting their lives at risk to save others. APALA launched a video series "AAPIs are #EssentialNotExpendable" which you can find here, and we are fighting for Congress to institute increase protections for workers. 

United Against Hate 
NBC investigative journalist, Vicky Nguyen, and NBC Asian America hosted a town hall panel with John C. Yang, Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Grace Meng, and Manju Kulkarni at A3PCON called United Against Hate. The town hall focused on the actions that non-profit organizations and individuals have taken to combat the ongoing anti-Asian sentiment. So far there have been 2,200 hate incidents reported in 46 states since the start of 2020. You can catch a replay of the townhall by watching it here. 
Coronavirus Updates 

Advancing Justice | AAJC COVID-19 Resources to Stand Against Hatred 
Our Stand Against Hatred website is a safe space where we encourage reporting of any targeted incidences of hate. The site is accessible in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese with the aim of monitoring and pushing back against hate. By sharing what you experienced or witnessed, you can educate the public, empower others, show service providers where help is needed, and strengthen advocacy efforts for hate crimes response and prevention.

We also put together a list for coronavirus/COVID-19 resources that help respond to the hate that the AAPI community has received. Find all of the resources accessible to you here.  

Bystander Intervention Virtual Training
Xenophobic harassment and racism against Asian American and Pacific Islanders are not a recent occurrence. However, we have seen a rise in these incidences across the United States and as states re-open, we are concerned about seeing another spike in reported incidents. We partnered with Hollaback! for virtual workshops on bystander intervention. Each training session is one hour that teaches you Hollaback!’s 5 D’s of the bystander intervention methodology.

We have had an enormous demand for more training sessions so we have added a number of additional free sessions. Please register in advance for the event as each one will be capped at 1,000 people.

  • Thursday, June 25 at 4:00pm ET/ 3:00pm CT/ 2:00pm MT/ 1:00pm PT/ 10:00am HST. Register here.
NEW Training: How to Respond to Harassment for People Experiencing Anti-Asian/American Harassment
After attending our bystander intervention trainings, this training is for how to take care of yourself after you experience harassment. Learn more and register.
  • Monday, June 29, 2020 at 3pm ET/ 2pm CT/ 1pm MT / 12pm PT / 9am HST. Register Here.
  • Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 3pm ET/ 2pm CT/ 1pm MT / 12pm PT / 9am HST. Register Here. 
  • Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at 3 PM ET/ 2 PM CT/ 1 PM MT / 12 PM PT / 9 AM HST. Register Here.
Legal Advocacy and Policy 

Amicus Brief in Support of Race-Conscious Admissions at Harvard 
With the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR Boston) and Arnold & Porter, we filed an amicus brief in Students for Fair Admissions (SAFFA) v. Harvard  for the protection of Harvard’s freedom to consider race in admissions to the full extent allowed by law. Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) have proposed a "race-blind" alternative however we stand with Harvard's inclination to admit underrepresented students and to defend race-conscious admissions. Read the full brief here. 

The Fight Isn't Over to Protect Immigrant Rights Advocates 
We filed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in United States v. Sineneng-Smith urging the court to strike down this federal statute that dangerously affects the daily lives of immigrants' rights advocates and service providers. However, the ruling of the 
United States Supreme Court was less than conclusive and they have sent the case back down to the Ninth Circuit. Read more. 

Social Media Surveillance 
We hosted our third installment of webinars on the telecommunications and technology ecosystem. Hosted by our Programs Associate and Executive Assistant, Livia Luan, and our Director of Community Engagement, Bessie Chan-Smitham, speakers Rachel Levinson-Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice, Javeria Jamil of Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, and our NAPABA Law Foundation Fellow Gisela Perez Kusakawa talk about social media surveillance being used as an immigration vetting tool. They explore questions about the applications used by society and how the federal government including ICE are using our online presence as a screening device and are specifically targeting minority groups. We thank Spectrum for their support of this webinar. Watch it here. 
Census Corner
COVID-19 Updates: We will consistently provide updates on how the coronavirus is affecting census outreach and operations through Count Us In 2020. The census hotline is another way to get answers to important questions about the 2020 Census. 

Census Hotline
Call our census language hotline 1-844-2020-API or 844-202-0274 for answers to your questions in English, Mandarin (普通話/普通话), Cantonese (廣東話/广东话), Korean (한국어),Vietnamese (tiếng Việt), Tagalog, Urdu  (اردو), Hindi (हिंदी), and Bengali/Bangla (বাংলা).

Help us promote the hotline by downloading our promotion toolkit!

Count Us In 2020 Latest Webinar 
We hosted our 18th census webinar focusing on the most up-to-date census response rates which have been collected by City University of New York’s Hard to Count Map. This latest edition features speakers Raima Roy, our Program Associate for Census and Civic Engagement, Steven Romalewski, who directs the CUNY Mapping Service, Jeri Green, U.S. census expert, and Elena Langworthy, State Voices' Census Program Manager. They also discuss the continuing effort to motivate groups to fill out the census like the AANHPI community. 
 
Census Blogs 

Engaging College Students in the 2020 Census 
We have provided a guide to help understand where and how college students fit in the 2020 Census especially during the pandemic. College student populations are diverse and come from "varying socioeconomic and racial backgrounds". It's crucial that they understand the importance for this community to be counted accurately. We encourage you to watch the webinar on this topic, found here. 

Guest Blog: Young Children among Asian Subgroups may be missed in the 2020 Census
Dr. William P. O'Hare writes about the differences in data collection amongst Asian subgroups, especially between young children. O'Hare highlights the diversity of circumstances and characteristics within 11 Asian subgroups featuring young children, ages 0 to 9. Therefore, data collection for the 2020 Census may not be effective for all and some Asian subgroups will need more outreach if their data is to be counted accurately. Read the full blog.
In Other Blog-worthy News...
Remembering the victims of the Vietnam War comes with heavy emotions and currently the U.S. government is forgetting the loss that Southeast Asian American communities still feel from this era. The government has been putting a major effort into deporting many Hmong, lu Mein, Lao, and other Laotian ethnic minorities. We support the New Way Forward Act which provides a humane solution to the United State's history of criminalizing migration because we believe that we should become a nation that protects all its members. Read more.
Staff Features
Join us in welcoming two new staff members to the Advancing Justice | AAJC team.
JoAnn Waller - Manager of Corporate Relations and Special Events
Prior to Advancing Justice | AAJC, JoAnn previously worked with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund as their Director of Events and Director, In Memory Program. 

"It is important to me to work for an organization that is mission-driven and has a positive impact on real people.  The work that Advancing Justice | AAJC has done and the work that is being done during the COVID 19 pandemic shows how important it is to have organizations like AAJC.  I’m excited to be a part of the organization!" 
 
Henri' Thompson - Assistant Director of Telecommunications, Technology and Media Diversity
 
Before coming to Advancing Justice | AAJC, Henri' was senior associate with The MHT Companies where he advised Fortune 500 clients on communications, government relations and strategy. As a part of his work, he was an advocate on education, media diversity, technology and telecommunications issues.

"I'm excited about working at Advancing Justice | AAJC to continue moving forward our work across civil rights, equal protection and political power. Our work is crucial in continuing the good fight towards a stronger America and a brighter future for all of us." 
Intern Spotlights
As we said hello to new staff members, we say goodbye and thank you to one of our spring interns.

Amber Nguyen is a rising junior from Houston, Texas majoring in English and double minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies and Performing Arts at Georgetown University. 

“One of my favorite experiences as an Advancing Justice | AAJC policy intern was when I attended a judiciary hearing on FBI oversight. Being on the Hill and listening to Director Christopher Wray address serious threats to our nation felt surreal – that is, until it became evident how the Bureau’s implicit biases and racial profiling continue to harm our communities. Another highlight at the Advancing Justice | AAJC office was a going-away party for a staff member since the event reiterated how tight-knit the AAJC family is. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn from this passionate and hardworking group of individuals, and I hope to experience a similar office culture in the future!”
 
Marie Arnold is a George Mason University student majoring in Integrative Studies and double minoring in Social Justice and Nonprofit Studies and was our development intern.

"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, my time at the Advancing Justice | AAJC was such a beautiful opportunity. Overall, the response to the the overt discrimination of AAPIs and the AAJC's response as well as the influx of support to build the community up during unprecedented times is a learning experience that I will always cherish."
 
Thank you for your support!
A tremendous thank you to those who reached out to help raise support for us to protect our communities during these unprecedented times and in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
 
88rising
Panda Express
The Happied Virtual Happy Hour
Give in May 
Asian Google Network
Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Ice Cream Jubilee
The Rave Luck Club
#RacismIsAVirus
Solidarity T-shirt  (CAPAL: partnering with AQUA DC, Ascend Greater Washington, DCKC, FYP DC, NAAAP DC, NAPAWF DC, NOVAL-DC, and TAP-DC) 
The Boba Plug
 
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