Policy and litigation updates from Advancing Justice | AAJC

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Moving Forward in Unity

Content Warning: Mentions of mass shootings, anti-Asian hate, state-sanctioned violence.

It is impossible to reflect on our organization's work during March and April without also acknowledging the devastating losses of life that our community — and other communities of color — continue to be forced to endure.

On March 16, we lost eight people in Atlanta to violence and abhorrent hate, including six women of Asian descent. We remember and hold tightly to our hearts the names and lives of Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng.

On April 11, Minnesota faced another heartbreaking loss after 20-year-old Daunte Wright was murdered by police during a traffic stop. On the same day that Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts for the murder of George Floyd, 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant lost her life to state-sanctioned violence. We grieved again as eight people were killed during a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis: Amarjeet Johal, Jaswinder Singh, Amarjit Sekhon, Jaswinder Kaur, Samaria Blackwell, John Weisert, Karli Smith, and Matthew R. Alexander. Four of which were members of the Sikh community. To this day, countless more of our community members have been verbally harassed or violently attacked amid the ongoing rise in anti-Asian hate.

We name these individuals and incidents because the same history of anti-Asian racism that we must talk about is part of the same history and racism that has impacted all our communities. While our organization has been grieving and processing the collective trauma we have continued to experience, we have also been emboldened in our fight for a world where women, LGBTQ people, children, elders, and the most vulnerable of us can be safe and protected. As we begin Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, we remember the importance of holding on to the stories of our communities with grace, compassion, and the full spectrum of who we are.

"While there’s evil in this world, when we see things like that, there’s still hope, and we see that there’s still more love in the world... My mother would have known that there’s still love and positivity in the world.” —one of Suncha Kim’s children for the Washington Post.

Keep scrolling to read more about Advancing Justice | AAJC's current initiatives and how you can get involved.

EVENTS

Sign up for our New Way Forward virtual advocacy week of action from June 1-4! To join us for this series of legislative meetings and advocacy trainings, please fill out this form.

On April 8, our president and executive director John C. Yang participated in the Washington Post live event "Race in America : Allyship" with NAACP Legal Defense Fund President & Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill.

Did you miss the Value Our Families coalition virtual teach-in on Federal Advocacy for Family-Based Immigration? Access a recording of the full event on YouTube.

ADVANCING JUSTICE | AAJC IN THE NEWS

Following the release of the Derek Chauvin verdict, president and executive director John C. Yang told the Detroit Free Press that racial justice advocates must both recognize white supremacist elements of society and call them out.

“It’s important to name that in the struggle for racial justice. Sometimes we’re too fearful of using certain terms, and in this moment, we have to be more bold," he said.

John also spoke with The Guardian about how Asian Americans have found a common ground over the long histories of discrimination despite vast ethnic, generational and cultural differences.

"In this moment, you see Asian Americans coming together because we all recognize that shared pain and that shared sense of being othered." he said.

Advocacy and Policy

Advancing Justice | AAJC as a National Leader of Anti-Hate Work

Throughout March and April, our organization continued to receive local and national news attention for our anti-hate work. Advancing Justice | AAJC is encouraged by the support and coverage we have received as a leading voice in the nation's fight against racism and xenophobia. Below are some highlights:

Wall Street Journal - Community Conversations: "'Stop Asian Hate' and the Fight for Change"

NPR News - All Things Considered: "The Influence of Bystanders When Someone is Getting Assaulted or Harassed"

CBS Weekend News: "Asian American advocacy groups training bystanders how to stand up against hate" — featuring an interview with Reina Guartico, an early childhood educator who attended one of our joint trainings with Hollaback!.

Soul Lounge Primetime - WHCR 90.3: "Stopping Hate and Violence Against Asian Americans"

Politico: "Senate faces a new post-tragedy quagmire as anti-Asian hate crimes rise"

NOW with Elliott Francis: "Atlanta Spa Shooting Part 2"

New York Times: "In a Role Reversal, Asian-Americans Aim to Protect Their Parents From Hate" — a special interview with Emily Chi, our Assistant Director of Telecommunications, Technology and Media

CBS Evening News: "Assault on Asian American Women Spotlights Rise in Violence"

Anniversary of Census Day 2020

To celebrate the one year anniversary of Census Day 2020, we launched a social media campaign to reflect on and recognize the vast amount of work that went into promoting a fair and accurate census amidst unprecedented circumstances. From tweet threads on the importance of data disaggregation and redistricting, to Instagram slide decks highlighting the innovative projects led by our community partners to get out the count, we emphasized the vast impacts of the decennial census and celebrated all that we were able to overcome.

Watch our Anniversary of Census Day 2020 video here.

Anniversary of Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! Partnership

In just one year, Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! have trained 50,000 people to successfully and safely intervene as a bystander to stop non-violent incidents of anti-Asian hate. As the news filled with reports of violent attacks on Asian elders and the tragic shootings in Atlanta, people from all across the country and around the world sought to take action by participating in our bystander trainings. In the month of March alone, nearly 17,000 people participated in our training sessions.

On April 7, the actor and singer Paolo Montalban, best known for his role in the 1997 Disney film “Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella,” made a special appearance to co-lead the bystander intervention training and will continue joining us for future sessions! To commemorate the one-year anniversary of our partnership with Hollaback! on April 8, we hosted a special Instagram Live with trainer Dax Valdes, our senior director of strategic initiatives Marita Etcubañez, and Hollaback! co-founder and executive director Emily May.

Read the full press release here.

Asian and Pacific Islander Immigrant and Refugee Week of Action

In March, our immigration team co-led a digital week of action to advocate for the rights of Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants and refugees. Daily calls-to-action ranged from phonedogging members of Congress to participating in Twitterstorms, and advocated for topic areas from citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants to Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Burmese refugees.

Check out our launch video here.

Lawsuit Filed Against Georgia's Sweeping Anti-Voting Bill

On April 2, Advancing Justice | Atlanta, Advancing Justice | Asian Law Caucus, and Advancing Justice | AAJC, along with pro bono counsel, Keker, Van Nest, & Peters, filed a lawsuit to ensure that Asian American voters in Georgia will have the freedom to vote equally in elections. The lawsuit charges that SB 202, Georgia’s sweeping anti-voting bill, erects unconstitutional barriers intended to silence Asian American voters and includes changes to absentee voting that would have a disparate impact on Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, who mainly voted by mail in the 2020 general election.

Read the full press release and complaint here.

Asian American Education Project Teacher Workshops

Asian American and Pacific Islander history is American history, but is often left out of curriculums in K-12 schools. Advancing Justice | AAJC, fiscal sponsor of The Asian American Education Project, launched a series of free workshops for K-12 teachers designed to promote the inclusion of historically and culturally competent curriculum about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) nationwide.

In this series of virtual K-12 Asian American Curriculum Teacher Training Workshops, The Asian American Education Project showcases curriculum on the AAPI experience. It is divided into themes to make it easier for educators to adapt the whole or part of the curriculum into their own practice.

Learn more and sign up for an upcoming workshop here.

Preliminary Report on the Impact of Differential Privacy

In the first report of its kind from civil rights organizations, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Advancing Justice | AAJC, find that the U.S. Census Bureau's proposed "differential privacy" practice could impact the ability of communities of color to achieve representation during redistricting.

"Differential privacy" is a new system proposed by the U.S. Census Bureau that would introduce false information in order to protect the confidentiality of information and privacy of people who responded to the 2020 Census. The report warns that differential privacy may undermine the fitness of the data and affect some groups and areas more significantly, particularly minorities including Latinos and Asian Americans.

Read the full press release and report here.

Ending the Racial Profiling of Asian American/Asian Immigrants

Under the Department of Justice’s “China Initiative,” scientists, researchers, and scholars of Asian descent are facing mass investigations and unjust prosecutions under the pretext of combating economic espionage. In April, we delivered a petition to President Biden with nearly 30,000 signatures from impacted persons, concerned citizens, and community members calling for an end to the racial profiling and targeting of Asians/Asian Americans by federal agencies.

Read our full press release here.

Additionally, the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation submitted a comment to the National Institutes of Health raising concerns about the racial profiling of Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists, researchers, and scholars, particularly those of Chinese descent, and urging the agency to take action in addressing NIH’s role in these efforts. Over 220 community organizations, civil rights groups, science associations, academics, and concerned citizens signed on to the comment.

Read more from our official statement here.

More Wins to Celebrate

In March, we saw the historic passage of the American Dream and Promise Act, and the passage of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act in the House of Representatives. Advancing Justice | AAJC also commended the U.S. government's decision to grant Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for over a thousand Burmese refugees currently residing and working in the U.S.

In April, our organization applauded the historic, bi-partisan Senate passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was amended to include the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act (Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act). We also celebrated the Maryland legislature’s passage of the Dignity Not Detention and Driver Privacy Acts, two critical immigrants’ rights and racial justice bills that passed with a veto-proof majority. Finally, we saw through the confirmation of long-time civil rights advocate Vanita Gupta as the Associate Attorney General of the Department of Justice.

On-going Resources

Beginning May 12, low-income families will be able to receive $50 per month to help pay for broadband! The Federal Communications Commission is looking for people and organizations to help share important consumer information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit. Help ensure AAPI families impacted by the digital divide know about this benefit by sharing assets from the FCC's digital toolkit! For more information on the program and eligibility, c lick here.

In recent years under the DOJ’s “China Initiative," some Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists and researchers have been subjected to government racial profiling and targeting. In response to community concerns, Advancing Justice | AAJC launched the Anti-Racial Profiling Project to provide legal referrals, educational resources, and policy and advocacy support to impacted persons. If you believe you are being racially targeted by the government and you are looking for attorney referrals, please contact 202-935-6014 using the Signal app and a staff member will reach out to you directly (support available in English and Mandarin/普通话).

Our community engagement team has been working with community partners to pull together state-specific and national anti-hate resources for the AAPI community. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to access, share, and add to the crowd-sourced document at any point.

Blog Highlights

Bringing Together Young Asian American and Pacific Islander Leaders Across the Country Virtually
Get to know the 12 young advocates who were selected to participate in our 2021 Spring Youth Leadership Summit, where they learned from and networked with policy advocates and national leaders.

Telling the Stories that Count: A Podcasting Partnership
Reflections on Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Power Station’s “Count On Your Census” podcast and how it told the stories of advocates working to get out the count in tumultuous times.

Census Day: One Year Out
One year out from Census Day 2020, senior director of census and voting programs, Terry Ao Minnis, reflects on how we leaned on one another to improvise, adapt, and overcome the challenges while looking toward what we need to accomplish for the 2030 Census.

Guest Blog: High school students across the country come together to research pandemic stress
High school students involved in Sahaas Youth share their thoughts and upcoming research on how the pandemic has impacted youth.

Read more of our blogs!

Count On Your Census Podcast

The Changing American Portrait
In the final episode of Season 2, Advancing Justice | AAJC President and Executive Director John C. Yang reflects on the Census 2020 experience, from anti-immigrant power grabs by former President Trump to the pandemic that devastated communities already at risk of being undercounted. John shares his vision for Census 2030 and encourages us all to remain engaged from participating in local elections to redistricting. This is how democracy rises. Listen on Apple Podcasts here.

Access All Season 1 and Season 2 Episodes

With the first results of the 2020 Census beginning to be announced by the U.S. Census Bureau, check out our past episodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for refreshers on the Census' vast impacts from redistricting, to natural disasters response, to racial justice.

Take Action With Us

Stand Against Hatred was created by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation in January 2017 to capture information about the increase in hate we observed in the months before and following the 2016 election. Since COVID-19 began, however, we have received many new testimonials of anti-Asian/Asian American incidents of hate and harassment.

As we state on the site, "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 know that sharing these experiences can be painful, which is why we're so grateful for the brave individuals who continue to trust us with their testimonials.

If you or someone you know would like to share your experience, please visit StandAgainstHatred.org today.

As COVID-19 and racial injustice persist, Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! have continued to make free training available to equip people with techniques on how to safely intervene when they see or experience anti-Asian harassment.

Learn more about the workshops and register for upcoming sessions below:

Bystander Intervention Training

Learn about the basics of intervention and the spectrum of disrespect experienced by Asians/Asian Americans. Then, put what you’ve learned into practice. Register Here

Conflict De-Escalation Training (Bystander Intervention 2.0)

Take your intervention skills a step further by using patience, empathy, and a willingness to listen to directly de-escalate conflict with a harasser. Register Here

Workshop for People Experiencing Anti-Asian/American Harassment

This training is for Asians and Asian Americans to learn how to trust their instincts, reclaim their space, and practice resilience following an act of hate. Register Here

New Staff Welcome

Ting-Yi Oei | Director of The Asian American Education Project
Ting-Yi Oei is a lifelong educator and received a B.A. in History from Hamilton College and a MAT from Brown University. After his MAT, Ting-Yi went on to a 25-year career teaching social studies to middle- and high-school students in Virginia’s public schools followed by 10 years as a high-school administrator in Fairfax County and Loudoun County. Prior to this position, he was the Education Director of the 1882 Foundation. Learn more about Ting-Yi and the work he does at Advancing Justice | AAJC.

Eugene Huskey | Manager, Grants Administration and Compliance
Eugene has over 15 years of experience in reviewing business processes and applying a pragmatic problem solving approach. He has provided measures for fiscal accountability and adaptability and improved operations to organizations in which he served. Learn more about Eugene and the work he does at Advancing Justice | AAJC.

Join Our Team!

We are seeking to hire immediately a Mis/Disinformation Policy Analyst (Two-Year Term Position) to assist the Assistant Director of Telecommunications, Technology, and Media! Apply now.

We are also looking for an Anti-Racial Profiling Project Intern for the Spring or Summer semesters to gain firsthand experience in the use of data analytics in policy-based advocacy on civil rights issues significant to Asian American communities. The internship provides a structured and intensive experience for students to immerse in civil rights issues and prepare for careers in public interest law and advocacy.
Click here to apply today.

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