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Hi there,
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month — a time to learn more about and celebrate the culture, history, and accomplishments of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
Conservation Voters of PA has been honoring AAPI Heritage Month on our social media channels, and we want to close out the month by recognizing some AAPI changemakers and AAPI-led organizations that have inspired us in their fights for clean air and water, protected open spaces, environmental justice, and a fairer democracy for all. Recognizing their contributions is critical as we work towards building a more inclusive and just movement, especially in light of the recent increase in anti-AAPI discrimination and violence.
This list below is by no means comprehensive. We encourage you to do your own research and let us know who inspires you by replying to this email!
- Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA): The API PA exists to build long-term power for Asian and Pacific Islander people and communities in Pennsylvania and does so by coordinating political, electoral, and legislative work to hold our elected officials accountable, engaging in culturally competent and linguistically accessible direct voter contact, and building solidarity with other aligned communities of color across the state. Environmental justice is one of the key issues in their work.
- VietLead: VietLead is a grassroots community organization that serves the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian communities in Philadelphia and South Jersey by creating a vision and strategy for community self-determination, social justice, and cultural resilience. Recognizing how the U.S. was built on the exploitation of Black and Brown people and stealing of Indigenous land, their Farm and Food Sovereignty Program is built around demonstrating how the land also provides refugees and immigrants, along with other communities of color, a source of self-determination through growing and cooking their own fresh cultural foods.
- SEAMAAC: As part of their mission to support and serve immigrants, refugees and other politically, socially, and economically marginalized communities, SEAMAAC provides a wide array of direct services and takes an active approach to building community leadership through education, organizing and advocacy. In 2021 they are working to address the misinformation that targets communities of color, continue to close the voter registration gap for marginalized communities, increase voter turnout, and involve community members in the process of redistricting.
- Varshini Prakash: Varshini is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, a group of young activists working to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. She has taken on the fossil fuel industry as an undergrad by pushing her university to stop investing in fossil fuels, leading the campaign to victory after a 2-week long escalation involving thousands of students, alumni, and faculty. Since then she has also organized major events in support of the Green New Deal.
- Pennsylvania State Senator Nikil Saval: Endorsed by Conservation Voters of PA, Nikil Saval is first-term state senator and was previously the first Asian American to hold the position of Ward Leader in Philadelphia. In Harrisburg, he is fighting to establish a climate equity fund through which 40% of revenue from the transition away from fossil fuels is directed to frontline and vulnerable communities, including communities of color and deindustrialized communities. He also advocates for subsidizing the emerging green energy sector, decarbonizing Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and housing, and expanding public transportation.
- Philadelphia Councilmember Helen Gym: As the first Asian American woman to serve on Philadelphia’s City Council, Helen Gym has championed improving water systems in schools and reducing exposure to lead, while opposing the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in Philadelphia and advocating for a carbon-free SEPTA system by 2035. Seeing the disparity in life expectancy between Philadelphia’s richest and poorest communities as one of the most pressing environmental issues facing the city, she has also called upon our city, state, and the business community to commit to a 21st Century School Construction and Modernization plan which would address the toxic, deteriorating buildings of our city’s public school system.
- Helen Tai: Helen is the founder of Enabling Innovation and currently serves on the boards of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, CeaseFirePA, and the Bucks County NAACP. She previously served as a Solebury Township Supervisor, where she led her colleagues to unanimously pass a resolution opposing the PennEast Pipeline and convinced several other municipalities to do the same because damage to our clean streams and forests would be irreparable. She also served as a State Representative, during which she earned a 100% on the Pennsylvania Environmental Scorecard.
- Tinku Khanwalkar: Tinku is an environmental attorney with over 35 years of experience who serves on the board of our partner PennFuture. She also serves as Chair of the Allentown Environmental Advisory Council and is a member of the Energy and Environment Committee of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Allentown Water and Sewer Compliance Oversight Review Board, and the Citizens’ Climate Lobby Lehigh Valley Chapter. Tinku has been instrumental in bringing Wildlands Conservancy and Zoellner Arts Center together to provide STEAM programming to middle school students in Allentown.
There are so many more AAPI leaders who have shaped, led, and grown the environmental movement, and their fights are far from over. Communities of color still disproportionately bear the brunt of climate and environmental impacts compared to white communities. And AAPI communities continue to be poorly represented in mainstream environmental justice narratives.
We plan to keep the conversation going and will continue learning how to be better allies throughout AAPI Heritage Month and beyond. As always, we welcome your feedback.
In solidarity,
Eva Piatek
Digital Campaigns Manager
Conservation Voters of PA
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