Policy and litigation updates from Advancing Justice - AAJC
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Holding Our Communities Close

The joy of Lunar New Year was diminished with the California shootings our community experienced. We mourn the lives lost and many injured following the tragic shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay as Asian Americans come face-to-face with the devastating consequences of gun violence at the hands of two elderly members from our own community.

We are still processing and grieving, all in different ways, but the impact is clear, and it remains consistent: our community, especially the most vulnerable, is being retraumatized as they continue to be targeted by hate and violence.

As we grapple with the tragedies that unfolded and search for answers, our community is coming together to show what solidarity and collective care look like.

Please see here for a list of resources on how to get involved and support our community.  
 
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EVENTS

Bystander Intervention Training
  • Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment: Friday, February 24 at 2pm EST
  • How to Respond to Harassment for People Experiencing Anti-Asian/American Harassment: Wednesday, February 15 at 12pm EST
ADVANCING JUSTICE - AAJC IN THE NEWS

In an interview with WTOP, President and Executive Director John C. Yang shares: "People do not feel as safe as they would like to feel. And let’s be clear, obviously, in this particular incident, it was an Asian American shooter. But that doesn’t minimize the effect that it has on the Asian American community having another act of mass violence.” 

Director of Community Engagement Tiffany Chang had this to say in an interview with WBAI-FM: 
“It is important to be vigilant about narratives that further divide us, that further stigmatize our communities. It’s important to uphold narratives that don’t lead to either the minimization of violence due to the ethnic identities of the shooters or the further stigmatization or criminalization of Asian Americans, but rather points us towards shared humanity and collective struggle.”

 

On the heels of the trauma within the Asian American community, our allies in the Black community were grappling with the horrific death of Tyre Nichols, a young man who died after a brutal beating by several police officers. The release of the video footage occurred at the beginning of Black History Month and during yet another time where a community should be celebrating, not mourning a loss of life. We will be in solidarity all of February as we lift up major accomplishments, milestones, and historical figures in the Black community.

Advancing Justice | AAJC Redistributes Funds to Community-based Organizations for Narrative Change and Caregiving Projects 

In partnership with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Advancing Justice | AAJC distributed $500,000 to five community-based organizations through the Narrative Change and Caregiving grant program to lift up narratives of caregiving in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and/or Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities and to help build capacity and communications infrastructure for local organizations.

Representing diverse communities across the United States, the grant recipients are Asian American Resource Workshop (Boston, MA), Asian Americans United (Philadelphia, PA), National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (Seattle, WA), Pacific Islander Knowledge 2 Resources (Salt Lake City, UT), and The SEAD Project (Minneapolis, MN). Advancing Justice | AAJC is proud to support the following community-based organizations in the coming year to drive narrative change about caregiving in the AANHPI community through capacity building and providing technical support in communications.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Calls on Biden Administration to End Policies that Endanger Asylum Seekers
 
In January, the Biden Administration announced a new border package that expands the use of Title 42 to expel more people to Mexico and the use of expedited removal, as well as the intention to promulgate new regulations to recreate a Trump-era asylum ban, among other measures. 

These policies fail to reflect our values of protecting those fleeing violence and persecution. Seeking asylum is a legal right, and the United States has a moral obligation to uphold this right. The Advancing Justice affiliation calls on the Biden administration to end any and all policies that endanger asylum seekers and severely limit access to asylum. We need to establish pathways to safety without banning or expelling people in search of protection.

Read the full statement here. 
Blog Highlights
The 2021 FBI Hate Crime Statistics Failed to Capture the Reality of Anti-Asian Hate. Here’s why

The FBI's 2021 hate crime data indicated the lowest number of hate crimes in years, but the data dramatically undercalculated the reality of hate crimes in the country.
What the Lies and Misleading Narratives in the 2022 Midterm Elections Can Teach Us

Advancing Justice | AAJC paid careful attention to election narratives with messaging explicitly targeting Asian Americans during the 2022 midterms.
Have you set your reading goals for the new year? Check out our reading list by Asian and Asian American authors for learning and owning your narratives in 2023. 
Read more of our blogs!
Report Anti-Asian Hate, Harassment, and Violence
 
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 are so grateful for the brave individuals who continue to trust us with their testimonials.

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.

If you or someone you know would like to share your experience, please visit StandAgainstHatred.org today.
Meet Our New Staff
Zaria Guignard | Census and Civic Engagement Program Manager
 
Zaria Guignard is the Manager of the Census and Civic Engagement program supporting the development and implementation the organization's census and voting rights policy priorities and advocacy strategies. Zaria previously served as the Voter Protection Manager on the Nevada Democratic Coordinated Campaign, helping to expand voter access and protect all Nevada voters. Zaria received her MPA with a Public Policy concentration and a Social Policy focus from American University. She holds a B.A. from American University in Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government with a minor in Communication Studies. 
Louis Liu | Anti-Hate Communications Coordinator
Louise Liu is the Anti-Hate Communications Coordinator responsible for supporting and implementing the organization's communications strategies in the area of racial justice, including anti-Asian hate. She was previously a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan, where she taught English to public school students.  Louise received her B.A. from Emory University, where she studied English and Psychology with a concentration on the literature of marginalized authors.
Amia Jackson | Lawyering in the Nation's Capital Externship
Amia Jackson is a 2nd year law student at Wayne State University-Law School. She is working with Advancing Justice – AAJC in conjunction with the 'Lawyering in the Nation's Capital' externship at Wayne Law. After law school, she plans to pursue a career in Movement Lawyering and other restorative justice work.
 
Join Our Team
We are looking to immediately hire full-time: See all our open positions and learn how to apply here.
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