Newsletters

Dear friend,

As we have all witnessed and deeply felt the ways in which last year’s challenges have persisted and transformed, 2021 has undoubtedly demanded stamina and steadfastness from our communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has worn on, exacerbating inequities in housing, economic stability, access to healthcare and safe working environments, and more. The pandemic-driven tide of violence targeting AAPI communities has continued to surge, as we have now collected over 10,000 reports of anti-AAPI hate incidents through our Stop AAPI Hate reporting platform. Many of us face these enduring trials with fatigue.

Dear A3PCON members,

Much was made of the governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey last week. What received much less notice in the mainstream media was the tremendous success of Asian American candidates in multiple local elections. Three major cities--Boston, Cincinnati and Seattle--elected Asian Americans. For the first time in Boston’s 200-year history, a nonwhite, female candidate, Michelle Wu, who identifies as Taiwanese American, won the mayor’s race. Similarly, Aftab Pureval, a biracial Tibetan Indian American, became Cincinnati’s mayor and Bruce Harrell, a biracial Japanese and African American, Seattle’s mayor. Additionally, New York City elected five Asian American City Council members: Julie Won, Sandra Ung, Linda Lee, Shahana Manif and Shekar Krishnan.

Dear A3PCON members,

We hope today is treating you well! As many of you know, A3PCON is a member of two redistricting coalitions, which submitted map proposals to the LA city, LA county, and CA state redistricting commissions. You can check them out here:

On September 11, 2001, I was awoken by the wails of my toddler at 5:00 AM. After hearing on NPR that a plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, I took my year-old daughter out of her crib and headed to the family room to watch the early coverage on CNN. I happened to catch a live shot of the second Boeing 767 dissecting the south tower. Like millions of my fellow Americans, I was aghast at what I saw. And I was in no way prepared for the senseless loss of lives and what this tragedy would mean for my community.