Top Moments of 2019
Top Moments of 2019
And just like that, 2019 has come and gone, and we’re less than 12 months away from electing a new president. As we enter the new decade, we can’t forget about the work we’ve put in and the big victories we’ve achieved together. The AAPI community is thriving, and that’s not going to stop any time soon. Here are some of our biggest moments of 2019:
#1 Andrew Yang crowdsurfs at the first ever AAPI Democratic Presidential Forum
This September, AAPI Progressive Action worked with AAPI Victory Fund and Asian Americans Rising Fund to put on the AAPI Weekend of the Year, which included the first ever AAPI Democratic Presidential Forum. At the Forum, we made history, bringing three Presidential candidates to Costa Mesa, California for a chance to engage with our community in a way that candidates never have before.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard — two of the three AAPI Presidential candidates at the time — and businessman Tom Steyer showed up for the AAPI community. Each had the opportunity to answer our questions and address the issues we most care about: Asian American representation in media, LGBTQ rights, and climate change.
Notably, this is where you may have seen Andrew Yang crowdsurfing. It was covered on CNN if you missed it. Yang Gang rolls deep.
Watch Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang crowd surf during one of his campaign rallies https://t.co/hWGl3BjsEk pic.twitter.com/ZiyQnXTQmy
— CNN (@CNN) September 9, 2019
#2 Virginia turns blue
It may have been an off year, but our victories in Virginia were historic. This November, the Commonwealth voted blue, securing a Democratic trifecta -- in both legislative chambers and the governorship -- for the first time since 1993. Of these wins, we saw Ghazala Hashmi, one of our endorsed candidates, become the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Virginia State Senate. Similarly, endorsed candidate Suhas Subramanyam was the first Indian American elected to the Virginia State House of Delegates.
#3 Our first ever AAPI debate moderator
It was a year of firsts for our community. After months of pressure from AAPI Progressive Action and ASPIRE PAC, we finally had the first ever AAPI debate moderator at the sixth Democratic Presidential debate this year. Amna Nawaz is a correspondent for PBS Newshour and co-moderated the debate in Los Angeles, where Andrew Yang was the only candidate of color.
#4 AAPI involvement in the 2020 elections is at a historic high
Despite being the fastest growing community in the country, AAPI voter turnout rate is still less than 50%. But all that is changing for 2020. This year we’ve seen AAPI involvement in all realms of organizing and campaigning. More than one hundred activists and community leaders convened at our AAPI Community Action Summit in September to share their experiences in organizing and advocacy. Former California State Treasurer John Chiang, Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley, actors Vinny Chhibber and Vivien Ngô, and the Honorable Vinai K. Thummalapally were among our speakers who spoke on topics like new AAPI polling data, AAPI women in public office, mobilizing resources in emerging communities, and increasing voter representation.
We also are seeing an increase in AAPI staffers in presidential campaigns, like Phil Kim working as State Director for the Cory Booker campaign, Jenn Liu as Senior Advisor for Revenue for the Kamala Harris campaign, and Kenneth Gonzalez as Regional Organizing Director for the Pete Buttigieg campaign. What’s more is the campaigns are engaging with us in ways we’ve never seen, as an increasing number of candidates have dedicated staff positions to AAPI outreach.
#5 Continuing the fight against public charge
We’ve been fighting hard against the Trump administration’s public charge rule. After a series bills and statements, the rule was blocked by federal judges in three states. AAPI Progressive Action has stood alongside the One Nation Movement since the proposed rule was announced last year, and we will continue to fight into the new decade. Most recently, we participated in the Pack The Courthouse protest in Oakland, to show our solidarity in the face of this unjust, anti-immigrant rule, and at the Washington DC public release of the One Nation Commission Report, which contains facts, data, and stories to shift the narrative and fight public charge.
#6 Releasing the AAPI Policy Brief
The AAPI community is often overlooked by many politicians, the media, and Presidential candidates. But the Democratic Party cannot afford to take AAPIs for granted because 40% of the community does not identify with either party. To help Presidential candidates do a better job of reaching the members of our community, we teamed up with AAPI Victory Fund to present a Policy Brief with recommendations like disaggregating data in order to focus on the heterogeneity of our population, improving language access at a federal level and hiring more AAPIs in federal level roles.
None of this would have been possible without your continued support. We aim to continue our role as your trusted channel for AAPI political news and engagement for 2020. This election will be the most important of our lifetime, with historic turnout. Subscribe to your bi-weekly news digest to keep yourself and your friends and family up to date on what matters most to our community.
We promise to continue serving the community by mobilizing and empowering AAPIs to organize, vote, and run for office. It’s up to us to change the narrative, and show that the AAPI community is not only politically involved, but also a major force for progressive action in 2020.
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