ICYMI: AAPI Victory Alliance Hosts Virtual Convening to Ensure Safer Communities through Gun Violence Prevention Efforts

WASHINGTON — AAPI Victory Alliance Executive Director Varun Nikore hosted a virtual convening to uplift the stories of Asian American gun violence survivors and discuss key takeaways to ensure safer communities following last month’s AAPI Against Gun Violence convening in Washington, D.C. Asian American Futures Narrative Change Strategist Kana Hammon also led discussion offering tools for Asian Americans who are building narrative power for gun violence prevention within their communities.

Watch the recording HERE.

From AAPI Victory Alliance Executive Director Varun Nikore:

“The dynamics around guns in the AAPI community, one which has not traditionally seen the levels of violence, nor high numbers of gun purchases, is an alarming change and we are now experiencing the early days of an epidemic.

“Gun violence is now the top non-economic issue amongst AAPIs according to polling we participated in last year. AAPIs live in the most fear – out of all demographics – of being involved in gun violence.  

“There is a lot of work to be done and we can’t do it alone. That’s why we put this webinar together today so that we can lift up our AAPI issues that reflect this rising gun violence in our community so we can start coming up with solutions… It’s important to start breaking down what we come to accept as given with respect to guns, and start building accepted thoughts - based on truth and our current values as Americans - so we can start building a society, free from fear, violence and hate.”

From Asian American Futures Narrative Change Strategist Kana Hammon:

“When we’re building narrative power we create conditions for change to happen, both political and social. More importantly, we create the conditions for ordinary people to be contributing their own stories and experiences to the conversation, and we create conditions to mobilize the majority of the public, which includes longtime activists and newcomers alike.”

“Oftentimes in the AAPI community, we group people by ethnicity, by immigration generation, by the language that they might need when it comes to language access, but not all of these audiences think alike. Especially for our later generations who have spent most of their lives in the U.S., those differences are not always explained through demographics.

“One of the biggest challenges that I see in AAPI narrative strategy is we have the frameworks, we can ideate and think about what’s the most aligned narrative to put out there, but the reality is that the right has a much more powerful content arm. We have a lot of catching up to do. We need people’s stories out there.”

To speak with AAPI Victory Alliance about their efforts to promote gun safety legislation please contact Britton Lee (britton.lee@firesidecampaigns.com)

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