RECAP: AAPI Progressive Talks #1

This week, AAPI Progressive Action hosted its first AAPI Progressive Talks with several leaders of our community

Speakers were:

  • Dr. Tung Nguyen, Chair of AAPI Progressive Action

  • Chris Lu, former Deputy Secretary of Labor and White House Cabinet Secretary under President Obama

  • Doua Thor, former Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans a

The conversation came at a critical moment when AAPIs are being blamed for the Covid-19 outbreak, and simultaneously left out of relief efforts by the federal government and national philanthropy groups.

If you weren’t able to join, you can watch the full conversation here or on Facebook.

We started the conversation with a reminder that much like the black and Latinx communities, AAPIs have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders may be at even higher risk. What’s more is that we’re also facing an alarming rise in anti-Asian racism, with over 1,000 events reported in the last two weeks.

As Tung put it succinctly,

“The Covid-19 pandemic has ratcheted the stake up by showing how the Trump Administration’s incompetence and xenophobia are literally deadly to thousands of Americans and have put millions of us at risk physically and economically.” 

Doua, who now works in philanthropy, gave us some insight on how we’ve seen more relief efforts for AAPIs at the state and local levels, but we’re still waiting to see a substantial push from national organizations to firstly recognize the position that the AAPI community is in, and then push out the necessary resources. This includes much-needed translated materials so that small business owners can understand and take advantage of the aid coming down from the federal government. 

While the Trump administration’s response has fallen short for our community, Chris reminded us that it’s up to us to continue to raise up the issues our community is facing. We need sustained repetition to hammer this point home, so that campaigns, local officials, and philanthropic organizations know that we’re here and we matter.

If we want to be heard, it’s critical we stay engaged. Sign up to hear about future AAPI Progressive Talks.

 
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