National CAPACD Stands Firmly for Safe and Legal Access to Abortion
National CAPACD Stands Firmly for Safe and Legal Access to Abortion
National CAPACD vehemently opposes the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women Health Organization decision announced today, which effectively overturns the constitutional right to abortion established in the landmark Roe v. Wade.
The Dobbs decision is a devastating setback – it will lead to severe restrictions on legal abortions in at least 26 states and territories, which will leave almost 40 million women without access to safe reproductive care. We know this will have a disproportionate impact on the communities we serve, including immigrants, Limited English Proficient speakers, communities of color, low-income workers, LGBTQ community members, and those with disabilities.
National CAPACD Executive Director Seema Agnani states, “Women in low-income Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities are often frontline, low-wage workers with very few, if any, benefits and social safety nets. Many of them also navigate language barriers and entrenched cultural stigmas about abortions. The Dobbs decision effectively eliminates their access to safe, legal abortions in many states, which endangers their health and bodies and further entraps them in cycles of poverty. If SCOTUS does not protect the reproductive rights of women in this country, National CAPACD calls on Congress to pass proactive abortion legislation.”
National CAPACD Grieves Texas School Shooting & Recent Hate Violence
National CAPACD Grieves Texas School Shooting & Recent Hate Violence
On the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, our communities reel again from the tragic school shooting yesterday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 children and two teachers, and wounded 17 others. The news of this massacre comes when we have not yet wiped the tears from the racist shooting that killed 10 Black people, many of them elders, on May 14th at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. We have not yet recovered from the fears stoked by the hate-motivated shooting on May 15th at an Orange County, California church attended by the Taiwanese community.
National CAPACD’s work is driven by our vision of healthy, vibrant neighborhoods in which all community members can live and thrive. These last few weeks have reminded us, again and again, of the long road and immense work ahead toward this vision because our neighborhoods are not safe spaces for our communities. Every person must be able to move freely and without fear of racism and hate-based violence in our schools, in our places of worship, in our grocery stores, in our public transit systems. Racism and hate have permeated these institutions and left our neighborhoods bereft of public spaces in which we can be assured that our children and elders are safe.
The tragedies of these last few weeks begs the question – how many collective tears must we shed for lives lost before our leaders, responsible for our safety, enact change? President Biden announced today, on the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, an Executive Order which will reform federal policing and push state, local, and Tribal agencies to make the same necessary changes. It is a critical first step, but there is still much that needs to be done to promote public safety.
Yet we know there is tremendous power in our will for change, as well as our care for one another and our communities. We must demand gun control legislation, criminal justice reform, and meaningful public safety solutions that challenge race- and hate-based violence without criminalizing communities of color. We owe this to our youth and our elders.
National CAPACD Lovingly Remembers Darshan Khalsa
It is with heavy hearts that National CAPACD shares the loss of Darshan Khalsa, a former staff member, on the morning of December 13, 2021 at the young age of 48, after struggling to fight endometrial cancer diagnosed earlier this year. Darshan passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones.
She is remembered for her grace, good sense of humor, and tireless commitment to social justice. Darshan worked with National CAPACD for more than three years, during a critical period in its development. As recalled by our former Executive Director, Lisa Hasegawa, “Darshan served as the first Deputy Director of National CAPACD, serving at a time of critical growth and expansion for the organization. She was a fierce advocate, prolific fundraiser, and brilliant strategist, but I will remember her most for her wonderful sense of humor, and her deep belief that our movement organizations needed to be humanistic and healthy. She made a profound impact on so many organizations, often working behind the scenes, taking pride in the success of those she supported, coached, and mentored. She will be forever remembered and dearly missed by her National CAPACD family.”
Community in the Capital 2007
Darshan’s legacy lives on throughout the fabric of National CAPACD, as we advance a vision for the organization that she held firmly as not just being community-driven but community-led. We are thankful for all she brought to our organization and the broader movement.
Services will be held in Oakland next year. To honor Darshan’s legacy, we encourage you to donate to one of the following organizations:
URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Darshan’s longtime movement home, which has established the Darshan Khalsa Reproductive Justice Scholarship Fund, to support young leaders of color in achieving their dreams. Make a contribution directly to this fund in Darshan’s honor here.
The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) builds power with AAPI women and girls to influence critical decisions affecting their lives, families, and communities. Using a reproductive justice framework, NAPAWF elevates AAPI women and girls to impact policy and drive systemic change in the United States. Darshan was a longtime supporter of NAPAWF’s work; donate to NAPAWF here.
National CAPACD Applauds the Signing of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act
National CAPACD Applauds the Signing
of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act
Yesterday, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, a historic $1.2 trillion dollar investment in our country’s physical and digital infrastructure to position our communities for a sustainable and equitable economic recovery and advance strategies to combat the climate crisis. National CAPACD applauds the Administration for their commitment to this bipartisan bill, which will rebuild our roads and highways, improve our public transit systems, increase access to affordable, high-speed Internet, invest in clean energy and drinking water, create millions of better-paying jobs, and expand support for small businesses.
Historically, large-scale investments in our infrastructure have overlooked low-income communities of color – or actively harmed them by dividing neighborhoods and displacing communities. National CAPACD appreciates the Administration’s efforts to redress previous inequities in access to resources, including a $55 billion provision to replace all of our country’s lead pipes and service lines, representing the largest investment in clean drinking water in our history. The bill also works to bridge the digital divide and expand access to the digital economy with a $65 billion provision to bolster broadband access and affordability, including a monthly subsidy for eligible households.
National CAPACD is encouraged by the bill’s commitment to expanding economic opportunity through the creation of millions of better-paying, union jobs. It also codifies the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and allocates $110 million in annual funding through 2025 to the MBDA. We hope that the Administration will continue to invest in entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic growth and security, particularly for entrepreneurs of color and immigrants. This includes expanded resources and support for small businesses owners and micro-entrepreneurs, who represent the majority of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI owners) – many who were severely impacted by the pandemic and did not have timely or adequate support available to them.
National CAPACD Executive Director Seema Agnani states, “National CAPACD has advocated and affirmed our support for this legislation with our members over the last few months. Now we are ready to work with the Administration to ensure that investments in infrastructure reach and benefit AAPI communities and other communities of color. Historically, communities of color have been redlined, divided, and displaced by infrastructure investments, and they have been disparately harmed by the impacts of pollution and climate change. We must ensure that any infrastructure agenda is also a racial justice agenda that delivers a sustainable, resilient, and just economy.”
An investment in physical infrastructure, including efforts to redress physical barriers and challenges that have historically disadvantaged communities of color, provides us a roadmap to move forward – it is an unparalleled investment in our future generations. We must also, however, urge the Congress to vote swiftly on the Build Back Better Act to grow our economic, housing, and social infrastructure – including the legislation’s historic investments of over $150 billion in affordable housing and community development programs to increase and preserve affordable housing and homeownership opportunities. These investments are essential and will offer our communities that need today a robust recovery from the pandemic and economic conditions that too often left them behind even before the pandemic. Only then can our communities support the future generations who will benefit from the investments made through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
National CAPACD Honors Lives Lost & Forever Changed on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11
National CAPACD Honors Lives Lost & Forever Changed on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11
On this 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, National CAPACD mourns and honors the thousands of lives lost. We extend our hearts to the countless other survivors and first responders. We stand in solidarity with our Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian brothers and sisters for whom life in this country has never been the same – many who have had to defend their identities and right to belong free of discrimination, profiling, and violence for the last 20 years. And we would be remiss to forget those globally whose lands, borders, lives, and livelihoods were altered by our foreign policies in the aftermath of 9/11.
9/11 irrevocably changed the world we live in – 20 years later, as we reflect on where we were in those moments, we are reminded that 9/11 deeply connected us to one another and emphasized our shared liberation. We have made progress since 9/11, and yet we continue to confront many of the same challenges. In the response to a global public health crisis that has similarly changed the course of our collective lives, National CAPACD is committed to applying the lessons learned from 9/11 – standing vehemently against all forms of hate and violence; being guided by the struggles and stories of those who came before us; centering love and compassion in our work; and showing up to defend the rights of all communities of color to live safely with justice and in hope. Today, we stand in solidarity with Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian communities. As part of the Asian American Leaders Table, National CAPACD signed on to the following solidarity statement: https://9-11solidaritystatement.carrd.co/
National CAPACD Applauds Passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
National CAPACD Applauds Passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
National CAPACD applauds the Senate passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act yesterday. We stand ready to work with the Administration to ensure that all communities of color benefit from its bold investments in a more sustainable, resilient, and just economy. We are encouraged that the legislation seeks to redress the devastating impacts of divestment in our infrastructure on communities of color. It does so through investments in millions of good-paying jobs, affordable high-speed internet to address the digital divide, and reliable public transit. It also commits to clean drinking water, improved air quality, and increased safeguards from climate crises – acknowledging the disparate harm of pollution and climate change on communities of color.
National CAPACD is encouraged by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as a critical starting point for the Administration to build back our communities more equitably. We urge the President and Vice President to continue this work by pushing for investments in affordable housing supply and preservation, as included in the American Jobs Plan, to address one of the most urgent crises of our time. Investing in our infrastructure for the purpose of increasing economic opportunity and redressing historic inequities must be paired with meaningful investments in affordable housing for all.
In a meeting held just last week between President Biden and Vice President Harris and national AAPI leaders, Seema Agnani voiced National CAPACD’s support for the bold plan – “National CAPACD and our partners will work with the Administration to ensure these unprecedented investments benefit communities of color and advance racial equity as intended, rather than deepening existing displacement and inequities. In order to ensure communities of color benefit, there must be accessible public processes in place so that investments, such as public transit development, are implemented in a way that is accountable to local communities.”
National CAPACD Grieves with Indianapolis and the Sikh Community
National CAPACD Grieves with Indianapolis and the Sikh Community
This weekend, our hearts grew heavier by the news of the latest mass shooting on Friday, April 15th at an Indianapolis FedEx facility, which left eight people dead and several others injured. Of the lives lost, four were members of the Sikh community. National CAPACD extends our condolences to the victims’ loved ones, and we vow to be in solidarity with the Sikh community and its leaders during this horrifying tragedy and through the collective healing process.
While the investigation is still ongoing and the motive of the shooter is unclear, much about this violent act is indisputable. The targeted FedEx facility heavily employed Sikh workers, and race must be considered as a motive in the investigation. For the Sikh community, this attack deepens the fear, pain, and trauma from decades of violence, including the 2012 Oak Creek gurdwara shooting and post-9/11 attacks and discrimination. This weekend’s shooting is further devastating because it took place just days after Vaisakhi, one of the holiest days for the Sikh community, which commemorates their commitment to liberation from injustice. Our collective movement has learned so much from the Sikh spirit of resilience, and now we must demand for them the ease of going to their gurdwaras and workplaces without fearing for their lives.
National CAPACD Executive Director Seema Agnani states “We are deeply saddened by the loss of so many lives in Indianapolis last Friday, only a week after the shooting of Daunte Wright in Minnesota. It is clear that immigrants, communities of color, low-wage workers, and other vulnerable populations are not just the primary targets of violence motivated by hate, but also the victims of leadership that continues to ignore the urgency of stronger gun control laws, police reform, and confronting racism. We will work with national partners and our members to hold our leaders accountable and ensure racial justice for all communities of color.”
The Sikh Coalition issued a statement from representatives of eight Indianapolis-area gurdwaras. Read the statement here.
National CAPACD is Devastated by Loss of Lives in Atlanta Shootings
National CAPACD is Devastated by Loss of Lives in Atlanta Shootings
Last night, eight people were killed in a series of shootings at Atlanta-area spas. Six of the eight victims were Asian American women. National CAPACD is devastated by this racially motivated and gender-based hate crime, the latest and one of the most deadly in the escalating violence against Asian Americans, particularly Asian American women. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, and our community members in Atlanta who fear for their safety.
During this pandemic, we have witnessed an uptick in violence against Asian Americans – Stop AAPI Hate has reported about 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans in the last year. Women were the victims of 68% of these incidents. In fact, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) shared, based on new polling, that nearly half of Asian American and Pacific Islander women have been affected by anti-Asian racism in the past two years. Anti-Asian racism, fuelled by the pandemic, has brought the often silenced but longstanding history of racialized misogyny against Asian American women to the fore.
National CAPACD implores local and national elected officials to champion policies in response to racially motivated crimes against AAPI women who are often essential workers on the front lines in a number of sectors. We will work in solidarity with our BiPOC partners to advocate for community-centered solutions that challenge hate and violence because no one in this country should fear for their lives on account of their race or gender.
Finally, we will stand with and follow the lead of our local members in Atlanta who must hold the grief and fear of Asian American women in their communities. Stephanie Cho, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta states “During this time of crisis for our AAPI community, we call on our local and state government to provide robust and responsive crisis intervention resources, including in-language support for mental health, legal, employment, and immigration services. It is time for Georgia to invest in transformative justice that begins with cross racial dialogue and community-building that address the root causes of violence and hate.”
Read AAAJ – Atlanta’s statement here.
Read NAPAWF’s statement here.
Organizations Representing Asian American Communities Across the Nation and Allies Release Statement Rejecting Criminalization and Retribution, and Call for Responses Addressing the Root Causes of Racial Violence
Organizations Representing Asian American Communities Across the Nation and Allies Release Statement Rejecting Criminalization and Retribution, and Call for Responses Addressing the Root Causes of Racial Violence
As a national network of local and national Asian American organizations and individuals that convened in the wake of the pandemic a year ago, we have been working together to share best practices and lessons learned from responding to anti-Asian violence.
We are horrified by the continuing acts of violence against members of our Asian American communities across the country, from New York to Oakland’s Chinatown. We stand in solidarity with the survivors, victims, and their families during this challenging moment, when fear accompanies even the most basic daily experiences. We all deserve to live without the threat of violence and to feel safe in our neighborhoods.
True safety for all must come in the form of investment and resources, not punitive measures that create division and reinforce our criminal justice system’s discriminatory structures. Many grassroots Asian American organizations, including some who are part of this network, have worked for decades as part of multiracial efforts to secure such resources for all of our communities.
The recent assaults in the Bay Area and New York come on the heels of over 3,000 acts of documented anti-Asian hate incidents last year with chilling consequences for our community members who fear violence whenever they leave their homes. There are many additional cases that are misclassified, ignored, or unreported. Going to school or the grocery store, getting a COVID-19 vaccine, or simply taking a walk should not be accompanied by fear of injury or death. However, that fear remains the reality for so many of our community members across the nation.
President Biden’s Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States is a welcome step forward to acknowledging the impact of hateful political rhetoric on our communities.
However, much more must be done at the local level and nationally to combat the vitriol unleashed by the prior Administration, that continues to this day.
The solution to violence is not more violence in the form of aggressive and discriminatory law enforcement. Instead, we need interventions and responses that address the root causes of violence and that provide culturally and linguistically sensitive services for survivors, victims, and their families.
We also call for immediate and deep investments in our communities—including access to victims’ compensation funds, language accessibility, and culturally competent mental health services. We need community ambassador programs to accompany vulnerable community members home, bystander intervention training, equitable public school history curricula, cross-racial community and solidarity building, and restorative justice programs.
All sectors must play a role. Political leaders must follow the lead of community leaders in identifying policy solutions. Philanthropy can provide immediate and long-term resources for programs within our communities and partnerships with Black and Indigenous communities. Government agencies, from the Community Relations Service at the Department of Justice to state and local level programs, must prioritize healing and trauma-informed interventions.
Disrupting and dismantling structural inequities and racism will do much more to make us safe than further criminalization and conflict. The community-centered approaches we have shared will help us heal and more genuinely help our neighborhoods and communities become healthier, stronger, and safer.
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AAPI-Led or AAPI-Serving Organizations:
18 Million Rising
AAPIs for Civic Empowerment Education Fund
AAPIs for Justice San Antonio, TX
Act To Change
Alliance of South Asians Taking Action
Asian Pacific Islanders Coalition, South Puget Sound (APIC SPS)
APIC-WA, King County Chapter
APIC-WA, King County Chapter
ASIA PACIFIC CULTURAL CENTER
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Asian Americans For Equality
Asian American Organizing Project (AAOP)
Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition of Washington State
Asian Community Development Corporation
Asian Counseling and Referral Service
Asian Economic Development Association
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Media Access
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA)
Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)
Asian Pacific Community Fund
Asian Pacific Islander Coalition – South Puget Sound Chapter
Asian Pacific Islander Coalition – Spokane Chapter
Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement (APIFM)
Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council
Asian Solidarity Collective
AYPAL: Building API Community Power
CAIR San Francisco Bay Area
Can’t Stop! Won’t Stop! Consulting
ChangeLab
Chhaya Community Development Corporation
Chinatown Community for Equitable Development
Chinatown Community Land Trust
Chinatown Service Center
Chinese American Museum of Chicago
Chinese American Service League
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Chinese-American Planning Council
Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community
Coalition of Asian American Leaders
Dr. Michael Hutchins Impact on Wildlife Fund
East King County APIC
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Equality Labs
Faith and Community Empowerment
Filipinx for Immigrant rights & Racial justice Minnesota
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM)
Freedom Inc
Grassroots Asians Rising
India Association of Minnesota
India Association of Western Washington
InterIm CDA
Islamic Networks Group (ING)
Japanese American Citizens League
Japanese American Citizens League – Seattle Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League, Twin Cities Chapter
Khmer Girls in Action
Korean American Coalition – Los Angeles
The K.W. Lee Center for Leadership
Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP)
Little Tokyo Service Center
ManForward
Masa
Mekong NYC
MPower Change
Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC)
NAKASEC
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
National Asian Pacific Americans Against Substance Abuse
National CAPACD
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Queer Asian and Pacific Islander Alliance
OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership in Ohio
Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE)
Pacific Asian Counseling Services
People’s Collective for Justice and Liberation
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation
Philippine Study Group of MN (PSGM)
Poligon Education Fund
Raksha, inc
Release MN8
Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
The Revolutionary Love Project
The SEAD Project
Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation & Development Authority
Seeding Change
Sewa-Aifw
Siengkane Lao MN
Sikh Coalition
Snohomish County APIC
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Asian Youth Action
Southeast Asian Community Alliance
TaikoArts Midwest
Thai Community Development Center
Theater Mu
Transforming Generations
Tsuru for Solidarity
United Cambodian Community
Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota
W-Isms
Allies:
Arab American Association of NY
Arab American Civic Council
Arab American Institute (AAI)
Believers Consulting LLC
CAPIUSA
Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism, California State University, San Bernardino
Color of Change
Cullasaja Synergy Consulting, LLC
East Bay Democratic Socialists of America
Interfaith Alliance
Islamophobia Studies Center
Lambda Legal
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Wellness Foundation
NAACP Hollywood Bureau
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Council of Jewish Women
National Immigration Law Center
National Urban League
Rabbinical Assembly
Secure Justice
SolidarityIs/Building Movement Project
Support Life Foundation
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation
United We Dream
White Center Community Development Association
Resources:
Statement from Asian American organizations in the Bay Area
From @18million Rising, “Call on Me, Not the Cops” in Asian languages: https://18millionrising.org/2020/06/callonme.html
From APANO: A Resource Guide for AAPI Anti-HateActivists,Victims and Survivors of Hate
From Advancing Justice – AAJC and Hollaback! Bystander Intervention Training:
https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/events
From Vision Change Win: Community Safety Toolkit
https://www.visionchangewin.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/VCW-Safety-Toolkit-Final.pdf
Hate Reporting Sites:
National CAPACD Celebrates Historic Elections As the Country Calls for New Leadership Determined by the People
National CAPACD Celebrates Historic Elections As the Country Calls for New Leadership Determined by the People
National CAPACD’s members and partners have worked tirelessly to organize in communities around the country, implementing strategic GOTV campaigns and navigating the challenges created by COVID-19, to ensure that our communities were heard in this defining election. This week, we witnessed the results of their efforts – despite a global pandemic and deliberate efforts to undermine political participation, Americans turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots across communities throughout the country. Though votes are still being counted, the 2020 voter turnout is projected to be the highest in over a century. This unprecedented engagement signals our collective will for new leadership that responds to the urgent challenges of our times.
Earlier today, election results determined former Vice President Joe Biden as the next President of the United States. National CAPACD congratulates President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman to hold office at the highest level of our government. Despite attempts to undermine the results by calling to question the integrity of our voting systems, we applaud the efforts of election officials to uphold our democracy by ensuring every vote is counted accurately, fairly, and securely. It is not the government that chooses its voters; it is the voters who choose their government – a government by, and for, the people.
National CAPACD also celebrates progressive wins on the national level, as well as up and down the ballot during this election, demonstrating the growing power of our movement. We saw the reelection of “the Squad” – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN- 5), Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13). In addition, Sarah McBride is set to become the first transgender senator in U.S. history, Cori Bush will become the first Black congresswoman in Missouri, and Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones will become the first LGBTQ+ Black members of Congress. We look forward to working with these leaders and the next Administration on progressive solutions that reach us all, particularly those whose rights were stripped and very existence endangered by the current Administration.
National CAPACD Executive Director Seema Agnani states “The next Administration has an immense opportunity and responsibility to heal the divisions in this country. We are ready to move forward together to make this country a place where all of our communities can thrive. This election, like so many before it, attests to the undeniable power of targeted outreach in and cultivating relationships with communities of color, who often serve as voting blocs that can change the course of an election. We will wield this power to hold our elected officials accountable, pushing for policies that lift up all communities and move us towards a more just and equitable society.”
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