Category: Uncategorized

API Caucus Meeting at the November Executive Board   The California Democratic Party’s Fall 2021 Executive Board Meeting will be online from November 15-21. Registration is currently open and closes at 5pm on Nov. 3. We will be announcing the exact date and time and agenda of the API Caucus meeting as soon as it is confirmed.

Celebrating Diwali Join California Democrats on Nov. 3 for a celebration at https://www.mobilize.us/cadems/event/421689/

Pilipino American Los Angeles Democrats (PALAD) presents: Inaugural Larry Itliong Legacy Awards on October 30 This will be an in-person event in Granada Hills, on the evening of Saturday, October 30. For details, please visit the PALAD website. 

Let’s Help Democrats Win in Virginia – One more AAPI Phonebank this Saturday!  On November 2, 2021, voters in Virginia will be electing a Governor, state legislators, and other state officials. There is one more AAPI phonebank this Saturday, 1-3pm Eastern Time (10-noon Pacific) to make calls for Terry McAuliffe, Hala Ayala, and Mark Herring. Sign up at https://www.mobilize.us/virginiaturnoutproject/event/417511/

Participate in State and Local Redistricting Efforts  The redistricting process for State Assembly, State Senate, and Congress is wrapping up in the next few months, with the first draft maps scheduled for release in November. Updated visualizations released on October 27 are now available at https://www.wedrawthelinesca.org/10_27-29_21_handouts. You can provide feedback using the form at https://airtable.com/shrQDD2ta2emnSzzO. There are many other ways to give comment, include written comment or calling into a hearing. Local redistricting for city council districts is also in progress in many cities, check your city website on how to participate.

API Community Phonebanks: https://www.mobilize.us/cadems/event/407639/

California Democratic Party Social media toolkit: https://tinyurl.com/cademnorecall

Stop the Recall campaign social media toolkit: https://thesocialpresskit.com/strr

Stop the Recall images and PDFs in multiple languages: https://tinyurl.com/apinorecall

Korean

Punjabi

Chinese

Hindi

Thai

Tagalog

RSVP Here: bit.ly/APIsforNewsomPB

Please join us in celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a special conversation with Congressman Andy Kim on Saturday, May 22, 2-3pm!

This event is presented proudly by the Pilipino American Los Angeles Democrats (PALAD), California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, San Diego County Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, AAPI Democratic Club San Diego, California Young Democrats API Caucus, and the Korean American Democratic Committee (KADC)

RSVP at https://forms.gle/4knEjt7EJWPGXBwc7

The California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander (API) Caucus is proud to join communities across the nation in celebrating API Heritage Month. This time of year brings an opportunity to reflect on the diversity and resilience of our API communities in the United States. However, in the wake of increased xenophobic hate crimes and senseless violence against our community members, we grieve and renew our commitment to fighting for equity and justice for our most marginalized. 

Asian and Pacific Islander communities have a rich and complex history in the United States. Throughout American history, our communities have made vital contributions to the foundation of what our country is today. We have laid railroad tracks and worked the fields, have started businesses and made great advancements in science, technology, and the arts, have engaged in civic leadership and public service, and have been on the frontlines serving our communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being otherized and marginalized, we are woven into the fabric of the American story and continue to make history as a strong and vibrant community. 

This past year has shed a painful light on the anti-Asian racism and hate that continues to pervade our communities. These attacks on API community members are not new, but have been exacerbated due to xenophobic rhetoric that has arisen during COVID-19. We are devastated by the lives lost and harmed by violence towards our community. And we stand in strong solidarity with Black and Brown communities that have also been the targets of brutality and hate. 

It is this spirit of unity we carry in our hearts through API Heritage Month. We are immensely grateful for the solidarity that communities across the nation have shown to stop API hate, and we have witnessed the power we build in rising together. As we celebrate the role that the API community has played in the movement for justice, let us recommit ourselves in our fight towards a better California for all. 

In Solidarity,

California Democratic Party 

Asian Pacific Islander Caucus

At its recent meeting, the California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus elected new board officers, hailing from diverse AAPI communities and serving areas of California with burgeoning AAPI populations. The Board added several key positions in order to better reflect the AAPI community’s diversity and ensure outreach to these various communities in areas such as Orange County, the Central Valley, and the Desert region. The new API Caucus Board–which includes members of the East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian communities–are gearing up to fight the recall elections. 

“The Asian American and Pacific Islander communities constitute a pivotal voting bloc for Democrats, and Governor Newsom understands that,” said Deepa Sharma, the newly-elected Chair of the CDP API Caucus. “Proponents of the Republican recall effort have engaged in divisive and hateful rhetoric against the AAPI community, are anti-immigrant, and have historically used our community as a wedge. The AAPI community stands firmly against the recall and the GOP’s duplicitous power grab,” added Sharma. 

Outreach to AAPI communities will prove critical in the recall election. Republican recall proponents have circulated a memo detailing their strategy, which includes the creation of a “Volunteer Citizens Brigade” that will identify potential supporters, “ballot harvest” Republican votes, and target Latino, AAPI, and Independent voters. The memo is available here.

Recognizing the importance of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, California Democrats at their recent convention voted to approve a resolution condemning hate crimes which have impacted the AAPI community in record numbers. More than 6,600 hate incidents have been reported in the year after the pandemic began in the United States according to Stop AAPI Hate. A full text of the approved resolution is available here.

The 2021-2023 API Caucus Executive Board Officers are as follows:

Chair: Deepa Sharma
Vice Chair: Adam Ma
Communications Secretary: Alfred Twu
Treasurer: Hon. Shawn Kumagai
Recording Secretary: Jessica Caloza
Parliamentary Chair: Aref Aziz
Legislative Director: Olivia Lee

Northern California
Chair: Harris Mojadedi
Vice Chair & Political Director: Emily Ramos
Central Valley Vice Chair & Political Director: Hon. Rachel Hernandez
Secretary: Shivam Patel
Outreach & Local Clubs Chair: Zahra Hajee

Southern California
Chair: Hon. Tammy Kim
Vice Chair & Political Director: Michael Milan
Secretary: Vanndearlyn Vong
Outreach & Local Clubs Chair: Steve Kang

Hon. Melissa Ramoso, State Chair Emeritus

The CDP API Caucus expresses its gratitude to California Governor Gavin Newsom for sending lifesaving supplies to India amidst its devastating COVID crisis. Just yesterday, Gov. Newsom announced that California will be sending to India hundreds of oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, pulse oximeters, and a deployable oxygen concentrator system. The public health emergency in India is impacting the diaspora community here in California, and we are thankful that Governor Newsom recognizes this. Moreover, California has an outsized role in combatting COVID worldwide as the fifth largest economy in the world. We encourage Californians to give to reputable relief organizations, and we send our thoughts and prayers to members of the community impacted by the crisis.

Join the California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus for our annual California Democratic Party Convention General Membership Meeting. This year’s meeting is jam-packed. Join us for a discussion of our Anti-Xenophobia Resolution, some of the most exciting awardees for our annual Trail Blazer and Rising Star Awards, the creation of a new API Action Award, and the election of the largest Executive Board the California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus will ever welcome in its history!

There are two ways to join us for the 2021 CADEM Convention Asian Pacific Islander Caucus meeting. If you have registered and credentialed for the 2021 California Democratic Party Convention please watch this video for instructions on how to attend the 2021 CADEM Convention and events through the Virtual Convention Platform. For members of the API Caucus who did not register for the 2021 CADEM Convention or members of the public you may join the Caucus meeting through the Convention’s Public Access Platform.

Se the agenda below!

California Democratic Party 2021 State Convention Meeting
Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Meeting Agenda
Friday, April 30, 2021 | 7:30pm – 9:30pm
via online:

Register for the meeting: https://hopin.com/events/cadem-2021-convention

1. Call to Order | Welcome

1. Approval of Agenda

1. Approval of Minutes                             

1. Elected Officer Reports
   1. State Chair’s Report
      1. 2019-2021 Term Review
   1. State Treasurer’s Report
      1. Caucus Membership
      1. Dues Update and Membership Renewal
   1. State Secretary’s Report
   1. Northern California Report
   1. Southern California Report

• Committee Reports
  • Resolutions

• 2021 API Caucus Trailblazer and Rising Star Awards

• 2021-2023 Executive Board Elections

• Board Transition

1. Adjournment

In response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University launched the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center on March 19, 2020. The center tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

Our approach recognizes that in order to effectively address anti-Asian racism we must work to end all forms of structural racism leveled at Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

Our 5-pronged approach is to:

• Serve as the leading aggregator of anti-Asian and anti-Pacific Islander hate incidents
• Offer multilingual resources for impacted community members
• Provide technical assistance from rapid response to preventative measures
• Support community-based safety measures and restorative justice efforts
• Advocate for local, state, and national policies that reinforces human rights and civil rights protections

For questions or info, email: community@stopaapihate.org.

Website: www.stopaapihate.org

Leadership

Manjusha P. Kulkarni, Executive Director of A3PCON

Cynthia Choi, Co-Executive Director of CAA

Russell Jeung PhD, Professor, Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University

Founding Organizations

Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council is a coalition of more than 40 community-based organizations that serve and represent the 1.5 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the greater Los Angeles area, with a particular focus on low-income, immigrant, refugee, and other vulnerable populations.

Chinese for Affirmative Action advocates for systemic change that protects immigrant rights, promotes language diversity, and remedies racial and social injustice.

Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University uses interdisciplinary approaches in teaching, community service, and research to address the structural and ideological forces that shape the lives of Asian Americans.

Harini Krishnan is an Indian American Democratic Organizer who is passionate about Gender Equity, Civil Rights, Public Education and Arts. A former Lead Volunteer Organizer for the Presidential Campaign of VP Kamala Harris in California in 2019, Harini co-founded NorCal Joyful Warriors for Joe and Kamala in early 2020, was elected as a Biden Delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention and was featured in several videos at the historic convention. Harini joined South Asians for Biden (SAB) as the National Grassroots Organizing Lead and California State Director in June 2020, helping to not only mobilize the South Asian community to be the margin of victory in key battleground states for the Biden-Harris campaign during the General Election, but also coordinating grassroots efforts with AAPI groups on the ground in Georgia, to help elect Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in the Special Election in 2021. Harini is currently working with her SAB colleagues to launch a new National South Asian Political Advocacy Organization, South Asians for America (SAFA), and will serve as Co-Chair of Community Organizing Campaigns & Training for SAFA on the leadership team.

In addition to her involvement with Presidential campaigns, Harini is an elected AD 22 Delegate and Platform Committee Member of the California Democratic Party; a San Mateo County Democrats Central Committee Alternate and Co-Chair of Events committee; a Board Member of Fund Her, which elects progressive women to state legislatures nationwide; Board Fund Committee Chair of Equal Access International, an International NGO which combines media programming with community mobilization to address gender inequities and increase civic engagement; Vice Chair of the San Mateo County Arts Commission; a well-known Indian Classical Vocalist and Lecturer for the past 2 decades; and is currently enrolled in the Harvard Kennedy School’s Public Leadership Program. A resident of the Town of Hillsborough in Northern California for more than 2 decades, Harini is the recipient of the 2020 Hillsborough Citizen of the Year Award and 2018 Jefferson Award for Public Service.