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Today, on the first day of #AAPIHM 
or #APAHM , I want to talk a little about my experience as a South Asian American person and what it means to me today to be included (or not?) under the umbrella of "Asian American and Pacific Islander"
or #APAHM , I want to talk a little about my experience as a South Asian American person and what it means to me today to be included (or not?) under the umbrella of "Asian American and Pacific Islander"
A week ago, I tweeted about the disconnect btwn the energy of #hotvaxsummer in the US and the reality of mass preventable deaths in India. I saw other South Asian Americans do the same. People started sharing resources & actions like @evobabble's http://bit.ly/vaccinesforindia
Since then, I’ve been heartened to see the circle of people sharing about this crisis widen. Friends, some orgs – even non-Indian authors and musicians I grew up admiring – have shared calls to donate and pressure our govt into taking meaningful action to end vaccine apartheid.
During this, one voice has been glaringly absent — national AAPI advocacy groups.
The same orgs that celebrated Kamala as the first Asian Am VP and send Happy Diwali emails haven’t breathed a word of compassion or condolence, a thought or a prayer, much less moved to action.
The same orgs that celebrated Kamala as the first Asian Am VP and send Happy Diwali emails haven’t breathed a word of compassion or condolence, a thought or a prayer, much less moved to action.
This hurts in a particular way for me. I worked at @AAAJ_AAJC for 2+ years creating messaging and writing content, redesigning the website, managing coalition campaigns, running the hate crime tracker at its inception when the primary targets of violence looked like my parents.
Working for @AAAJ_AAJC was my dream. After seeing so few South Asians or Asian Ams in immigration spaces, I wanted to help fill that gap.
I knew we had stories that weren't being told. I thought @AAAJ_AAJC would be a powerful place to do that. https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/share-your-story
I knew we had stories that weren't being told. I thought @AAAJ_AAJC would be a powerful place to do that. https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/share-your-story
In my role, I believed in the idea of calling communities into the #AAPI identity to uplift the needs of our most invisibilized & marginalized ppl and build collective power to secure wins for all of us. I understood the many challenges of attempting that. https://medium.com/advancing-justice-aajc/myasianamericanstory-is-more-important-than-you-think-5c9cfce3ac7
identity to uplift the needs of our most invisibilized & marginalized ppl and build collective power to secure wins for all of us. I understood the many challenges of attempting that. https://medium.com/advancing-justice-aajc/myasianamericanstory-is-more-important-than-you-think-5c9cfce3ac7
Part of the immigrant experience is having family across oceans or masses of land that might as well be oceans. It's who decides or gets to move, who can't or doesn't, who has the means to see their people again, who you don't get to see before they die.
That has always been true. That fact made many of us raise an eyebrow in early pandemic when we saw our neighbors, for the first time, contend with the idea of not seeing a family member for a year. In immigrant communities and among ppl with less money, this is a fact of life.
One of my highlights at @AAAJ_AAJC, surprisingly, happened when I learned my Ba was dying.
I had to decide whether to visit after 10+ years away from India, equipped with a loose grasp of my mother tongue, a handful of experiences with my Ba, & years of "Hi Hello" phone calls.
I had to decide whether to visit after 10+ years away from India, equipped with a loose grasp of my mother tongue, a handful of experiences with my Ba, & years of "Hi Hello" phone calls.
I was supported in ways I'd never expect work to support me. Our ED then, Mee Moua, cried with me and told me of a similar situation she'd faced. So many coworkers had faced the same. She said to go if I needed to, and that if I needed an excuse to stay, she could be it.
Did you know two-thirds of Asian Ams were born outside the US, per @AAAJ_AAJC?
So it's not simple, as a group claiming to represent AAPIs, to draw a line around the US and say: here's the only soil that matters to us. Here are the only people who matter. https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/immigration-and-immigrant-rights
So it's not simple, as a group claiming to represent AAPIs, to draw a line around the US and say: here's the only soil that matters to us. Here are the only people who matter. https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/immigration-and-immigrant-rights
For instance, in the fight for family-based immigration, who are we fighting for if our family dies preventable deaths from US greed and inaction? https://twitter.com/AAAJ_AAJC/status/1387474489701801987
I don’t like the questions I find myself asking in the silence left by @AAAJ_AAJC and groups like it.
But I wonder, are the preventable deaths in India resulting partly from our govt's role in vaccine apartheid more acceptable than violent hate crimes? https://twitter.com/AAAJ_AAJC/status/1385325831090757648
But I wonder, are the preventable deaths in India resulting partly from our govt's role in vaccine apartheid more acceptable than violent hate crimes? https://twitter.com/AAAJ_AAJC/status/1385325831090757648
Are you silent bc it's our family and friends who happen to be there who are sick and dying, and not those of us who happen to be here?
Is it because the predicted peak of 5,000 deaths a day will happen where my parents were born and not where I was? https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/india-covid-peak-mid-may-b1838871.html
Is it because the predicted peak of 5,000 deaths a day will happen where my parents were born and not where I was? https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/india-covid-peak-mid-may-b1838871.html
Is it because AAPI groups don't consider South Asians to be Asian American after all?
I deeply believed in my work w @AAAJ_AAJC. But being abandoned now by groups that said I belonged makes me question how they could ever support my community.
I deeply believed in my work w @AAAJ_AAJC. But being abandoned now by groups that said I belonged makes me question how they could ever support my community.
And what does solidarity with other groups mean if they won't even stand with us?
https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/index.php/press-release/asian-american-civil-rights-organizations-stand-solidarity-movement-black-lives
https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/index.php/press-release/asian-american-civil-rights-organizations-stand-solidarity-movement-black-lives
