Tag Archives: activist

Compiled by Mary Tablante 1. Asian American Voter Turnout Low Asian Americans voted less than whites and blacks in midterm elections since 1998, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data released April 9. About three-in-ten Asian Americans cast ballots in this time span. The Asian American turnout in 2010 was 31 percent, while the turnout for …

By Devika Koppikar Alexandria resident Sue Okubo suffers from lung disease. Her lungs are not at full capacity, she said. Nevertheless, she uses her full personal capacity as an environmental activist—aiming to spawn clean air for Northern Virginia. Studies have shown that polluted air accelerates the onset of lung disease and many other health challenges, Okubo noted, which is a …

Several Asian American and Pacific Islander undocumented youths, members of Congress, and National AAPI leaders convened on July 31 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building to raise awareness for immigration reform. The youths, recently approved under DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, demonstrated at the House Triangle today as part of their nine-city tour, “DREAM Riders: Road …

Filipino-American writer and immigration rights activist returned to the DMV once again to share his story to students at the University of Maryland, College Park campus preceding a large immigration rights rally and march in Washington, DC. His story, while perhaps unconventional, is still an American dream.

By Amanda Andrei Azizah Amhad, host of the 2013 Sulu DC kick off performance Sound Check, holds up a clipboard and pen. “This is a community poem,” she explains to the packed house in the Black Fox Lounge on Connecticut Avenue in NorthWest D.C. “We’re going to pass it around the room and you can write a sentence and pass …

By Michelle Phipps-Evans The name Theary Chan Seng generates a fervor approaching reverence in the Cambodian community here and abroad. She is the Cambodian-born, American-educated lawyer and civil rights activist who founded the Cambodian Center for Justice & Reconciliation. It is a major component of another organization she serves as founding president, CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education. This nonprofit …

By Dottie Tiejun Li Washington, D.C.—The Metropolitan Police Department finds itself still mired in controversy over a month after word leaked it was closing the longtime Chinatown headquarters of the Asian Liaison Unit, a team which combats crime against Asian American businesses and individuals citywide. Despite a promise from Chief Cathy Lanier to reverse the decision, made at a hastily …

Floyd Mori, former national executive director emeritus, Japanese American Citizen Alliance: As a young Mormon missionary back in 1959, when walking down the Main Street in Hilo, Hawaii, I ran into this distinguished gentleman with one arm. He was quick to shake my hand and tell me how his mother on Oahu often invited the Elders in for a cool …