What do we do? 

As the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus, our goal is to speak to, and speak for, the diverse AAPI community among Democrats Abroad membership in all three regions: Asia-Pacific, EMEA and the Americas. 

The AAPI Caucus hopes to act as a unified voice to call for structural reforms and for recognizing AAPI perspectives in Democrats Abroad.

What is this document? 

This document provides you and your country committee with the steps necessary to become an official arm of the global Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus. 

Why should you form a local AAPI Caucus? 

There are a number of reasons a local Asian American Pacific Caucus can be beneficial to your country or local chapter:

1. It will enable you to engage with your AAPI members more effectively and encourage greater involvement in your local activities.  
2. It will provide your local membership an outlet to shape conversations at the global level about issues relevant to the AAPI community. 
3. It will provide leadership opportunities for your members. 

►Download the AAPI Caucus guide to forming a local caucus (PDF).

We are excited to be publishing our first newsletter as the official Democrats Abroad Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus! This has been quite a busy first month as a caucus as we work to organize our first events and get things in place to make sure we can support all volunteers and country committees that are interested in creating an AAPI caucus in their own countries and chapters.

Events

July 19: AAPI Caucus Meet and Greets

To help introduce the caucus, join us on Sunday, July 19th for our first meet and greet events. We will be introducing ourselves and talking about the goals and objectives of this caucus. RSVP for the meeting links!

August 4: COVID-19, Healthcare Access, & AAPI Activism with Dr. Paul Song

We are also pleased to announce that on Tuesday, August 4th, we will be hosting an online discussion with Dr. Paul Song to talk about the repercussions of COVID-19 in the US for AAPI communities and other minority groups, as well as the effects on healthcare. We’ll also be talking about how we can effect change. RSVP here for the link!

The AAPI Caucus is working to expand, which means we are looking for more volunteers! There are options to volunteer at the global, national, or chapter level - so pick what commitment is best for you and let us know how you want to get involved.

*Global Level Opportunities*

At the global level, we have created a variety of working groups:

• Country Committee: Help coordinate and organize with country committees to establish an AAPI caucus at the country and/or chapter levels.
  
• Communications: Contribute to curating our caucus’s online presence and helping us promote events and activities.
• Events in a Box: To help local AAPI caucuses, we are preparing pre-made events that local caucus leaders can use for local events to bring their members together.
• Issues: The AAPI community is large and diverse, which means there are also a wide-range of issues impacting our members. Help us identify and educate our members about these different issues.
• Speakers: Organize speaking events with prominent members of the AAPI community.
  

Sign up to volunteer here.

*National and Local Level Opportunities*

There are also possibilities to get involved with the AAPI Caucus on a national or chapter level. 

If an AAPI Caucus does not currently exist in your country:

If there is not already a caucus group in your country, then you can consider being the volunteer that establishes the caucus for your country committee. The best way to do this is to reach out to your country’s Chair and let them know that you would like to create an AAPI caucus. 

If an AAPI Caucus exists in your country:

You should reach out to your country or chapter’s AAPI caucus leader and find out how you can support them in growing or activating the caucus.

The Democrats Abroad Global Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (AAPI) advocates on issues important to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders both in the United States of America and living abroad.

The AAPI Caucus focuses on reaching out to AAPI voters living abroad, increasing engagement in civic and political life, and advocating for laws, policies, and programs that improve the lives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

We are also committed to highlighting AAPI history, culture, and the role of AAPI communities in fighting against racism, structural discrimination, and oppression. All Democrats Abroad members are welcome to join the AAPI Caucus.

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What is the AAPI Caucus?

• A forum for all Democrats Abroad members to understand the issues and concerns facing the AAPI community.
• A platform to engage with AAPI voters living abroad to ensure their needs are met.
• A vehicle to help eliminate unconscious bias towards AAPI among Americans and Democrats Abroad members.
• An advocate for policies and reforms important to the AAPI community, especially AAPI Democrats Abroad.
• A champion for AAPI history and culture to promote intercultural understanding.

Learn more about the AAPI caucus and read the caucus founding document, the Terms of Reference. To contact the co-chairs of the Democrats Abroad Global AAPI Caucus, send an email to [email protected].

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

May marks the beginning of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, also known as Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. Never heard of it before? It’s meant to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander history and culture. And given the increase in anti-AAPI incidents, it’s a chance for all of us in Democrats Abroad to connect, learn something new, and celebrate.

The idea of designating a period to celebrate Asian-American and Pacific Islander history first emerged in Congress with resolutions proposed in the House by Republican Frank J. Horton and Democrat Norman Mineta, and in the Senate by Democrats Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga in 1977. These initial efforts failed, but Representative Horton tried again a year later to designate the first full week of May 1979 as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week”. This Resolution passed both Houses, and was signed by President Jimmy Carter.

Successive Presidents passed annual proclamations declaring “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.” President George H.W. Bush extended it to a full month in 1990, and Congress formally established “Asian/Pacific Heritage Month” in 1992.

But why May? The original resolutions present two reasons:

1. The first Japanese immigrant to the United States arrived on May 7th, 1843.
2. The transcontinental railway, built in large part due to immigrant labor from China, was completed on May 10th, 1869.

Of course, one thing sticks out: these two justifications concern only two East Asian populations, and miss the large diversity within the AAPI community: other East Asians, South Asians, Southeast Asians, and Pacific Islanders. It can be easy in talking about AAPI heritage to focus on a few select experiences; instead, we need a holistic view of what it means to be a part of the AAPI community.

We invite you to join us in an exploration of how different groups within the AAPI community have been part of American history. For those of you who belong to one particular AAPI group, take some time to explore the history of another group, and see how different experiences end up binding us together.

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Learn more about the AAPI caucus and read the caucus founding document, the Terms of Reference. To contact the co-chairs of the Democrats Abroad Global AAPI Caucus, send an email to [email protected].