Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are “moving from being the marginalised to the margin of victory” according to Vyanti Joseph, AAPI constituency and outreach coordinator for the Warnock for Senate campaign in Georgia. 

In a panel webinar on December 17th, Ms. Joseph, along with DNC chair Tom Perez, DNC AAPI caucus chair Bel Leong-Hong, AAPI constituency and outreach coordinator for the Ossoff for Senate campaign Cam Ashling and AAPI coalition director for the Georgia Democrats Linh Nguyen, spoke with Democrats Abroad about the growing importance and influence of the AAPI community on local and national politics in the US.

Happy Holidays! 2020 presented the world with unprecedented challenges, but this has only motivated the AAPI Caucus to work harder. We are proud of our accomplishments in the past year and are ready to answer Joe Biden’s call to action - build back better.

It’s hard to believe that this journey to form an AAPI Caucus just began in April this year and we officially launched at the Global Meeting in June. We got off to a running start and haven’t looked back since.

• We hosted several talks with AAPI leaders to learn about organizing in our community.
• We hosted a Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate our collective heritage.
• We created AAPI language content to help get out the vote for the general election.
• And our work is not done!

Georgia On Our Mind: AAPI Outreach Organizers & Tom Perez

Democrats Abroad was thrilled to host director Yi Chen to discuss her new documentary First Vote on November 6, 2020.

Described as a “beguiling and refreshingly non-partisan political travelogue” by the American Film Institute, Chen’s documentary follows four Chinese Americans who voted for the first time in the 2018 midterm elections and illuminates their contrasting political and social views. Cory Lemke, Vice Chairperson of Democrats Abroad Republic of Korea, hosted the discussion. First Vote highlights voters in battlegrounds states with different political leanings. The subjects of the documentary include engaged Trump fans and progressive journalists, showcasing the diversity of the Asian American electorate. 

Throughout the film, Yi Chen explores the meaning of identity to Asian American voters, especially those living in the South.  In her discussion with the AAPI caucus, Chen spoke about her research, which she conducted through interviews and demographic analysis. Subjects said their families, childhood experiences, values, and cultural elements  all came into play when they began to engage with politics.  As a notable dividing trait, Chen shared that first generation Asian immigrants tend to lean more Republican, while second and third generation Asian Americans are traditionally more Democratic. Chen touches on a number of topics relevant to her work including voting rights, immigration, and why engaging new diverse voters matters so much.

Since moving to Glasgow to go to university I find myself missing lots about New Orleans. I miss the warm weather, the people, my friends, family, the annual church Christmas tree sale, and most of all the food. Most New Orleanian dishes are meat heavy, spicy, and with specific ingredients hard to find anywhere else, so a lot of improvisation is needed when trying to cook for a group of friends with two vegans, a vegetarian, someone with a gluten intolerance, and make sure its not too spicy. Sadly this makes it impossible to make my favorite dish (chicken and sausage gumbo), but I've found that my red beans and rice recipe is always a hit! Red beans and rice are traditionally a Monday (laundry day) night dinner, as it's a low effort dish that can simmer all day while doing you're laundry. I've adjusted a couple recipes I've found online to my taste and schedule so feel free to improvise!

Lina's Red Beans and Rice (can be vegan/vegetarian)

I first moved to Ireland in November 2018. It didn't make sense to turn around and visit America less than a month into my move, so my partner's family put on a Thanksgiving to make me feel less homesick. After hearing about "the marshmallow thing" and how positively gross it sounded, I had to defend my southeastern heritage and bring Sweet Potato Casserole to the table. This is the recipe my own Chinese mother loves, a "not too sweet" version using maple syrup instead of copious amounts of brown sugar that also results in a high fibre snack while you're in a flurry of cooking. Try to find American marshmallows if you can, I've found the UKI ones don't melt quite right for the casserole.

Brianna's Sweet Potato Casserole

Thanks to Covid, I can't travel home to New York City on a regular basis. In Munich, the asian food scene is pretty much non-existent. Since I don't have time to become a DimSum chef, I figured I could at least find a way to come close to my favorite New York salad - the Carmine's version.

Karen's Caesar Salad (no raw eggs)

Growing up, we made dumplings often enough that it became a semi-regular thing in my household.

Sometimes, my mother would invite her few Chinese friends over and we’d spend an hour or two making dumplings, then eating until our stomachs hurt. Their children, my sister, and I pressed the edges of the wrappers together carefully, using a fork sometimes to create the ridges. My mother and her friends, chatting absently, were ten times faster than the rest of us. My aunt, who I see once every few years when we take the trip to my mother’s hometown, uses one hand to fold dumplings, a skill I have yet to acquire or understand.

I’m better now than I was when I first started out, even to the point that I can teach my German friends how to plop the right amount of dumpling filling into the wrapper, open on your palm, and carefully tuck the sides in. It’s become a tradition for my group of friends here for Lunar New Year; my girlfriend has even mastered the perfect fold. I use my mother’s recipe, which she typed up and sent to me in an email a year after I moved out and requested while feeling homesick. It’s one of the most concrete, tangible things from Chinese culture I can share.

Anya’s Mom’s Dumpling Recipe

We did it! 🥳 👏 We are so excited about the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and we hope that you have all been able to celebrate and breathe a bit of a sigh of relief. On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris will be the first AAPI and black woman to hold the office of Vice President.

In addition, we want to congratulate all the AAPI candidates that won election or reelection this year. Kai Kahele of Hawaii and Marilyn Strickland of Washington will join the House of Representatives as new Democratic AAPI Members of Congress. Congressman Andy Kim of New Jersey also comfortably won re-election, increasing his margins after a tight election race in 2018. A total of 153 AAPI candidates were successful at the state and local levels. You can find a list of who won on the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies website.

Your grandmother’s kimchee, your Sunday afternoon poi snack, Dad’s lobster noodles, or that slice of Chicago pizza - these all represent a piece of home to us.  And as Americans overseas, it’s often hard to get your fix of food from home – whether you’re in Tokyo, missing your lasagna fix; or in Munich, searching for a dim sum restaurant.

We’d like to create a place to share the stories and recipes that remind you of home, that make you laugh, or that solve a problem!  We’ll post them here on our webpages and in our newsletter. If you have a video, even better – send us the link!

►Submit Your Recipe From Home

Here's an example from Anya, one of the AAPI caucus steering committee members!

Anya’s Mom’s Dumpling Wrappers Recipe

November 4, 2020 

Statement from Biden for President Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon

"The president’s statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect.  

It was outrageous because it is a naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens.

It was unprecedented because never before in our history has a president of the United States sought to strip Americans of their voice in a national election. Having encouraged Republican efforts in multiple states to prevent the legal counting of these ballots before Election Day, now Donald Trump is saying these ballots can’t be counted after Election Day either.

And it was incorrect because it will not happen. The counting will not stop. It will continue until every duly cast vote is counted. Because that is what our laws — the laws that protect every Americans' constitutional right to vote — require.  

We repeat what the Vice President said tonight: Donald Trump does not decide the outcome of this election. Joe Biden does not decide the outcome of this election. The American people decide the outcome of this election. And the democratic process must and will continue until its conclusion.

Nearly 100 million people cast their ballot before Election Day in the belief — and with the assurances from their state election officials — that their ballot would be counted. Now Donald Trump is trying to invalidate the ballot of every voter who relied on these assurances.

If the president makes good on his threat to go to court to try to prevent the proper tabulation of votes, we have legal teams standing by ready to deploy to resist that effort. And they will prevail.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will stand for the right of all Americans to have their votes counted — no matter who they voted for. And we remain confident that when that process is completed, Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States."