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
AAPI voters in Georgia will be decisive in ensuring that both Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock win their races on January 5, 2021. We need your help to reach these voters to help gain control of the Senate.
Breaking news: You can learn more about efforts on the ground in Georgia and how you can support the get out to vote efforts from AAPI organizers this Thursday, December 17th, 2020, at 1pm EST. We will be speaking with
- Tom Perez (Chairman of the DNC),
- Linh Nguyen (Asian American and Pacific Islander Coalition Director for the Georgia Democrats),
- Cam Ashling (Asian American and Pacific Islander Constituency Outreach Director for the Ossoff Campaign),
- Vyanti Joseph (Asian American and Pacific Islander Constituency Outreach Director for the Warnock Campaign),
- and Bel Leong-Hong (Chair of the DNC AAPI Caucus).
We’re still working on putting all the finishing touches on the event, but please RSVP here to get the Zoom link!
In the next year, our main focus will be to grow the caucus and continue advocating for AAPI concerns within Democrats Abroad. We will build a network of AAPI members to encourage the exchange of ideas, promote dialogue across the organization, and forge new relationships.
In this spirit, our caucus will start hosting leadership and networking events at the end of January 2021. These events will be hosted on a regular basis, developing and adapting to the needs of our members as the year goes on. Please keep an eye out for the event announcements as they go up. See below for our inaugural networking event!
And if you’re interested in volunteering, please reach us at: https://www.democratsabroad.org/aapi_volunteer.
With gratitude,
Cory J. Lemke and Emily Lines
Teatime: AAPI Networking
Thursday January 28, 2021: 11am Toronto, 8am Vancouver, 7pm Berlin
We’re holding our first ever networking event for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders living overseas. Come get acquainted, swap stories, and find your community! We’ll be doing short introductions, (a question of the day, some AAPI trivia) and a speed round of meet and greet! If there’s anything you want to do, achieve, or find - let us know, or bring it up in the meeting!
RSVP to get the Zoom link, and bring your snacks, your beverage of choice, and of course, your microphone!
Book Club – Save the Date
The Dancing Girl and the Turtle
We are thrilled to be hosting author Karen Kao for a book club discussion on Sunday February 28th, 2021! We will be discussing her debut novel The Dancing Girl and the Turtle. Described as an “an ambitious, striking addition to the novels showing the sleazy side of 1930s Shanghai” by bookish.asia, it is the first in a quartet of interlocking novels about Shanghai. Read more about the quartet and Karen Kao on her website https://inkstonepress.com/ Hope to see you there!
For information on pre-ordering a book, please contact [email protected]
Recipes from Home
Brianna’s Sweet Potato Casserole
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.
Check out Brianna's recipe for sweet potato casserole!
Share your stories and recipes.