Happy New Year! On behalf of the AAPI Caucus Steering Committee, we hope you had a healthy, happy, and positive start to your 2022. We have a lot of work ahead of us as we begin getting out the vote, and we’re looking forward to working with you to come out on top in November.

If you haven’t already, we really encourage you to already put in your request for your ballot at votefromabroad.org. The earlier you get your request in, the better! Not only are the midterms in November important, but you should also participate in your state’s primaries to make sure the candidate you want gets on the ballot. The first major primary is in Texas on March 1st, 2022. Texas voters have already begun to receive their ballots, so make sure you request today!

Democrats Abroad is also calling all of members from Texas. If you are interested in helping us phone bank, please visit our website to find upcoming training sessions and all the necessary materials for our ongoing campaigns.

We have a lot of interesting events coming up starting in February. Join us on Thursday, February 3, 2022, for our Lunar New Year Celebration or on Sunday, February 6, to discuss the third episode of the PBS Documentary “Asian Americans”. On Saturday, February 26, the DA Germany Saxony Chapter will host author Willy Wilkinson to discuss his book Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency.

And in case you missed it, we were honored to co-host “Why We Can’t Wait” with the DA Reparations Task Force, the Global Black Caucus, and Global Progressive Caucus. We heard from representatives from Nikkei Progressives, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress, and Human Rights Watch about the history of the Japanese-American post-WWII Reparations and Black Reparations movements, how such redress has impacted both groups, and why we should continue fighting for this legislation at local, state, and national levels. Watch the recording here.

If you are interested in volunteering with the AAPI Caucus to help us get out the vote in 2022, you can find volunteer opportunities on our website. You can also make a donation to Democrats Abroad on behalf of the AAPI Caucus. Your financial support to our all-volunteer organization will help pay for voter outreach, improvements to our website, and more.

We look forward to seeing you all at an upcoming event and wish everyone a great Lunar New Year!

Best wishes,
Emily Lines
Chair, AAPI Caucus

Upcoming Events

Celebrating Lunar New Year

Thu, Feb 3, 2022, 12pm CET
RSVP

Good Americans: Discussion of PBS Documentary “Asian Americans”

Sun. Feb 6, 2022, 4am EST / 10am CET
RSVP | Facebook

Book Club and Author Talk with Willy Wilkinson: Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency

Sat. Feb 26, 2022, 2pm EST / 8pm CET
RSVP | Facebook

Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef: A Conversation with Dr. Craig Santos Perez

Wed. March 16, 2022, 2pm Singapore / 4pm Sydney
RSVP

Updates

AAPI Caucus Applauds the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (PACAANHPI)

Late last year President Biden issued Executive Order 14031, authorizing the creation of the President’s Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. The Commission will advise the President on ways the public, private and non-profit sectors can work together to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Democrats Abroad Global Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus applauds this initiative, and looks forward to advancement of our joint focus in advocating on issues important to Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders both in the United States of America and living abroad.

Read more about the Commission and how you can watch their inaugural meeting February 3-4, 2022.

Recommendations

Book Review: Habitat Threshold - Craig Santos Perez, 2020

Excerpt from Praise Song for Oceania for World Oceans Day

praise your capacity for communion

praise our common heritage

praise our pathway and promise each other

praise our most powerful metaphor

praise your vision of belonging

praise our endless saga

praise your blue planet

one world ocean

praise our trans-oceanic

past present future flowing

through our blood

Craig Santos Perez is an Indigenous CHamoru from the Pacific Island of Guam. A noted poet and scholar, Perez is also a professor of English at the University of Hawai’i Manoa where he teaches creative writing, eco poetry and Pacific Island literature. An acclaimed author, his poem Praise Song for Oceania was filmed by Hawaiian filmmaker Justyn Ah Chong and screened at a number of international film festivals. His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.

His most recent book, Navigating CHamoru Poetry - Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization, explores how CHamoru poetry has been an inspiring and empowering act of protest, resistance and testimony in the decolonization, demilitarization and environmental justice movements of Guam.