We forge relationships with partners to build shared power. We are responding to the need and opportunity to strengthen movement infrastructure with sustained and strategic support of grassroots, community-based organizations through our National Democracy Initiative.
The strength of our movement and the ability of voters and community members to participate in democracy depend on strong advocates working to organize and empower our communities. This past year, we worked with partners in several states where we are helping to strengthen the infrastructure for Asian American movement building. In Texas, where Asians are the fastest growing racial group with a population exceeding 1.8 million, we supported the ongoing development of the Texas AAPI state table to coordinate civic engagement efforts among its organizational members in collaboration with Demo Lab South. In addition, we provided technical assistance and peer support to strengthen individual organizations including Asian Texans for Justice, Woori Juntos, and SAAVE TX Educational Fund. We built relationships with OCA-Greater Houston and Emgage, and continue to explore collaboration.
In Atlanta, we served as co-counsel with Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Atlanta, AAJC, and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP representing Asian American voters in the matter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Atlanta v. Raffesperger litigating against SB 202, the voter suppression law passed in Georgia in 2021.
In the Midwest, we supported the work of Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Chicago and their voting rights program, which led to trainings and workshops to groups like the Rohingya Community Center in Chicago. We also provided support to Asian American Organizing Project in Minnesota in their first foray into voting rights advocacy in support of legislation promoting language access. Our relationships with Michigan groups, APIA Vote Michigan and Rising Voices, have laid a foundation for further voting rights advocacy, even as we connect with new groups across the region. In collaboration with Demo Lab South, we supported its 2023 Southern Strategy Convening. In Pennsylvania, our collaboration with NAKASEC led to our support for Woori Center, as they continue to expand their work in the surrounding counties of metro Philadelphia where the Asian population has grown in recent years.
With the fiscal sponsorship and support of NEO Philanthropies, we were able to direct regrants to several groups around the country to bolster their work in preparation for 2024. These included support for: Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance in Philadelphia; Asian American Advocacy Fund in Georgia; Asian Community Development Council in Nevada; Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander for Equity; APIA Vote-Action in Michigan; and We Make the Future.
The Asian American Leaders Table (AALT) is a key project under the national initiative that addresses hate and violence towards Asian Americans with a transformative justice lens. The Table engages over 70 grassroots and national partners across the country who gather to build rapid response infrastructure, co-learn, and deepen solidarity practice within AAPI communities and with other communities of color.
The Asian American Leaders Table came together at the beginning of the year to provide rapid response support for the Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park shootings. Building off learnings from these and previous incidents, ALC collaborated with the Building Movement Project to release a new report, Balancing Act: Asian American Organizations Respond to Community Crises and Build Collective Power, to provide recommendations, ideas, and resources for organizations responding to community crises while building long-term infrastructure. Following the report’s release, the Table provided honorariums and technical support to 12 AALT organizations to deepen rapid response infrastructure. These projects are rooted in diverse geographical and ethnic communities to develop internal protocols, establish community networks of support, and strengthen digital security and community education in moments of crisis.
The AALT continued its co-learning series throughout the year, offering sessions featuring BIPOC partners discussing topics including racial equity challenges related to affirmative action, Alien Land Laws, reparations in California, solidarity with AMEMSA communities, and voter engagement. The Table also continued its collaboration with Tsuru for Solidarity to offer healing circles and trainings for member organizations and their staff.
With future expansion of this initiative, ALC will continue to leverage knowledge and resources to collaborate with allies and build powerful coalitions to fend against current and anticipated attacks on civil rights.