Here's an excerpt from the report from the house party in Jersey City.  Thanks to Pearl Park and Ryan Kim for hosting.  Notice the one and only Corky Lee?

Here are some quotes:

AAPI has not been united together for so long. Asian Americans and new
immigrants. Because there are so many different ethnic groups and
disparate interests, many Asian American Pacific Islander groups do not
communicate and consolidate with one another, resulting in fragmented
political power ultimately. The lack of unity among AAPI communities
weakens our collective political strength. In addition, there is not a
single language or issue that unites AAPIs. They don’t talk to each
other due to different reasons including language barriers, due to the
facts that more than half of AAPIs experience are foreign-born and do
not speak English as their primary language. Mutual cultural
understanding is needed. We should share together cultural events to
bring us together. For example, Veterans Day parade separately held by
different ethnic groups: Phillipinos and Chinese veterans have different
parades.

As for the top issues:

1) Universal Health Care
The rates of uninsured among AAPI, particularly among certain AAPI
subgroups, are very high! This has been documentedd
by several AAPI health groups. But health care-related issues are not
frequently talked about. Under universal health care, we can reduce the
overall costs of healthcare by supporting prevention as opposed to
treatment of diseases which is costlier than preventive measures. The
lack of insurance coverage for alternative/complementary healing
practices which are effective in the treatment and prevention of many
health ailments make it difficult for most people to obtain such
services. Lobbyists for pharmaceutical and insurance companies make
universal healthcare harder.

 From Pearl J. Park: There are many unspoken needs among Asian Americans
that have long been overlooked and unaddressed by both AAPI political
groups and the general population, which include but are not limited to
mental health care. Mainstream mental health organizations provide very
little support and in some cases, outright ignore the mental health
needs of AAPI communities. There are particularly urgent and pressing
needs in our community in regards to mental health care that are often
NOT vocalized due to stigma, the taboo nature of the subject, and
cultural belief that such personal psychological issues should remain in
the personal and family domain. These personal issues manifest in our
community and society at large in the form of violent crimes as a result
of undiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses, long-term disabilities
that diminishes our productive labor force and results in increased
payouts from our Social Security Disability Insurance system,
homelessness, domestic violence and many other social problems. Asian
Americans among all the ethnic groups are the least likely to seek
mental health services for psychological issues in part due to stigma,
in addition to significant cultural and linguistic barriers. Our
government has not sufficiently addressed these issues through their
programs. Though the consequences of not addressing the mental care of
AAPI and not providing culturally competent care for AAPIs are seriously
costly in terms of humanitarian and economic losses, they are rarely
viewed as such at a national policy level.

2) Education that is not Eurocentric, but inclusive of the experiences
and accomplishments of Native Americans, African American, Asian
American and other non-white groups,

3) Fair labor practices - Many Asian Americans are forced to work for 12
hours or more a day, 6-7 days a week without overtime pay and/or for
less than minimum wage in sweatshops and other small to medium businesses.


4. How can AAPIs gain more political clout?
Legislative activism. Corky Lee said that there is a great need to
educate at the grade school level about the Asian American contributions
to history because many Americans do not realize the historical
significance that AAPIs have played in the formation of American
history. Because of the perception that Asian Americans are "foreign"
they are often viewed by the Euro-American establishment as undeserving
of the same political and social rights as Euro-Americans. We need to
identify future AAPI leaders and cultivate and train
them to take on critical political roles in government. We need to
introduce those identified to political training at a very young age so
that they can properly mature into the kinds of political leaders that
adequately represent the interests of the AAPI community.

5. What are the most prevalent leadership challenges the AAPI community
and other diversity groups should be addressing in the coming year?
Identifying potential leaders at a young age and creating programs to
cultivate and educate them to become leaders. Getting AAPIs to take
social and political actions. Apathy is a serious overall problem. Raising
people's consciousness to accept more Asian American leaders as
Americans, not just ethnic leaders.

6. How can grassroots and individuals play a role in determining policy?
We need to create dialogue with local, regional and state politicans who
represent our interests. AAPIs need to be present at town meetings,
community events, and wherever and whenever there are local,
regional and state issues affecting the welfare of AAPIs. Karen Zhou
mentioned that when there was a medical waste storage plant being built
in her neighborhood, she and her neighbors took to grassroots activism.
She and others in her neighborhood spoke with her state senator about
how they opposed the storage. She mentioned that very few Asians were
active in this effort. AAPIs have to speak directly to and develop
relationships with their representatives. Syung Hoon Oh mentioned that
the use of technology such as the use of social networking sites such as
Facebook can enhance AAPI expressions of political opinions as well as
create networking opportunities that may not be available otherwise.
Community organizing and creating AAPI groups is essential to building
power to affect policy.

Gallery Images: 

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