For immediate release: May 1, 2017
Contacts:
Marian Manapsal, (202) 508-3733, mmanapsal@apalanet.org
SaeHee Chun, (703) 256-2208, schun@nakasec.org
Aliya Khan, (812) 230-4241, akhan@napawf.org
Washington, DC – Today, millions of people nationwide are protesting and coming together to demand dignity and justice for all working people. We rally to demand justice for immigrants, refugees, and Muslims; to protect the right to collectively bargain and organize a union; to fight against mass deportations, a Muslim ban, and the criminalization of people of color; and to defend the Earth and its resources. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA), National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), and National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) are gathering an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) contingent in Washington, DC to stand in solidarity with ours- and allied- communities under attack by the administration’s policies and rhetoric.
APALA Executive Director Gregory A. Cendana stated: “We are keeping true on our commitment to resisting, organizing, and fighting back. Just in the past 100 days of the administration, attacks on our communities have instilled fear and anxiety to new levels, and we refuse to make this racist and xenophobic agenda the new norm for our country. This fight is a shared struggle uniting our diverse AAPI community and people of color more broadly to the struggles of all working people and families in the United States and across the globe. Sustainable jobs with fair wages; access to healthcare; living and working in places with dignity and free from fear, discrimination, or criminalization – these are the basic tenets driving us together.”
“It’s been 100 days since we mobilized AAPI women and gender non-conforming people across to the U.S. to march in resistance and resiliency in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. In the 100 days since, we have continued to build power for AAPI immigrant women and gender non-conforming workers across issues and movements,” added Sung Yeon Choimorrow, NAPAWF Interim Executive Director. “The movement for reproductive justice is stronger and more powerful when we acknowledge and elevate how our different identities shape the rights and agency of AAPIs and all workers. We are committed to a social and political transformation that ensures gender and racial equality each member of the AAPI community and other communities of color—and that means resisting anti-immigrant policies and economic inequity.”
NAKASEC Co-Director Dae Joong Yoon concluded: “Immigrant rights are human rights. The agenda put forth by the administration undermines the very core of our country. As our AAPI communities are no strangers to organizing and resisting, we will continue to elevate our voices and build power for AAPI families. We are proud to rise up with our allies and partners who work to dismantle the systemic threats trying to oppress us.”
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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing, and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build a movement to advance social justice and human rights for AAPI women and girls.