Wednesday, November 9th 2016
We are awash today in grief and pain, but as a new day unfolds, we are recommitting ourselves to the mission and values that drove our founding 33 years ago. In 1983, in the wake of the hate crime killing of Vincent Chin in Detroit, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center set forth to give voice to the voiceless, to defend those at the margins, and to lift up the struggles of Asian Americans as well as all immigrants and people of color. The past three decades have not been easy, and the next four years will not be either.
We will not flee this nation that we call home, and we will not abandon our dream for a world that is just, inclusive and equitable. We must and we will fight for our clients, our families, our communities, our country – for the undocumented, the working poor, the incarcerated; for those who face racism and racial profiling; for those who struggle to speak English or wear a hijab or turban in public; for those amongst us who are LGBT. We will not give into fear. Instead, we will draw from it to make us stronger and more powerful, and we will work harder than ever to protect what we have already won and to advance opportunities for those who are at the margins.
And we know that working together, we can create that better nation. We are witnessing it here in California, where yesterday’s election moves us closer to a more equitable and inclusive society. By decisive margins, California’s voters passed key ballot measures that ensure funding for public education, healthcare and the homeless, the return of bilingual education, and a less punitive criminal justice system. Hundreds of volunteers fanned out across the state with us to ensure that immigrant voters did not face language barriers on Election Day. And with our Your Vote Matters partners, hundreds helped to call over 70,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, helping to build the more progressive electorate we need in the months ahead.
We thank all of you who have been with us in the trenches and we welcome new allies and friends to join us. We have much work to do ahead and we cannot do it alone.
In solidarity and unity,
All of us at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles
