APAHM celebration of SEAA identity, solidarity, and resilience |
On May 20, SEARAC hosted a virtual celebration for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Panelists included:
The speakers discussed their heritage, identity, advocacy, and meaningful solidarity practices for AAPINH communities and allies. If you missed this powerful, affirming event, you can view the recording here.
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Sign up for Liberated Minds mental health newsletter |
Although Mental Health Awareness Month is coming to a close, the work doesn’t stop! Subscribe to the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN)’s new Liberated Minds mental health newsletter! It will feature policy and advocacy updates, upcoming events, and recommended books, movies, and podcasts about mental health and racial justice. Join CPEHN as they center the importance of Mental Health in BIPOC communities. Subscribe to the newsletter here. |
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Data equity campaign to support AANHPI community visibility |
Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the US. However, AANHPI communities are not a monolith, and AANHPI students deserve to be fully seen in education data. The most effective way to understand the unique needs and challenges of diverse students is to disaggregate education data into more specific categories. Statistically accurate and culturally appropriate information about our communities will help advocates, educators, and policymakers alike to identify barriers and solutions to ensure our communities have an equal chance of success.
SEARAC is excited to launch an education data equity campaign with partners in June. If you would like to get involved with the campaign, sign up to be a SEARAC Data Equity Ambassador today! Sign up here.
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Addressing language barriers in COVID-19 vaccine access |
By law, organizations and agencies that receive federal funds for their activities are required to provide meaningful language support for individuals who do not speak English well. If you or someone you know has experienced language barriers while trying to access the COVID-19 vaccine, please consider reporting the incident at Asian American Voices. Responses are confidential and will help inform language access advocacy for Asian American communities.
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Join SEAFN’s Week of Action for Southeast Asian freedom |
Southeast Asian community leaders and partners from the Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN) are taking action this week to bring visibility and educate about the intersectionality of anti-Asian violence and Southeast Asian deportations impacting our communities. Organizing groups include: SEAFN, AARW, SEA Defense Project, Mekong NYC, VietLead, KhAAG, ReleaseMN8, ManForward, Freedom Inc., PrYSM and Freedom Action Now. The week of action is held from May 24 through May 28 with additional action opportunities will be created in the months to come.
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Welcome Kao Saelee home by passing the Vision Act |
Community member, Mien American, and incarcerated California firefighter Kao Saelee, who was facing deportation to Laos, has been released from ICE detention! After serving 22 years in prison and being handed over to immigration authorities instead of his family, Kao Saelee had been in ICE custody for almost a year. On May 20, following an outpouring of intense family and community advocacy, he was finally reunited with his family. We join community advocates and his family in celebrating Kao Saelee's long awaited return home by urging legislators to pass the Vision Act and to reunite all families separated by ICE.
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Student organizing and the fight against white supremacy |
Our spring Communications Team intern, Shania Khoo, reflects on student organizing and the youth-led movement to reframe our history and our future in a new blog post.
"It wasn’t until I took my first course in Asian American studies and ethnic studies (neither of which are actually fully offered at Duke University, only as elective classes) that I was finally able to name systems of oppression and power: white supremacy, anti-Blackness, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, imperialism, (settler) colonialism. These broken and exploitative systems have resulted in deep harms that I inherited through intergenerational trauma and felt to my very core, but which I had never been able to name."
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SEARAC is hiring a consultant to support our strategic planning |
Calling contractors and consultants! SEARAC is engaging in a process to develop a three-year strategic plan for 2022 – 2025, and we are seeking consultant(s) to support us in this process. The strategic plan will serve as a roadmap for our work and will inform our supporters, partners, stakeholders and constituents of our aspirations and endeavors for the future. We also seek to incorporate a strong racial justice analysis in the strategic plan in light of the recent events around the country surrounding anti-Asian violence, the movement for Black lives, and the escalating violence targeting BIPOC communities. Learn more and apply by May 31.
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Community, you showed up! |
Through SEARAC's #StopAsianViolence t-shirt fundraiser, together we raised $4,751.50 to support the work of Banteay Srei (program of Asian Health Services) and Hmong American Women's Association (HAWA), two organizations who help empower Southeast Asian American women and girls. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this effort by purchasing a shirt or spreading the word! And our deepest gratitude to the designer of our special edition shirts My Tien Pham, whose powerful artistry helped make this fundraiser a success.
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Let us know about your upcoming events |
If you have an event or campaign that you would like SEARAC to promote to our communities, please fill out this form to let us know! We recommend alerting us to your event at least two weeks in advance of the date to allow time for processing. If you have any questions about your submission, please email sina@searac.org.
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SEARAC is a national civil rights organization that empowers Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese American communities to create a socially just and equitable society. As representatives of the largest refugee community ever resettled in the United States, SEARAC stands together with other refugee communities, communities of color, and social justice movements in pursuit of social equity.
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