Author Archives: Jaslene Lai

October 2024 Leadership Meeting

October 20, 2024 | Last weekend (10/13), the AYR Board, Board-in-Training members, and committee leads met to discuss upcoming events such as the Equity in Mental Health Symposium at the College of Marin, the inaugural summit for Teach AAPI, and Global Women Asia’s upcoming Women in STEM Award Ceremony on November 9th. Additionally, we broke the news that AAPI Youth Rising is going to be highlighted in an Ethnic Studies textbook published by Gibbs Smith Education. We had a great time eating snacks and discussing new changes to come to the organization. Subscribe to our newsletter here to learn more details about upcoming events and recent actions!

Hana Reflecting on her experiences with racism in school and how it’s shaped her perspective

October 7, 2024 | Texas Chapter Leader Hana Parker wrote a brilliant op-ed that was published in Ethnic Media Services. This article is about Hana’s personal journey of grappling with her Asian American identity in the face of stereotypes and racism and her eventual role in advocating for AAPI inclusion and awareness. Check it out here!

United Against Hate Day at the Commonwealth Club of California

September 26, 2024 | On September 23, AYR founder Mina and executive-director-in-training Ethan spoke AYR’s Mina and Ethan speak at the Commonwealth Club of California with producer Michelle Meow on the “Navigating Our Differences through Civic Engagement” panel alongside Bay Area elected leaders and CUAV during the United Against Hate Day Summit. AYR members were welcome to join a free half-day summit marking United Against Hate Day, part of United Against Hate Week. The week is a call for local civic action to stop the hate and biases that threaten the safety and civility of our neighborhoods, towns, and cities. The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum.

Anti-Chinese Legislation

This past week Washington has been discussing legislation aimed at curbing China’s power and influence as a major geopolitical player and competitor to the United States. However, coinciding with this is an expected increase in anti-China rhetoric, and many of the motivations behind these bills are fueled by an anti-Chinese sentiment. In addition many of these bills contain anti-Chinese language that is contributing to hateful reactions. To combat this, it can be important to separate a government from its people. Simply because the Chinese government may have ideologies that do not align with one’s values or one disagrees with them it is not representative of people in that nation or anyone of Chinese descent. The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) has a disinformation table on anti-Chinese rhetoric that can help combat the dangers of disinformation. Feel free to check it out here.

Opportunity for Meet & Greet with Warner Bros. Discovery’s WAVE

September 14, 2024 | Act To Change is collaborating with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Asian employees for their Impact Day. The Warner Asian Voices Elevated (WAVE) group is hosting two sessions for any youth who are interested in learning more about careers and professional journeys in the entertainment industry on Friday, September 27. Interested in attending this even? RSVP here!

Oppose the Revival of the China Initiative

September 8, 2024 | Although The China Initiative was designed to address national security concerns, it ended up being used for racial profiling and unjust prosecutions. This initiative unfairly targeted Chinese American and immigrant scholars, scientists, and researchers, causing significant harm to their lives and careers. Reports, such as this Proceedings of National Academy of Science report, highlighted the chilling effect it had on Asian Americans, preventing them from doing normal activities due to fear of being wrongly targeted. Even though the China Initiative was terminated in February 2022, there is an effort to bring the harmful legislation back. The proposed H.R. 1398, also known as the Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act of 2024, along with its inclusion in the H.R. 9026 poses a threat by potentially reviving the initiative under a different image. This resurgence is deeply concerning. The Biden administration’s review found the China Initiative to be an ineffective and discriminatory approach to national security. Reinstating such a program would not only undermine our values of fairness and justice but also further damage the trust and well-being of our Asian American communities. AYR joins a coalition letter led by Asian American Scholar Forum, Stop AAPI Hate, Asian Americans Advancing Justice. We urge you to join us in opposing these legislative efforts. Let’s stand together to ensure that this harmful program does not return and to continue to protect the rights and contributions of all scholars and researchers in our nation.

Recommended AAPI Authors and Books for Middle Grades

Hi, I’m Callie and I love to read! I especially love books written by AAPI authors. Here is a list of my favorite middle grade authors with links to the books I’ve enjoyed the most. Also, if you have another AAPI author and/or book you’d like to recommend, please fill out this short survey to let us know.

White House AANHPI Mental Health Convening

July 24, 2024 | Our Ethan, our Executive Director in Training and Soha, our Finance Director in Training spoke at the White House AA and NHPI Mental Health Convening Listening Session on “Centering Community Voices.” They were also joined by Board in Training members Camille, Taryn, and Reed. The listening session, hosted by White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), centered on youth mental health. The session brought together community leaders, mental health professionals, researchers and federal officials to discuss mental health challenges facing the AANHPI community. AYR is proud to represent the youth perspective. Thank you to Kota Mizutani from the White House Office of Public Engagement and Krystal Ka’ai from WHIAANHPI for inviting us to share our youth perspective!