Adventures in Multicultural Living: A tale of three tea parties--gestures of concern, respect, graciousness - AnnArbor.com

from IMDiversity.com Asian American Village Editor Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

A girlfriend was recently reminiscing about the Friday afternoon high teas at Smith College, a tradition held over from a previous era, although by the time she was there, most of the young women came to high tea wearing jeans rather than dresses and white gloves. Still, there was something warm and reassuring about coming home at the end of a long week and finding pots of tea and loads of cookies (especially the cookies) prepared and waiting for you, welcoming you home.

At the Japan Cultural Festival last weekend, I slowed down (for once) long enough to watch a Japanese tea ceremony. A younger kimono-clad woman carefully and meticulously prepared and presented a bowl of tea to an older woman. She brewed the water on an old fashioned brazier, scooped the water out with a long-handled bamboo ladle, stirred the tea with a little bamboo whisk, and poured the tea into a wide-mouthed bowl. Her body movements were disciplined and deliberate. The older woman sat silently and waited patiently for her tea. The relationship between the women could be read like a dance, the care and respect with which the younger woman made and served the tea to the older woman was moving. Everything was in the details, details that nobody has time for anymore. (And so nice to see during Women’s History Month.) Off to the side of the tatami stage, several kimono-clad women made more of the bitter green tea for the audience members and offered each cup with both hands raised. (click on link for more)

A tale of three tea parties--gestures of concern, respect, graciousness - AnnArbor.com

Photo Courtesy of University of Michigan's Center for Japanese Studies

OCA Stmt: Obama Nomination of Goodwin H. Liu

OCA Pleased With Nomination of Goodwin H. Liu to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

24 February 2010

CONTACT

Mary Kong | Program Assistant

202 223 5500 | mkong@ocanational.org

WASHINGTON – President Obama nominated University of California Berkeley School of Law Associate Dean and Professor Goodwin H. Liu to serve on the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today.

Professor Liu is a nationally recognized scholar in the areas of education and constitutional law. Before joining UC Berkeley School of Law, Professor Liu was a litigator in private practice. Prior, he was a law clerk to the Honorable David S. Tatel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the United States Supreme Court, and was Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education. He is committed to community service, and his work has been recognized through several awards, including the Pacific Islander, Asian, and Native American Law Students Association Alumni Award (Yale Law School); Asian American Alumni Award (Stanford University); and the Stanford Associates Governors’ Award for Exemplary Volunteer Service.

Professor Liu was born to Taiwanese immigrant parents in Augusta, Georgia. He grew up in Clewiston, Florida and Sacramento, California. A distinguished graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Yale Law School, Professor Liu was also a Rhodes Scholar, and is a member of the American Law Institute.

“Professor Liu’s nomination is a positive step to address the glaring absence of Asian Pacific Americans on the appellate level,” said George C. Wu, Executive Director of OCA. “As former law clerk to the Supreme Court and recognized scholar on constitutional law, Professor Liu will bring unsurpassed intellect and fairness to the Ninth Circuit.”

Professor Liu’s appointment to the Ninth Circuit is particularly significant for the Asian Pacific American community. Of the approximately 175 active federal appellate court judges, there are currently none who are Asian Pacific American. If confirmed, he will only be the fifth Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge in the history of the United States. Along with Denny Chin, nominee to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, he is the second Asian Pacific American nominated to the federal court of appeals by the President.

OCA congratulates Professor Liu on his historic nomination, and thanks President Obama for nominating him. OCA also commends Senators Feinstein and Boxer for their support of Professor Liu’s nomination.

###

Founded in 1973, OCA is a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States. OCA aims to embrace the hopes and aspirations of nearly 12 million Asian Pacific Americans in the United States.

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Raising confident daughters of color while not forgetting Obama is black - AnnArbor.com

From IMDiversity.com Asian American Village Editor Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

Years ago, I took a seminar called, "Raising Strong and Confident Daughters." My husband laughed at me, "Could our daughters be any stronger or more confident?"

The class was an eye-opener, not just in how to raise my girls, but also in understanding my own Chinese American childhood. I had no memory of dealing with a lot of the issues the instructor talked about as being so important to preadolescent girls, such as friendships and physical appearances.

At first I thought that I must have been just so low on the social totem pole, because of race and nerdiness, that I had given up hope of competing in those arenas. Then I found a Wellesley study of Boston middle-school girls’ self-esteem along racial and ethnic lines and discovered that girls of different ethnic backgrounds based their sense of self-esteem on different factors. It made perfect sense once somebody said it out loud. (click on link for more)

Raising confident daughters of color while not forgetting Obama is black - AnnArbor.com

Yul Kwon (!) Named Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at FCC

October 21, 2009

FCC CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI ANNOUNCES SENIOR STAFF IN INTERNATIONAL AND CONSUMER AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS BUREAUS

Washington, DC -- Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the appointment of Mindel De La Torre as Chief of the International Bureau and Yul Kwon as Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau.

"The FCC has an important role to play in empowering and protecting consumers and ensuring that they have access to world-leading communications networks and technologies," said Chairman Genachowski. "These talented individuals have vast public and private sector experience in communications policy and I am delighted to have their expertise at the agency."

Chief, International Bureau, Mindel De La Torre.
Since 1998, Ms. De La Torre has been the president of the consulting firm Telecommunications Management Group, Inc. (TMG). Prior to joining TMG, Ms. De La Torre was the deputy chief of the Telecommunications Division at the International Bureau, which she joined in December 1994. Ms. De La Torre also worked at the Department of Commerce -- for over four years at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and for three years in the General Counsel's office. She has been a member of various U.S. delegations to International Telecommunication Union conferences, such as World Radiocommunication Conferences, World Telecommunication Development Conferences, and Plenipotentiary C onferences. Ms. De La Torre has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from the University of Texas. Having lived overseas most of her life, she speaks fluent Portuguese, French, and Spanish, and is proficient in Italian.

Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Yul Kwon.
Mr. Kwon's diverse career spans across law, technology, business, and media. His government experience includes lecturing at the FBI Academy, drafting science and technology legislation as an aide to Senator Joseph Lieberman, and clerking for Judge Barrington D. Parker on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. In the business and technology sector, Mr. Kwon has held positions at McKinsey & Company, Google, and the Trium Group. He also practiced law as an attorney at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis and at Venture Law Group. In 2006, Mr. Kwon became the first Asian American to win the CBS reality show, Survivor. His subsequent media activities include working as a special correspondent for CNN and as a co-host for the Discovery Channel. Mr. Kwon obtained his B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served on the editorial board of the Yale Law Journal.

--FCC--
News and other information about the FCC is available at www.fcc.gov

PoliSci PhD Fellowship Program

The American Political Science Association is accepting applications for the


2010-2011 APSA Minority Fellowship Program


The American Political Science Association is accepting applications for the 2010-2011 APSA Minority Fellowship Program. Deadline: postmarked by October 2, 2009.

Eligibility

• The APSA Minority Fellows program is designed primarily for minority students applying to enter a doctoral program in POLITICAL SCIENCE for the FIRST TIME.
• Additional eligibility criteria include: Applicants must be members of one of the following racial/ethnic minority groups: African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Latinos/as, and Native Americans (federal and state recognized tribes)
• Applicants must demonstrate an interest in teaching and potential for research in political science
• Applicant must be a United States citizen at time of award
• Applicants must demonstrate financial need
  

To apply, and review eligibility requirements and application materials, please visit: http://www.apsanet.org/content_3284.cfm

The APSA Minority Fellowship Program is in its 40th year. Please forward this announcement to interested students/individuals.

John Liu Advances to Runn-off After NYC Primary

John Liu has progressed in his quest to become Comptroller for New York City, with a strong showing in a multi-candidate field that just fell short of the mark. He will move ahead to a runoff at the end of this month.

Following is a message distributed by the campaign.

-- CAMPAIGN RELEASE --

Dear Friend,

I'm truly grateful for all of your support and hard work since I
started my campaign for City Comptroller.

We had a strong showing yesterday in the Primary election for
Comptroller -- well ahead of our rivals with more than 38% of the
vote, but we did not quite reach the 40% plurality needed.  We're all
set for the run-off election on September 29th.

Our campaign is already building on our momentum -- today, we gained
the support of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Joint
Council 16 which represents more than 120,000 workers in the trucking,
sanitation, airline and pharmaceutical industries.

“It is my pleasure to announce on behalf of the more than 120,000
working men and women in the Teamsters Joint Council 16, our
endorsement of Councilman John Liu for New York City Comptroller,"
said Teamsters President George Miranda.  “Over the past eight years,
as a Councilman and Chair of the Transportation Committee, he has
consistently backed the interests of working people.  John’s financial
experience will make him a fine Comptroller, but his passion for
public service will make him the people’s watchdog in an era of
economic uncertainty. We look forward to doing all we can to make sure
that John becomes New York’s next Comptroller."

People are galvanized by the positive campaign we're running - a
campaign based on the issues that matter to working men and women and
families across the City.  People are excited about my vision for the
Office and plan to build on on City's infrastructure and protect the
pensions that people have worked their whole lives to accumulate.

The people of this City deserve an independent fiscal watchdog that
looks out for their interests, not the special interests.  I will be
an aggressive advocate for you...my campaign has always been about
you!

I will work hard over the next two weeks...and even harder for you
when I'm elected the next Comptroller.

Please join me... and help turn out the vote on September 29th.  And,
together, we will change the future of New York City.

Grateful for your support,

John Liu

-------------------
FOX5 News - 9/16/09
VIDEO: 

EXCERPT - New York City Councilman John Liu of Queens finished first
in the Democratic primary for New York City Comptroller, but it wasn't
enough to avoid a run-off.

-------------------
NY1: "Liu, Yassky Prepare For Comptroller Runoff" - 9/16/09
VIDEO: 

EXCERPT - The Democratic race for city comptroller between four City
Council members was tight as expected Tuesday, but the leading
candidate almost avoided a runoff entirely.

"I'm deeply so honored to have all of your support, for all the hard
work that you have put in over these months and years and to get us to
the point that we are today," said Liu. "We made a tremendous
showing."

Liu collected the most votes in a race that pitted four City Council
members against each other.

Liu says he's planning to spend the next two weeks talking about the
issues and says he fully expects to be the Democratic nominee come
Election Day in November.

---
NEW YORK TIMES: "A Victory, Runoffs and Several Incumbents Ousted" - 9/15/09


EXCERPT - In the race for comptroller, Councilman John C. Liu of
Queens held the lead, with 38 percent of the vote.

When the candidate arrived, the crowd grew louder. Arms went out to
hug Mr. Liu, who arrived with his wife, Jenny, and his 9-year-old son,
Joey. “Listen, we’re not done yet!” Mr. Liu said. “One more hour!
Let’s get those voters out.”

---
NEW YORK TIMES: "New Yorkers Vote in Primaries for Top Citywide Posts" - 9/14/09


EXCERPT - Mr. Liu, who would be the first Asian-American elected to
citywide office, has the endorsement of several powerful unions,
including the United Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees
International Union and the Transport Workers Union.

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
================================================
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   JOHN LIU  2009   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
================================================
Providing the Latest News and Updates from John Liu
================================================
LEADERSHIP * COMMITMENT * EXPERIENCE * RESULTS
================================================
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

SAALT Webinar: About the Appointments Process in the Obama Administration

Event Location: Online

Date: Thu, 06/11/2009 - 16:00 - 16:45

Learn more about the Appointments Process in the Obama Administration and How the South Asian Community Can Stay Involved

With special guests Mark Perriello, Director-Priority Placement and Candace Chin, Special Assistant to Don Gips, Director of Presidential Personnel

What: A webinar to learn more about the appointments process for jobs, Boards and Commissions in the Obama Administration (a webinar is a conference call with an online segment; anyone can participate)

When: Thursday, June 11th at 4pm EST/3pm CST/1pm PST (the webinar should last 45 minutes)

Why: Learning about how to navigate the Obama Administration's appointments process will ensure that South Asians can stay engaged and represented in the Obama Administration.

We will be joined by special guests Mark Perriello, Director Priority Placement and Candace Chin, iSpecial Assistant to Don Gips, Director of Presidential Personnel, who will provide information about the appointments process for jobs, Boards and Commissions.

To attend, you must register by Wednesday, June 10th at 12pm EST:

1. Please copy this into your browser:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/942106098

2. You will then be asked to register for the webinar. After you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email from the webinar service which has a link; a call-in number; and a conference call-in code.

3. At the appointed time for the webinar (Thursday, June 11th at 4PM EST/3PM CST/1PM PST), please click the link provided in the confirmation email and call the dial-in number listed. When prompted on the call, enter the call-in code from the email. The computer-based portion may take a few moments to load so we ask you to go through this step at least ten minutes before the start of the webinar.

4. To ask questions during the webinar, simply type them into the "Questions and Answers" box on the right-hand side of the webinar interface on your computer screen.

If you cannot attend the online visual portion of the webinar, you can still listen in to the audio portion by calling in to 213.286.1201and entering 218-248-057 as the code.

Questions? Please contact SAALT at saalt@saalt.org. Sign up TODAY to join us on June 11th!

Judy Chu wins in heavily Hispanic district; advances to runoff

Reported by Jean Merl at LATimes.com:

By Jean Merl 1:35 AM PDT, May 20, 2009

State Board of Equalization Vice Chairwoman Judy Chu won the most votes
Tuesday for the open 32nd Congressional District seat, running well ahead of
fellow Democrat state Sen. Gil Cedillo, but she fell short of the majority
needed to avoid a runoff.

Political newcomer Emanuel Pleitez, who surprised politics watchers with
his significant fundraising and campaign of personal contacts and energetic
volunteers, was running a strong third.

If Chu prevails in the July runoff, it would make her the only Asian American in Congress representing Southern California, according to the Associated Press.

In an honorable mention, Monterey Park Councilwoman Betty Tom Chu came in the top spot among the handful of doomed Republicans vying for a shot in the strongly Democratic district.

How National APAs Give a Boost to Boston's Sam Yoon

While we're waiting for the day's poll results to come in from other corners, here's a profile from the Boston Globe showing how national identity politics may give a boost to local candidates like Sam Yoon, who wants to be Mayor of Beantown.

WASHINGTON - The California congressman looked out on a crowd of 100
Asian-American political activists dining in a drab conference room at the
headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Mike Honda urged them to
donate to a rising star on the political scene: Sam Yoon, candidate for mayor of
Boston.

"Boston has been waiting for a long time because the Irish have had it," said Honda,
addressing the annual dinner of the Asian American Action Fund. "I believe Sam
is ready to take over and lead one of the major cities in the country."

Yoon beamed. Such dinners have become crucial to his aspirations to
become mayor of Boston, fueling him with applause, cheers, and financial support
that are harder to come by at home, where Mayor Thomas M. Menino dominates the
political establishment and where Yoon remains a relatively low-profile figure,
unknown to 38 percent of residents, according to a recent Globe poll.

By Michael Levenson
Globe Staff / May 18, 2009

Read the full story at the Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/18/yoon_looks_beyond_boston_to_enlist_backers/

NPR: Judy Chu Has Edge In CA 32 Special Election On Tuesday

From NPR.org Ken Rudin Political Junkie Blog:

California's 32nd Congressional District, just east of Los Angeles, is
about 63 percent Latino, 22 percent Asian. It is the seat held since 2001 by
Hilda Solis (D), now the secretary of labor. Prior to that, it was held for 18
years by Matthew Martinez, a Democrat, who lost to Solis in the 2000 primary at
the age of 71 amid charges that he was ineffective and invisible.

But if anecdotal evidence is to be believed, this overwhelmingly
Hispanic district may send an Asian woman, Judy Chu, on her way to Congress in
Tuesday's special primary.

All eyes are on two Democrats who are considered the
frontrunners.

Chu, a former member of the Assembly who is currently the chair of the
California Board of Equalization, is one 12 candidates who will appear on the
all-party primary ballot. Under state law, if no one receives a majority of the
vote -- as seems likely -- then the top candidates of each party advance to the
July 14 runoff. (If a candidate breaks 50 percent, then he or she is declared
the winner, with no runoff required.)

But for all intents and purposes, whichever leading Democrat comes out
ahead tomorrow -- Chu or state Sen. Gil Cedillo, a fellow liberal -- will be the
next member of Congress for the 32nd. Barack Obama carried the district last
year with 68 percent of the vote, and Republicans failed to run a candidate
against Solis in the past three elections.

Chu and Cedillo have received the lion's share of endorsements. Chu is
backed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a gubernatorial hopeful and
perhaps the state's most visible Hispanic politician. She has also been endorsed
by members of Solis' family, though the former House member has stayed neutral.
Cedillo has the support of several Hispanic congressmen, including Joe baca,
Xavier Becerra, Grace Napolitano and Linda Sanchez.

Baca is quoted as saying, "It's a Hispanic seat. We should not lose
that seat."

Organized labor is working mostly on Chu's behalf.

Read the full blog entry

Film on Patsy Mink Airs this Month on PBS

From the website for a new film by Making Waves, which is airing on PBS stations across the country during May:

PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY explores the remarkable political story of Patsy Mink, an Asian American woman who, battling racism and sexism, redefined American politics.

Small in stature but a giant in vision, she began her life on a Maui sugar plantation and rose to become the first Asian American woman and woman of color in the United States Congress. A firecracker and a fighter, she continually pushed the limits of what was acceptable, speaking out against the Vietnam War and entering the 1972 presidential primary, making her one of the first women to seek the nation’s highest office. She transformed America’s schools as the co-author of Title IX, the landmark legislation that opened up higher education and athletics to women.

The film goes beyond Mink’s accomplishments, however, to reveal a woman whose political journey was lonely and tumultuous. Dispelling stereotypes of the compliant Japanese female, she battled sexism within her own party, whose leaders disliked her independent style and openly maneuvered against her. Her liberal politics, particularly her vocal opposition to the Vietnam War, engendered intense criticism.

As Franklin Odo, Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, states: “Patsy Mink offers a phenomenal political story, because she was so outside what you would expect of a woman, of a Japanese American and of a member of Congress.” Simultaneously a woman of the people and a pioneer, a patriot and an outcast, her story proves endlessly intriguing, and one that embodies the history, ideals and spirit of America.

To learn more about the film and filmmaker, see http://www.aheadofthemajority.com.

To find out when it's airing on your local PBS station, enter your Zip at http://www.pbs.org/patsymink/airdates.html

Obama proclaims APA Heritage Month

Newly added to our annual Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month section is this year's official presidential proclamation designating May to commemorate the history and heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

While at first glance it appears to be the usual sort of official release that is probably ghostwritten then quickly rubberstamped in the West Wing, a closer look definitely reveals more than a subtle shift in the tone and address of this statement.

For one thing, the nation's first president to hail from Hawai'i has renamed and recast the month as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, pointedly putting the "P.I." back in "AAPI".

An even closer look at the description of what is being commemorated reveals, less superficially, a real and frankly exciting change in tone from the kind of boilerplate annual proclamation we've grown accustomed to in recent years. Where there had been abstraction and generality there is specificity and recognition of our community's diversity. Where there had been reference to vague and monolithic contributions as entrepreneurs and (even more vaguely) " servants of the cause of freedom and peace," this year's proclamation recalls the earliest immigration, the labor of the railroads and farms and mines, as well as current contributions in academia, the arts and literature, government, technology and other sectors.

In short, it is happily the kind of proclamation we would have expected from Barack Obama -- our first Hawai'i President, our first nonwhite President, our first "hapa" President. For those who enjoy government speeches and rhetoric, it's pleasant reading and an interesting departure from the past years when our community has felt so left out in the political cold.

Check it out for yourself at the Village's Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month section.

APAP announces "Nationwide Conversation on the State of AAPIs"

Release by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress

A Nationwide Conversation on the State of AAPIs
Sunday, May 31, 2009
4 pm EST/1 pm PST

Please join us for a nationwide conference call with leading Asian American voices, including President Obama's brother-in-law, a rep from the Obama administration, as well as AAPI elected officials. After the 20-minute call, we encourage you to engage in conversation with your guests about the issues important to you. Send in your reports and we’ll post them on our website (along with your pictures) and submit our results to the Obama Administration.

For more information, please go to http://www.apaforprogress.org

4/18 Seattle Conference Will Launch Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

A conference and celebration will mark the formal launch of Seattle University School of Law's Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality Saturday, April 18.

There is no charge to attend, but space is limited and registration is required by April 8. Register online or by calling 206.398.4300.

The Korematsu Center for Law and Equality will study and combat discrimination through research, advocacy and education projects. It aims to advance social justice by fostering critical thinking about discrimination in U.S. society and through targeted advocacy to foster equality and freedom.

"This new center allows our talented faculty to build on the law school's strengths in the areas of race and the law to advance our mission for a more just and humane world," Dean Kellye Testy said.

The center's work will be divided into three units: research, advocacy and education projects.
Its research unit will focus on understanding the relationship between law and categories of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, disability and religion, especially with regard to their intersections. It will bring together scholars from various disciplines and will support interdisciplinary scholarship.

The advocacy unit will apply this understanding to combat discrimination through targeted advocacy efforts. The education unit will create a focus area in Law and Equality for J.D. students and will help train the next generation of scholar/teacher/activists through post-graduate teaching and advocacy fellowships.

The Center is named for Fred Korematsu, who defied an order that required all persons of Japanese ancestry in the area of Oakland, California, to report for detention. He was jailed and then sent for internment. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed his conviction. Forty years later, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California vacated that conviction on proof that the government had suppressed, altered and destroyed material evidence that contradicted the government's claim of military necessity.

Korematsu went on to champion the cause of civil liberties, seeking redress for Japanese Americans who were wrongfully interned and traveling the country speaking about his case and other violations of civil rights, especially after 9/11.

The center is directed by Professor Robert Chang, a noted scholar in the area of race and the law. Professor Lori Bannai, who was a member of the legal team that worked to reverse Korematsu's wartime conviction and is writing a biography of Korematsu, is associate director. The center will build on the law school's strong faculty in the area of law and equality, including Professors Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, leading authorities in critical race theory, and Professor Margaret Chon, co-author of "Race, Rights and Reparation: Law and the Japanese American Internment.

More "Cabinetry": Judy Chu Energes as Solis Confirmed

The AP reported this afternoon that the Senate has confirmed California Congresswoman Hilda Solis as President Barack Obama's labor secretary by a 80-17 vote after a protracted partisan battle.

Her confirmation at the last clears the way for the field of her potential replacements to start the jockeying and earnest, including Judy Chu, who currently serves as State Board of Equalization Chairwoman. Although Chu has the support of the Asian American Action Fund, APAs for Progress PAC, and the L.A. County Federation of Labor, she is seen as having a potentially uphill climb against state Sen. Gil Cedillo in a heavily Latino district.

The delays and souring California budget news led Gautam Dutta to speculate on the AAAF blog that a special election being considered in California might be in Chu's favor. If statewide special elections were held in May or June, Dutta observes, it would make financial sense for the state to defer settling the matter of Solis' replacement to coincide with them, saving what Dutta says is nearly $1 million. Chu's Asian-American supporters are hopeful that she would benefit from having the longer time to campaign.

A recent release by APAs for Progress PAC announced that it had gathered funding for the launch of its new Glen S. Fukushima Campaign Fellowship, which would be used to fund the deployment of a Fellow to Chu's campaign if Solis was confirmed.

WA Gov. Gary Locke Obama Pick For Commerce

The AP reports that Gary Locke -- the Chinese-American former Governor of Washington state -- is president Obama's new pic for the Secretary of Commerce. If confirmed, it would make Locke the second Asian American to head the Department of Commerce, following President Clinton's appointment of Norman Mineta in 2000. The Locke nomination, is expected to be formally announced tomorrow, would be the third nomination President Obama has made for the position.

AALDEF Exit Poll Results Confirm Growing APIA Voter Clout

APIAVOTE: AALDEF EXIT POLL RESULTS CONFIRMS GROWING INFLUENCE

OF ASIAN AMERICAN VOTERS

First-Time Voters Voted Overwhelmingly for President-Elect Barack Obama

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) today hailed the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund's (AALDEF) exit poll results as strong evidence of the growing strength of the Asian American vote.

The responses of nearly 17,000 Asian American voters in 11 states showed that they voted for Barack Obama by more than a 3 to 1 margin, and supported other Democratic candidates, making the differences in key contested states in the historic November 2008 presidential elections.

"The differences we make may be marginal compared to other constituency groups, but we are talking about a presidential race where the margins truly mattered," said Eunsook Lee, APIAVote board co-chair. "When we are mobilized, we can determine a race, whether local, state, or national. We applaud AALDEF's efforts to capture the phenomenon of Asian American voters, and encourage media outlets and polling experts to work with us in ensuring that we are accurately represented in sampling and exit polling."

"AALDEF results indicate that AAPI voter turnout can determine whether or not a candidate wins or loses. The growing strength and increased participation of Asian Americans is evident in this exit poll," said Vida Benavides, APIAVote executive director. "These results also show that political parties can do much more in outreaching to our AAPI community needs, which are not very much different from other communities' needs. We commend the political parties for their efforts, and will continue to be a resource to political parties so that they can more fully engage AAPIs in the political process.

The nonpartisan exit poll also found that 58% of Asian Americans were registered Democrats, while 26% were not enrolled in any political party, and 14% of Asian Americans were registered Republicans.

While non-random and conducted in precincts with significant AAPI populations, the AALDEF sample is representative of the national Asian American population. Significant findings include the following:

• Nearly one third of Asian Americans surveyed were first-time voters.

• 87% of respondents who were born in the U.S. voted for Obama.

• Four out of five Asian Americans are foreign-born citizens.

• One out of three respondents had limited English proficiency.

• Asian Americans shared common political interests across sub-ethnic lines.

• The longer the citizenship tenure of Asian Americans, the higher their rates of voting for Obama.

• All subethnic groups voted for Obama, with the exception of Vietnamese voters.

APIAVote is a national non-partisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels. APIAVote does not endorse parties or candidates. Please visit www.apiavote.org for more information.

More about the AALDEF Exit Poll:

The 2008 multilingual exit poll provides a unique snapshot of the voter preferences of Asian Americans at 113 poll sites in 9 cities in 11 states with large Asian American populations: New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Nevada, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, DC. AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters in every major election since 1988. The AALDEF exit poll collected information about the party enrollment, English proficiency and issue preferences of first-time voters, foreign-born voters, women voters, and young voters.

AALDEF worked with 60 co-sponsoring organizations (including APIAVote) to mobilize 1,500 attorneys, law students and community volunteers to conduct the multilingual exit poll and to monitor polling places for incidents of voter discrimination. Please visit www.aaldef.org for more information.

Editorials: Hapa Obama and Diversity; Florida's Shame

There is much to be celebrated on the momentous occasion of Barack Obama's election as the first non-white (or "half-white, half-black") Commander in Chief. As the editors were working on our elections debriefing yesterday and this morning, though, we found a mix of both good and bad in-comunity news that will be updated on the Village with snippets posted here on the Asian American Village blog.

The first blend of good and bad news from election night comes AALDEF - the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which coordinated its largest multipartner, multilingual poll monitoring and exit survey campaign to date. AALDEF's findings this year were that turnout by Asian American voters was up, with still-fuzzy but record numbers of us showing up at the polls, including many new citizens and first-timers. The bad news, perhaps unsurprisingly, is that "many encountered barriers at polling places, ranging from inadequate language assistance, improper requests for identification, and missing names on voter rolls". Taking the long-range view, AALDEF has announced that the toll-free, multilingual voter problem report hotline will be kept active to allow community members to continue reporting any election day obstacles or irregularities.

So, did we live up to our much-vaunted promise as an "awakening giant" able to powerfully and disproportionately affect the outcome? Exactly how many of us showed up and how did we vote? Well, no doubt media pollers and political strategists will be teasing that out for a long time to come. At least one early claim, from The Nation, found that in addition to our record turnout, Asian Americans continued our collective leftward trend to support Obama by 63%, joining a number of other demographic "majorities":

Obama's many majorities are, in some, the measures of a unity not seen in some
time. Obama won with overwhelming support from African Americans (96 percent), Jews (77 percent), gays and lesbians (71 percent), first-time voters (68
percent), Latinos (67 percent), Asians (63 percent), voters under 30 (66
percent), union members (59 percent) and women (55 percent). But, in key
battleground states, the Democrat was taking one in 10 votes cast by
Republicans, one in five cast by conservatives, one in three cast by evangelical
Christians.

This "coalition of diverse majorities" is a line of exploration we also took in an IMDiversity editorial, Barack Obama, Diversity and the New Real America, providing our reflections on the relationship between unity and diversity in light of Obama's victory strategy.

But what is also clear is that with coalition-building around a central common goal come compromises. As Florida's Shame and the Limits of Change observes, Obama's coalition was enough to "turn Florida blue" on Tuesday, but his coattails appeared to be limited.

As far as Asian Americans are concerned, "'change' in Florida looks to have been a case of 'two steps forward, one step back,'" as the majority of voters in that actively opted for discrimination on a couple of ballot initatives. A mere 47.9% of the state's voters bothered to support the repeal of an outdated, unenforceable, "Yellow Peril-era" amendment to the state constitution, one of a series of Asian Land Laws created specifically to prohibit Asians from buying land or real estate. Let's say that again: A majority of voting Floridians actively decided to maintain the last last vestiges of the Asian land laws, enshrined in their constitution.

More election debriefing posts will follow as we work our way through the pile. Meanwhile, though, maybe rethink that planned vacation to Disneyworld this winter...

Follow-Up: AALDEF Asian Language Voter Help, Protection Today

In addition to the previous post from APIAVote, this last-minute re-announcement from AALDEF is worthy of noting, keeping with you, and sharing with limited-English friends and acquaintances. -- THE EDITORS

ASIAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE FUND TO POLL 15,000 ASIAN AMERICAN VOTERS
AND DOCUMENT VOTING PROBLEMS IN 11 STATES ON ELECTION DAY
* * *
Multilingual Voter Hotline: 800-966-5946
* * *

New York City...The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), a 34-year old national civil rights organization, announced that it will dispatch over 1,300 attorneys, law students and community volunteers to 11 states to document voter problems in the November 4th elections. AALDEF will also conduct a nonpartisan multilingual exit poll in 12 languages to get a snapshot of Asian American voting preferences, in light of the surge in newly-registered voters and expected high turnout in this Presidential election.

Margaret Fung, AALDEF executive director, said: “We want to ensure that all eligible Asian Americans can participate in the electoral process and have their votes counted in this critical Presidential election.”

She said that AALDEF plans to poll 15,000 Asian American voters on Election Day in 11 states with large Asian American populations: New York, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Louisiana and Washington, D.C.

POLL MONITORING
AALDEF will monitor over 130 poll sites for compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act. These polling places are in areas with large numbers of newly-registered Asian American voters; jurisdictions in which Asian-language assistance is provided; and sites where Asian Americans have reported voting barriers or intimidation in recent elections. Volunteer attorneys will check to see whether Asian-language voting assistance has been provided (such as ballots, interpreters, signs and voting materials), whether voter identification requirements are implemented in a non-discriminatory manner, and whether provisional ballots are offered to voters whose names are not in voter lists. Attorneys will also monitor settlements in recent lawsuits against New York, Boston, and Philadelphia for past violations of the Voting Rights Act.

Glenn D. Magpantay, AALDEF staff attorney, said, “In the 2006 midterm elections, Asian Americans had to overcome numerous obstacles to exercise their right to vote. AALDEF volunteers identified mistranslated ballots, interpreter shortages that led to Asian American voters being turned away, and poll workers who made hostile and racist remarks about Asian American voters. AALDEF will guard against the disenfranchisement of new citizens and limited English proficient voters.”

MULTILINGUAL EXIT POLL
AALDEF will conduct a nonpartisan exit poll of Asian American voters in 12 languages: Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Tagalog, Khmer, Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, and Gujarati. Voters will be asked their preferences in the Presidential and local races, top reasons for their choices, party affiliations, whether they are first-time voters, use of Asian-language voting assistance, and specific problems encountered at the polls. The AALDEF exit poll reveals vital information about Asian American voting patterns that is often overlooked in mainstream voter surveys. In the 2004 Presidential election, AALDEF polled 10,789 Asian American voters in 8 states--the largest poll of its kind in the nation. AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters in every major election since 1988, noting the steadily increasing numbers of new citizen and first-time voters.

MULTILINGUAL VOTER HOTLINE: 800-966-5946
Multilingual volunteers will be at poll sites to take complaints from voters about election irregularities and other barriers to voting. Voters can also report Election Day problems to AALDEF’s toll-free Election Day Hotline at 800-966-5946, or by e-mail at votingcomplaints@aaldef.org.

ELECTION PROTECTION WEB CAMPAIGN: http://www.aaldef.org/vote2008
AALDEF has launched a new web campaign with tools to encourage voter participation and to recruit volunteers across the country to serve as nonpartisan voting rights monitors in AALDEF's Asian American Election Protection Project. They include a new Asian American Election Protection homepage, http://www.aaldef.org/vote2008; videos on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/aaldef, and a new Facebook group: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23872961251. AALDEF's new election blog, http://aaldef.blogspot.com, will also be updated with reports of voter problems and the preliminary results of AALDEF's multilingual exit poll.

AALDEF voting rights coordinator Bryan Lee said: "AALDEF will be expanding all of these new web services with more information about our Asian American Election Protection project on Election Day and beyond."

AALDEF is partnering with 57 national and local groups to mobilize volunteer attorneys, law students, college students and community activists on Election Day:

National Co-Sponsors:
Asian Pacific Islander American Vote
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
National Korean Amer. Service and Educ. Consortium
North American South Asian Bar Association
Organization of Chinese Americans
South Asian Americans Leading Together

Legal Co-Sponsors:
AU Wash. College of Law, Human Rights Clinic - DC
Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago - IL
Asian American Bar Association of New York
Asian American Lawyers Association of MA
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Greater DC
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of PA
Asian Pacific American Lawyers Assoc. of NJ
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center – DC
Greater Boston Legal Services: Asian Outreach Unit
Indian American Bar Association of IL
Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater NY
South Asian Bar Association of DC
South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey
South Asian Bar Association of New York
South Asian Bar Association of Michigan
U. Penn. School of Law, Public Interest Office
Temple U. School of Law, Public Interest Office - PA

Local Co-Sponsors:
ACCESS - MI
Asian American LEAD - DC
Asian American Society of Central Virginia
Asian Community Development Corporation of Boston-MA
Asian Pacific American Agenda Coalition – MA
Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia - PA
Conference for Asian Pacific American Leadership – DC
Chinatown Voter Education Alliance – NY
Chinese American Voters Association – NY
Chinese Progressive Association – MA
Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia
Committee of 70 - PA
Filipino American Human Services Inc. – NY
Hunter College/CUNY, Asian American Studies Program
Korean American Coalition – DC
Korean American Voters’ Council of NY/NJ
Korean American Resource & Cultural Center - IL
Korean Community Service Center of Greater DC
Maryland Vietnamese American Mutual Association – MD
Mass VOTE - MA
National Association of Korean Americans - DC
One Lowell - MA
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation - PA
Sikh Coalition – NY
South Asian Youth Action! – NY
U. Maryland Asian American Studies Program
Vietnamese-American Initiative for Development - MD
Vietnamese American Mutual Association - MD
Vietnamese American Young Leaders Assoc. of New Orleans - LA
YKASEC:Empowering Korean American Communities–NY
# # #

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, is a national organization that
protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. By combining litigation, advocacy, education and
organizing. AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.

Last Word from APIAVote to Help Voting Today

The editors have been working on posting the IMDiversity.com Election Night Results and Protection section, whittling down the crazy array of info out there to compile live coverage streams, a shortlist of places to locate coverage, as well as a detailed section of resources (some ethnic- or language-specific) for identifying, reporting, and getting assistance confronting any voter intimidation, obstruction or other problems today.

Meanwhile, we are posting this succinct, helpful eleventh-hour reminder sheet from the noble folks at the non-patrisan, non-profit APIAVote.org.

FROM APIAVOTE:

As we count down the final hours of this historic election, our board members and staff of APIAVote are urging you to vote if you have not already voted. The action doesn't stop there, the following are three things you can do to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders tomorrow:

1.Bring your friends/family/colleagues with you to the polls.
2.Go through your phone book and call/text your family and friends to go to the polls.
3.Forward this email as a reminder to your family and friends.

Before you vote, keep in mind the following:

1.Double check your polling place before you vote: http://maps.google.com/vote.
2.You are allowed to call or bring a friend with you into the polling booth.
3.You may vote by provisional ballot if your name is not found on the voter records.
4.You may ask for assistance from a poll worker if you have any questions or problems.
5.If you have any problems voting, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

APIAVote's partners are in 14 states working hard for last-minute pushes to get the AAPI vote out as well as protect the voters through election monitoring and exit polling. Over the past several months, APIAVote partners have sent out educational mailers to 100,000 AAPI voters, have knocked on 10,000 AAPI household doors and counting, have had 85,000 live conversations, and robo-called 70,000 AAPI households.

APIAVote partners in conjunction with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) are at AAPI-heavy polling sites to make sure AAPIs are given a fair chance to vote. In addition, APIAVote and its partners are working with AALDEF conducting exit polls.

The election of our lifetime is happening TODAY, and we are asking you one more time to extend yourselves by urging your friends, neighbors, and colleague to invest in the future of our country by casting your ballots. Our children's futures stand on the outcome of today's election, and you can take part in determining this outcome.

Our coalition partners and organizers have energized our communities to get out the vote, and the thousands of voters we have contacted daily is a testament of our community's electoral growth. We are very excited about the results of hundreds of volunteers who were able to register voters, educate voters, and today will push hard to get our AAPI voters to the polls. Your active participation by voting TODAY will keep our AAPI community and especially our leaders accountable to the democratic process, which is both a right and a privilege that must be nurtured and protected.

Together, our vision, our voice, and our votes will make the difference. Remember, "no vote, no grumble."

-Vida Benavides, Executive Director on behalf of the APIAVote family