America, I share with you the official launch of 18MilliongRising.org, a new campaign/website to promote Asian Pacific Islander American civic engagement by leveraging the power of technology and social media. Because you know we're all up in that space.
18 million rising? Because there are approximately 18 million of us APIAs in the United States, we're growing faster than any other racial group, and we could be a political force to be reckoned with... if we could just get off our asses and get engaged. That's what 18MR is trying to do:
There are approximately 18 million Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, representing nearly 6% of the total population and growing faster than any other racial group (!) Despite that, Asian Americans remain one of the most politically under–organized, under–engaged, and under–represented constituencies: only 55% of Asian American citizens of voting age are registered to vote -- the lowest rate of all races.It starts with you. To register to vote, get started by clicking on the handy 18MR widget on the right there. For more information, and to find out how you can get involved, check out 18MillionRising.org, and get connected on Facebook and Twitter.
18MillionRising.org was founded by Jee Kim and Ian Inaba (Citizen Engagement Lab) to promote APIA civic engagement by leveraging the power of technology and social media. 18MillionRising.org (18MR) is a campaign composed of a broad coalition of partners, ranging from community based organizations and print magazines to Asian American blogs and YouTube channels. Throughout the 2012 election cycle, 18MR will promote online voter registration tools, run social media-fueled civic engagement campaigns and contests, and provide up–to–date information and analysis on all things political that Asian (and all!) Americans should know about.