Commissioners Appointed to President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Commission will advise President Biden on policies affecting AANHPI communities.



On Monday, President Biden announced the appointment of 23 AAPI leaders as commissioners to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, which was established in May, in tandem with the White House Initiative on AANHPIs.

The Commission will advise the President on ways the public, private, and non-profit sectors can work together to advance equity and opportunity for every Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community. The Commission is also charged with advising the President on policies to address anti-Asian xenophobia and violence, ways to build capacity in AANHPI communities through federal grantmaking and policies to address the intersectional barriers that AANHPI women, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities face. The Commission will include civic leaders from across the country and will reflect the rich diversity of AANHPI communities across the United States.

The following individuals were appointed as Commissioners: Amy Agbayani, Teresita Batayola, Ajay Bhutoria, Luisa Blue, Kimberly Chang, Emily Chen, Daniel Dae Kim, Kerry Doi, Grace Huang, Victoria Huynh, Mia Ives-Rublee, Kamal Kalsi, Michelle Kauhane, Kevin Kim, Sarah Min, Simon Pang, Ai-jen Poo, Naheed Qureshi, Raynald Samoa, Sonal Shah, Smita Shah, Robert Underwood, and KaYing Yang.

More here: President Biden Announces Intent to Appoint Commissioners to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Full bios:

"Go to China if you want communism. Go to China."

And Other Things to Know From Angry Asian America.



Anti-quarantine Protester Clashes with People in Scrubs
Over the weekend in Denver, health care workers clashed with anti-lockdown protesters, defiantly standing in front of the cars of demonstrators who flocked to protest against the state's stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19. Yeah, I'm going to be siding with the health care workers on this one -- not the white lady hanging out the passenger side window screaming "Go to China!"

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"Coronavirus reveals the chinks of our health care armor"
Actual headline from the Marin Independent Journal. (It has since been changed.)

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"Unprepared"
In the wake of Donald Trump's campaign attack ad accusing Joe Biden of being "soft of China," the Biden campaign has taken a similar page out of the anti-Chinese propaganda playbook. The presumptive Democratic nominee unveiled a campaign ad -- filled with menacing images of Chinese soldiers -- claiming that "Trump rolled over for the Chinese." The path to November has been laid.

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Stage 13 Studio Creates Campaign To Support Asian Restaurants
Stage 13 content studio has launched #stage13supports, a campaign to highlight the Asian restaurants and small businesses featured in season 1 of its original unscripted Asian cuisine and travel series Family Style (I was a guest on Episode 8), and recommend ways people can order takeout or delivery. Join the Facebook group here.

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Dumbfoundead & Satica - "Inside/Outside"
Los Angeles rapper Dumbfoundead has released a two-song collaborative quarantine project titled Inside/Outside with singer Satica. The two tracks, produced by Big Banana, explore the themes of being locked "Inside" during this unique quarantine era, and the excitement of finally getting through it in "Outside." Check out the trippy visualizer for "Outside."

Gary Locke is Not a Chinese Official. Like Trump Gives a Shit.

And Other Things to Know From Angry Asian America.



New Trump Ad Suggests a Campaign Strategy Amid Crisis: Xenophobia

Right out of the racist playbook, right on time. Donald Trump has kicked off his general election advertising campaign with a xenophobic attack ad, calling Joe Biden soft on China and falsely suggesting that Gary Locke, the former governor of Washington and commerce secretary under Obama, is a Chinese official. (Locke was born and raised in Seattle.) Expect to see a lot more of this racist bullshit all the way to Election Day.

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Senate Democrats Call for Federal Action on Coronavirus Racism
A dozen Senate Democrats on Friday called on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to take "robust" action against the uptick in anti-Asian sentiment and attacks since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In a letter spearheaded by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii, lawmakers urged the chair of the commission, Catherine E. Lhamon, to issue guidance to federal agencies, like the Citizenship and Immigration Services or the State Department, on preventing and addressing anti-Asian racism and xenophobia.

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A post shared by red*hongyi 康怡 (@redhongyi) on Apr 7, 2020 at 5:31am PDT

"I Am Not a Virus"
Malaysian-born artist Red Hong Yi, who became known for creating pop culture portraits and installations from everyday objects, has been speaking out against anti-Asian attacks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with her latest series of works, boldly declaring: "I AM NOT A VIRUS."

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Nurse Sketches the Heroes and Fighters Inside a Coronavirus ICU
"Oh Young-jun traces the outlines of superheroes."

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Tigertail
The feature film Tigertail, from writer/director Alan Yang, is now on Netflix. In this multi-generational family drama, Tzi Ma stars as a man who reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

Oops. Joe Biden refers to Asia as "the Orient."

Vice President calls Singapore's prime minister "the wisest man in the Orient."



Come oooon. It's no secret that Joe Biden has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. So what has the Vice President done this time? This week, just hours after apologizing for using an anti-Semitic slur in a speech the previous day, Biden referred to Singapore's prime minister as "the wisest man in the Orient."

Joe Biden Refers to Asia as 'The Orient'

On Wednesday, while speaking in Iowa at the kickoff for the "Nuns on the Bus" tour, the Vice President recounted meeting Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister. While telling his story, in classic Biden fashion, he referred to Asia as, well, "the Orient." Aaaaand absolutely nobody is surprised.