Reviving an old tradition, APACE cordially invites you to a
Community Reception for all
API Elected and Appointed Officials
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Celebrating the last day of
API Heritage Month
5:30—7:30 pm
Nagomi Tea House
Appetizers sponsored by SEIU 775 & WA State Nurses Association
Please RSVP to akemiseattle[at]gmail.com
APACE…a sustained progressive APIA voice in Electoral politics.
$5 parking in the front lot between 5th & 6th on King St.
APACE will be participating in a coordinated Voter Registration Program called People of Color Vote.
We intend to make sure our new majority People of Color US Congressional District hears from us through our votes. Only half of all eligible Asian Pacific Americans are registered to vote. We plan to focus our voter contact on areas with high percentages of APIA’s and People of Color (according to the US Census) with door-to door canvassing and phonebanking to register new voters.
Our first step is to call all inactive voters to inform them how to activate their voter registration. Please donate a couple hours of your time to increase your community’s voting power!
POC Phone Bank | Tuesday, May 22nd | 5:30—8:00 p.m. | Win/Win (1402—3rd Avenue, Suite 201, Seattle)
Please RSVP to info@apace-wa.org by May 20th. Thank you!
For their work in ensuring that all communities of color are represented, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP) proudly recognizes George Cheung and Cherry Cayabyab.
They would like donations to go to APACE. APACE works for social and economic justice by transforming our democracy through the political empowerment of the broad API community, and by holding ourselves and our leaders accountable to APACE’s values.
APAP 2011 Unsung Heroes: Cherry Cayabyab and George Cheung
This blog post was written by APAP Founder and Board President, Curtis Chin.
Every ten years, upon the release of new US Census data, there’s a mad scramble in all fifty states to redraw Congressional and legislative districts. In the state of Washington, the fight was even more intense as the state gained a tenth Congressional seat. As much of the state’s population growth was driven by communities of color, which now represented 27% of the state’s total population, there was a big push to create the state’s first majority people of color district.
Leading this fight was United for Fair Representation, a multi-racial coalition of leaders and organizations serving communities of color across WA state. The coalition formed in 2011 to educate and encourage our communities of interest to be involved in the redistricting process as a means to achieve steps towards fair representation. Our coalition worked tirelessly to educate our communities of color about this important process. The coalition organized 600 supporters to attend hearings, 200 submitted testimonies in 18 redistricting forums across the state – from Bellingham, Spokane, Yakima, Tacoma and South Seattle – and 800 petitions were submitted advocating for our Unity Maps and the need for fair representation for communities of color.
Two leading voices in these efforts were George Cheung and Cherry Cayabyab who created and led the ad-hoc coalition about this issue. Cayabyab explained some of the issues to the local media:
As we weave around the busses and light rail in a rainstorm, Cayabyab says even a tiny majority matters. She hopes it’ll tell minority voters here that their turnout can make a difference.
Cayabyab: “There is opportunity to elect somebody that looks like them, and I think that’s exciting. And that gives hope. That gives promise that the issues that we face will be addressed.”
Liz Jones: “So you think this will encourage people to get out and vote more?”
Cayabyab: “Oh definitely.”
Cayabyab says key issues for this community include affordable housing, economic development and comprehensive immigration reform.
The bi-partisan Washington State Redistricting Commission agreed and on Jan. 1st, they submitted their final plan to the legislature including the state’s first majority people of color congressional district, rewarding for the coalition for their hard work.
Soon after, George, the executive director of Win-Win Network which housed the ad-hoc United for Fair Representation coalition, continued to push forward:
The work of our coalition, United for Fair Representation, is far from over. Engaging in the redistricting process is critical but not sufficient to ensure that everyone has fair representation. In the upcoming legislative session, we will be advocating for the passage of the WA State Voting Rights Act. This historic piece of legislation will be an important legal tool for ensuring fair representation for all”, said George Cheung, executive director at the Win Win Network.
Added fellow coalition member, Nate Miles:
Let the record show that in 2011 we stood up – Black, Brown, Asian Pacific Islander, Native Americans, more – and said in one unified voice that we will be represented, our voices will be heard, we will never again be taken for granted and we will fully participate in the electoral process”, said Nate Miles, Fair Representation coalition member. “Now is the best opportunity for people of color to register and turn out to vote. Electoral races in these majority-minority districts are especially where our votes will have an impact.
For their work in ensuring that all communities of color are represented, APAP proudly recognizes George Cheung and Cherry Cayabyab.
They would like donations to go to APACE. APACE works for social and economic justice by transforming our democracy through the political empowerment of the broad API community, and by holding ourselves and our leaders accountable to APACE’s values.
This post is part of APAP’s 2011 Unsung Heroes Project. Each blog post of our Unsung Heroes & Honorable Mentions features a personalized page for donations in our March Madness Fundraising Competition. Donations made on this page will not be tax deductible. The fundraising page that collects the highest total donations by April 1st will receive an additional prize from APAP.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2, 2012
Contact: Cherry Cayabyab
cherry@fairrepresentationwa.org
Minorities now majority in 9th congressional district and four legislative districts; including Latino majority in 15th legislative district
SEATTLE, Washington — WA minorities made great strides this decennial round of state redistricting. WA has gained its first majority-minority congressional district and Latino majority legislative district. The new 9th congressional district is just over one half minority at 50.3% and encompasses Southeast Seattle, Bellevue, North Tacoma and South King County. The final redistricting plan adopted on Jan 1st also establishes four majority-minority legislative districts – the 15th in Yakima county and 11th, 33rd and 37th in south King county.
WA’s gain of a new 10th congressional district can be attributed to the growth of minorities, now one fourth of the statewide population. The WA Redistricting Commission heard unprecedented testimony from communities of color throughout the state about the need for the new district lines to reflect the growth of communities of color over the last decade. United for Fair Representation, a coalition established to educate and encourage communities of color to be involved in the redistricting process, turned out 600 Unity Map supporters to almost all 18 redistricting forums around the state.
“Thanks to the commission for taking into account the changing demographics of the state, and for offering people of color in WA the opportunity for meaningful participation in the democratic process.“ said Celestino Gallegos, board member at Latino Community Fund.
The 15th legislative district will serve an unprecedented 54.6% Latino majority population. Just how much of a Latino majority the 15th should get was a point of contention among redistricting commissioners. In the end, a bipartisan compromise put the City of Yakima’s Latino populated southeast and north central neighborhoods in the 14th legislative district. “While we are disappointed that backroom politics resulted in separating Latinos in southeast Yakima city from those in the lower Yakima valley, we will continue to fight for fair representation for all Latinos in Yakima and will maximize political opportunities in our new Latino majority legislative district,” said Lorena Gonzalez, vice president of One America.
The coalition also requested that the 29th legislative district reflect Tacoma’s growing communities of color. With a 48% minority population, the 29th should become a majority-minority legislative district in the next decade. Commissioners did not create a Latino majority 9th legislative district in Tri-Cities as requested by advocates. They did, however, include Yakima and Tri-Cities together in the 4th Congressional District, which now holds a fast-growing minority population at 42.8%.
“The work of our coalition, United for Fair Representation, is far from over. Engaging in the redistricting process is critical but not sufficient to ensure that everyone has fair representation. In the upcoming legislative session, we will be advocating for the passage of the WA State Voting Rights Act. This historic piece of legislation will be an important legal tool for ensuring fair representation for all”, said George Cheung, executive director at the Win Win Network.
“Let the record show that in 2011 we stood up – Black, Brown, Asian Pacific Islander, Native Americans, more – and said in one unified voice that we will be represented, our voices will be heard, we will never again be taken for granted and we WILL fully participate in the electoral process”, said Nate Miles, Fair Representation coalition member. “Now is the best opportunity for people of color to register and turn out to vote. Electoral races in these majority-minority districts are especially where our votes will have an impact.”
Please find more information at www.fairrepresentationwa.org.
View final plan here.
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APACE ENDORSEMENTS FOR 2011 ELECTION
Mail your ballots in by November 8th! Your vote counts!
Bruce Harrell, Seattle City Council
Richard Mitchell, Position 6, King County Council
*******
Yes on 1163—common sense protections for our most vulnerable citizens.
No on 1125—Tim Eyman’s irresponsible measure that will limit our state’s transportation options for years to come.
No on 1183—Costco’s $22M repeat attempt to privatize our liquor system.
The re-launched APACE is now one-year old and in our first endorsement process, we chose to focus on local Seattle-area elections that were especially competitive. We looked at a number of candidates in different Seattle races. We first sent an extensive questionnaire and then interviewed candidates to evaluate their understanding of essential APIA and POC issues as well as their readiness to advocate for our communities. We set a high bar for our endorsements and very few people met it. Support our candidates by voting for them today!
RSVP to info@fairrepresentationwa.org!
APACE is recruiting volunteers to participate in an inactive voters phone bank. See info below and RSVP to Akemi Matsumoto at akemiseattle@gmail.com.
Tue, May 22: ACTIVATE Inactive Voters Phone Bank!
Over 140,000 voters in King County are currently “inactivated” and won’t receive a ballot this year. “Inactivated” voters most likely moved as ballots/voter pamphlets to their homes were returned to King County Elections.
Win/Win Network has cross-listed our voter file data with King County Elections’ “inactive” voters list. This phone bank will contact those who 1) have strong phones, 2) are between the ages of 18-29 and 3) who voted in either 2010 and/or 2011. This is a test phone bank. We will see how many phones are active and whether people are responsive and then decide whether to schedule more and/or to call people outside King County.
ACTIVATE Inactive Voters Phone Bank!
Tue, May 22
5:30pm-8pm
Win/Win Network – 1402 3rd Ave. S., Suite 201
Food/refreshments served!
Please RSVP to akemiseattle@gmail.com or cherry@winwinnetwork.org by Fri, May 18.
Kicking-off AAPI Heritage Month, Community Leaders to Urge Candidates to Address Important Issues, Citing New Research About the Nation’s Fastest Growing Racial Group
WASHINGTON – Pollster Celinda Lake will hold a news conference call on Tuesday afternoon to announce the results of a major new political poll of Asian American voters. The poll is the first to examine how the nation’s fastest growing racial group will cast their votes in this year’s elections and their views on a variety of important political issues.
Asian American Justice Center president Mee Moua and APIAVote interim executive director Christine Chen will join Lake on the call to urge candidates and lawmakers to address issues most important to AAPIs and discuss the power of AAPI voters in the 2012 elections.
Briefing will be held May 7th. Register with APIAVote for details of the briefing to be e-mailed to you.
APALA Seattle Every Vote Counts Kick Off
Saturday, April 14th 10am-4pm
ACRS 3639 Martin Luther King Junior SouthSeattle, WA 98144
In partnership with Asian PacificIslander Americans for Civic Engagement (APACE)
APALA’s civic engagement program, Every VoteCounts, returns in full swing in Seattle on Saturday, April 14th! The effort isspearheaded by the APALA Seattle Chapter. The program will focus on registeringnew Asian Pacific American voters and forum discussing issues impacting theAsian Pacific American community. The event will feature community keynotespeakers, voter registration training, activities, and food.
The program will bring union members, immigrantworkers, community advocates and students of all ages together to ensure thatour communities are heard!
APALA believes that a mobilized Asian Pacific American electorate is astrategic partner and supporter of the labor movement, and vice versa. In 2000, APALA established the EveryVote Counts program to train Asian Pacific American labor and community leadersto become active participants in the political process. Every Vote Counts furthers the missionof APALA by supporting Asian Pacific American involvement in nonpartisanactivities in local, statewide and national elections. APALA aims to expand the electorate bytargeting infrequent Asian Pacific American voters through voter registration,voter education, voter mobilization and voter protection efforts. For moreinformation, contact Seattle Chapter President Tracy Lai.
“Voterturn out for the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has not beenvery strong in the past years and coming from a culture where citizens rightsto vote were taken away, i have become a strong advocate to educate mycommunity about the importance of civic engagement. I will be bringing my mom,dad, and friends to this event and I hope you all will too!”
- Sophia Trinh, Seattle representativeof APALA’s Young Leaders Council
To RSVP or if you are interested in volunteering, pleasecontact Sophia Trinh at 425-269-5285 or RSVP via Facebook.
Website: http://www.apalanet.org/
Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/apalanational
APIAVote, APACE Education Fund, and Win/Win Network invite you to:
VOTER REGISTRATION TRAINING
Voters in Washington will have an opportunity to engage in a number of high-level elections this year. Candidates for President, US Senate, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General as well as a number of State Senate and House races will be on ballots in November. And marriage equality and marijuana legalization are likely to appear as ballot measures.
Non-profit organizations interested in increasing civic engagement can take advantage of this opportunity by engaging in voter registration drives.
What: Voter Registration Training
Learn about voter registration laws, non-profit regulations, effective recruitment of volunteers, best practices for capturing data and more.
Who: Former Minnesota State Senator, Mee Moua, will join us to share her story as the first Hmong American elected to a state legislature.
When: February 26th from 11-3:30 pm
Where: 2100 Building, 2100 24th Avenue S, Seattle, Wa 98144
RSVP to snason@winwinnetwork.org and include any dietary restrictions
Co-hosted by:
APALA, Asian Counseling and Referral Service, Black PAC, El Centro de la Raza, Entre Hermanos, Interim Community Development Association, Latino Community Fund of Washington, Latino PAC of Washington, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, OneAmerica, Planned Parenthood Votes NW, Statewide Poverty Action Network, Tacoma Urban League, the Washington Bus, Washington CAN!, and WASHPIRG
*APIA Vote and Win/Win Network are 501©(3) nonpartisan nonprofit organizations. The Voter Registration Training will explain the basics of nonpartisan voter registration, offering tips on how to remain nonpartisan throughout the process.
Monday, January 30
6pm-8pm
School of Law Annex, Seattle University
1215 E. Columbia St., Seattle, WA
View Map · Get Directions
RSVP now to info@fairrepresentationwa.org or via Facebook! This is a free community event.
People of color have made significant political gains through the redistricting process. Learn about…
- WA’s first people of color majority Congressional District (the 9th CD).
- Four people of color majority legislative districts; including WA’s first Latino majority legislative district in Yakima (15th LD).
- We will also launch our legislative campaign for the WA Voting Rights Act of 2012. Learn more about this important legislation and how to support its passage.
Hosts: Seattle U Law, Fred Korematsu Center for Law & Equality and United for Fair Representation Coalition: Win/Win Network, Asian Pacific Americans for Civic Empowerment (APACE), Latina/o Bar Association of WA, Black PAC, Tacoma Black Collective, One America, Latino Community Fund, Latino PAC
RSVP now to info@fairrepresentationwa.org or via Facebook!
http://fairrepresentationwa.org/
http://fairrepresentationwa.org/wvra/
APACE Sponsored POC Meet & Greet with Local Candidates
Board Members of APACE & APIA Vote
