Washington D.C., May 22, 2020: The Asian American Action Fund (AAAFund), a national PAC dedicated to electing progressive Asian Americans to public office, is releasing a letter today calling on Vice President Joseph R. Biden, presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, to select an Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) woman as his running mate for the 2020 election.

Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM)! Despite the dark, uncertain times for our community, and for America broadly, we’re still happy to celebrate the month of May with all of you, our friends and allies. Togetherness, solidarity, and love (from a safe distance!) is more important than ever.

As COVID-19 maintains its grip on the nation, it has illuminated many of the inequities, prejudices, and structural problems long present in American society. Hate incidents and racism against Asian Americans come to mind, as does the xenophobic, anti-immigrant rhetoric from the GOP.

AAA Fund applauds Rep. Grace Meng of New York for her leadership in combating anti-Asian rhetoric and engaging 120 other Congressional co-sponsors, whose strong voices underscored the health and safety of every American in the midst of this national emergency.

As many of us sit self-quarantined from COVID-19, we have watched, with horror, the latest strain of Trump’s racism spread throughout the ranks of the GOP, and into communities across the nation.

The early states wrapped up with South Carolina on Saturday, and we’re sprinting headlong into Super Tuesday. If you are a Super Tuesday voter, make a plan now to vote tomorrow! This huge bundle of states will almost certainly decide the nominee, and, with huge swaths of AAPI voters at play, Super Tuesday presents candidates a crucial opportunity to make their pitches to our community.

With 2020 on the horizon, AAAFund is excited to celebrate its successes this past year and is more inspired than ever to hit the ground running in 2020 to build a collective, people-powered movement to win back the White House and U.S. Senate and continue to build progressive AANHPI representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As we hurtle headlong into 2020, let’s take a moment to reflect back on last year’s work and growth. This work is not easy, but that’s what makes it so important. So join us for a little retrospective, because there’s no place we’d rather be than right on the frontlines of the progressive movement.

I moved to Washington about two months ago to intern on the Hill now, but I can’t quite shake the feeling that I’m still settling in. It feels like only a couple weeks ago that I drove 14 hours from Chicago, where I’d spent the last five years with my nose mostly pressed to the grindstone of college and graduate school.