On June 4, 2021, the Membership Committee hosted their weekly virtual Membership Mixer, with 13 participants in attendance.
The mixer covered various topics on the minds of the attendees: recent movies they watched, cats, transitioning to in-person events, New York, and Asian hate crimes.
Participants also expressed their excitement about the transition to in-person events and meeting new AABANY members.
We are winding down our weekly mixers, and our last online mixer will be June 25, 2021. Please be sure to help us say goodbye to online events and soon to re-open in person!
Mixers start at 6:30pm on Friday and the main event ends at 7:30pm but many often stay on after 7:30pm for smaller breakout groups.
Registration for the NAPABA Virtual In-House Counsel Summit is now open! Designed to help public company senior and experienced attorneys make the jump into the C-Suite, participants will receive tailored guidance and training based on where they are in their career.
Registration for this event is complimentary and space is limited so register now! Registration will close at 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 25.
AABANY, in partnership with the Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), is pleased to announce the Turning the Tide (T3) Project. Following the February 10, 2021 publication of AABANY and Paul, Weiss’ report A Rising Tide of Hate and Violence against Asian Americans in New York During COVID-19: Impact, Causes, Solutions, AABANY established an Anti-Asian Violence Task Force to advance the proposals outlined in the report and consider other solutions to address the surge of anti-Asian hate and violence in the community. The Task Force advances the T3 project, which aims to incorporate a three-pronged approach encompassing education and communication, advocacy, and research, to address anti-Asian hate and violence.
Please stand together with AABANY and AALFNY in turning the tide against anti-Asian hate and violence. We are now accepting donations to support the T3 Project. Donations can be made to AALFNY and will be tax deductible to the extent permitted by applicable law.
For more details about the T3 Project, please click here.
AABANY Student Leader Jenny Park was recently featured in Columbia Law School’s May 27 article titled “Student Spotlight: Jenny Park ’21 on Community Advocacy, Corporate Law, and What’s Next.” In the article, Jenny shared her journey to law school, her extracurriculars as a law student, and her post-graduation plans.
Among the many extracurricular activities she participated in, Jenny partnered with AABANY twice to assist members of the Asian American community. First, she was a COVID-19 task force leader in the summer of 2020, where she helped provide pro bono resources to the community along with other task force members. As a 2020-2021 Davis Polk Leadership fellow, she partnered with AABANY again in 2021 through a spring break caravan. Jenny and other Columbia Law students updated and translated AABANY’s COVID-19 webpages; participated in client consultations with volunteer attorneys; and researched New York laws. Speaking about her post-graduation plans, Jenny said: “After graduation, I will (hopefully!) pass the bar and begin working at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in New York. Recently, I was also offered a vice chair position with AABANY’s Young Lawyers Committee. I hope to continue serving as a mentor and assisting young professionals as I grow in my career. As a 1L and throughout law school, I also worked with the Esports Bar Association, assisting to host an annual conference, drafting and distributing a diversity and inclusion toolkit, and more. I am currently serving on the diversity committee and plan to remain involved as esports continue to grow.”
To read the full article, click here. To read AABANY’s blog post on the CLS-AABANY Pro-Bono Caravan, click here.
Please join AABANY in congratulating Jenny on her graduation from Columbia Law School and thanking her for all the hard work she has done for AABANY!
On May 25, the Asian American Judges of the Eastern District of New York celebrated Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a presentation titled “Photographic Justice: The Retelling of Asian American History in the United States.” Through the photography of Corky Lee, the presentation chronicled Asian Americans’ involvement in U.S. history, which has mostly been omitted from American history books.
The presentation began with a retelling of the Golden Spike ceremony in 1869 that celebrated the completion of the transcontinental railroad. While the majority of the railroad construction workforce was comprised of Chinese immigrants, the photograph taken to commemorate the railroad completion did not include any of the Chinese workers. At the 100-year anniversary of the ceremony in 1969, speakers still ignored the contribution of the Chinese workers. Corky Lee, a renowned photographer, believed in photographic justice and in 2014, he gathered the descendants of the Chinese workers to reenact the Golden Spike ceremony photograph. He said, “Some people would say we are reclaiming Chinese American history. In actuality, we’re reclaiming American history and the Chinese contribution is part and parcel of that.”
The presentation continued by recognizing the contributions of Asian Americans to the American war effort during World War 2, many of whom fought on battlefields overseas. These individuals include the decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Philippine Scouts, and WASP aviators Maggie Gee and Hazel Ying Lee. The third part of the presentation focused on the numerous laws passed in U.S. history that prohibited Asians from immigrating to America such as the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement. For years, immigration and access to citizenship was based on race. That situation remained unchanged until 1965 when the Immigration and Nationality Act finally abolished national origin, race, and ancestry as basis for immigration to the U.S. This resulted in increased immigration from China, India, Japan, and the Philippines.
The final segments of the presentation focused on the Asian American Movement and how Asian Americans have come together to address racism and inequality. Addressing the anti-Asian hate and violence occurring today, the presentation concluded that “the current climate of violence against Asian Americans must not stand in the way of Asian Americans being seen, being heard, and being respected in America.”
Thank you to Magistrate Judge Sanket J. Bulsara, District Judge Pam Chen, Magistrate Judge James Cho, District Judge Diane Gujarati, Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo, and District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto for the important presentation on Asian American history and for celebrating AAPI Heritage Month. To view the full presentation, click here.
On May 28, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and delivering on the President’s commitment to reinstate and reinvigorate this historic Initiative.
The new Initiative is charged with driving an ambitious, whole-of-government agenda to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities by:
Helping to coordinate a comprehensive Federal response to the rise in acts of anti-Asian bias and violence
Addressing the systemic lack of disaggregated data on AA and NHPI communities in Federal statistical systems
Expanding language access and language assistance programs for AA and NHPI individuals across Federal programs
Strengthening economic security and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities by empowering AA and NHPI entrepreneurs, building new workforce training opportunities, and promoting workplaces that are free from harassment against AA and NHPI workers
Addressing the concentration of poverty experienced in many AA and NHPI communities
Addressing disparities in educational outcomes for AA and NHPI students of all ages, and addressing bullying, harassment, and discrimination in our Nation’s schools
Advancing climate and environmental justice for AA and NHPI communities who are particularly impacted by the climate crisis and are overburdened by environmental degradation
Promoting inclusion and belonging for all AA and NHPI communities by strengthening public awareness and education about AA and NHPI communities, cultures, and traditions
Empowering AA and NHPI communities to be civically engaged, including through electoral participation
Building a Federal workforce where AA and NHPI public servants are leaders at the most senior levels of our government
Ensuring that AA and NHPI communities are empowered and equitably served by Federal funding, grants, and contracts
To read The White House’s full fact sheet, click here.
WASHINGTON – Today, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued guidance to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on “Improving the Department’s Efforts to Combat Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents.” The guidance implements the DOJ’s obligations under the newly enacted COVID-19 Hate Crimes law.
As part of today’s announcement, Attorney General Garland stated that the DOJ will, amongst other activities:
Designate the Chief of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section to expedite review of hate crimes allegations brought to light during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Appoint a Deputy Associate Attorney General to serve as coordinator for DOJ’s anti-hate crime and hate incident resources. That coordinator will also be a central hub for law enforcement and community stakeholders on relevant training and outreach materials.
Encourage all U.S. Attorneys Offices to designate both a criminal and civil Assistant U.S. Attorney to serve as Civil Rights Coordinators in every judicial district.
Create district alliances of between federal, state, and local law enforcement, against hate, where feasible.
Establish a position of Language Access Coordinator for the Department.
Language equity and access has been a priority of NAPABA for decades. NAPABA encourages the Coordinator to draw on NAPABA’s Language Access Project and its groundbreaking report on linguistic equity for Asian Pacific Americans navigating the justice system.
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) in the largest Asian Pacific American membership organization representing the interests of approximately 50,000 legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.
Glenn Magpantay, Co-Chair of AABANY’s LGBT Committee and Co-Founder and Former Executive Director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), was recently featured in a May 20 article in the Philadelphia Gay News. Titled “Queer Asians speak out against discrimination and injustice,” the article featured four leaders in the LGBT Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, who each discussed the issues individuals who identify as both AAPI and LGBT have to face.
In the article, Glenn spoke about how queer AAPI people are often overlooked. There is a lack of existing queer Asian groups in cities such as Miami and Orlando, and even within the greater LGBT community, AAPIs are not always represented in the public policy agendas of some LGBT organizations. Speaking about the anti-Asian hate and violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, Glenn stated: “[G]ay Asians live at the intersection of a dual identity…The haters — the people who are harassing us, people who yell at us for being coronavirus carriers — they don’t discriminate on whether you’re gay Asian, a trans-Asian, a Korean Asian. It doesn’t matter to them. You just look foreign. You look like you have the COVID virus.” He added: “Our identities as queer Asians have been flattened by the media. How many of [these hate-crime victims] were gay, queer and trans?”
AABANY Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Vice Chair Olympia Moy and her partner Elizabeth Ingriselli’s wedding story was featured in an April 9, 2021 article in The New York Times titled “They Didn’t Need a Dating App After All.”
Their story began in 2016 when Olympia came across Elizabeth’s profile on the dating app Coffee Meets Bagel and became intrigued by their similar interests. Both of them had graduated from Princeton and both were interested in pursuing a career in law. Weeks later, after Olympia received no response to the “like” she left on Elizabeth’s profile, they both happened to attend the same Pride Month mixer in Manhattan. Instead of avoiding Elizabeth, Olympia struck a conversation with her and learned that Elizabeth had not rejected her on the dating app, but rather had not seen the “like.” They quickly became friends and after a few months of meeting, they went on their first date. On March 7, 2021, Olympia and Elizabeth held a small wedding ceremony at an outdoor dining structure in Chinatown within the Covid-19 guidelines. They plan to hold a second, larger celebration at the Princeton University Chapel next year.
Please join AABANY in congratulating Olympia and Elizabeth on their marriage! To read their full wedding story, please click here.
In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Asian Columbia Alumni Association (ACAA) is featuring prominent Asian alums and honoring their contributions to Asian and Pacific Islander communities in North America. In the May 2021 Newsletter, ACAA featured AABANY Board Member and Real Estate Committee Co-Chair Margaret Ling (Barnard College ’78) for her actions in speaking up against anti-Asian hate crimes and educating others to respect the AAPI community. In the feature, Margaret is quoted:
“Since 2020, Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have been intensely affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, and recently the Atlanta, Georgia killings. Throughout this time, the AAPI community has been faced with racism, xenophobia and anti-Asian hate crimes and violence. As an AAPI attorney and Fourth Generation American Born Chinese, I have been active in speaking up and speaking out with other Asian and ally organizations to educate others to respect the AAPI community and afford all of us equity, fairness and just treatment under the law. We are all Americans and are rooted in our immigrant and cultural heritages which make us stronger together.”
Please join AABANY in congratulating Margaret on her recognition by the Asian Columbia Alumni Association for her work in supporting the AAPI community!
