Asian Pacific American Heritage Month + Big Day of Giving telethon: Your AAPI Newsletter
It is Thursday, May 7, and this is The Sacramento Bee’s AAPI weekly newsletter.
Here’s a recap on the stories I recently covered and issues I’m following:
More than 80 organizations are participating in a national campaign to support nonprofits serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islander communities. The campaign, launched May 1, coincides with the 30th anniversary of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
AAPI Data, one of the organizers of the event, said in a news release that the coronavirus pandemic has created a crucial need to bolster philanthropy to support the work of such nonprofits. It said those groups need funds to counter a surge of hate crimes and economic struggles in the retail and business sectors linked to xenophobia arising from misinformation about the cause of the virus.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month commemorates the history, contributions and achievements of the AAPI community. The month of May was chosen because of two historic milestones: May 7, 1843, when the first Japanese immigrants landed in the U.S.; and May 10, 1869, when the first transcontinental railroad was completed with significant contributions from Chinese workers.
In other news
‘We decided to go big’: ACC Senior Services plans telethon for Big Day of Giving [The Sacramento Bee]
Pandemic is the second hard knock on this Fresno business community, leaders say [The Fresno Bee]
PBS docuseries ‘Asian Americans’ offers deep-dive into history, impact of fastest growing minority group in the U.S. [The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)]
California Asian Chamber of Commerce launches business triage center [ABC10]
Coronavirus: Asian Americans across Bay Area, U.S. report 1,500 racist incidents in a month [San Francisco Chronicle]
This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, NBC News honors the workers leading medical research, helping low-income and limited English proficiency groups, combating racism and more [NBC News]
Black Lawmakers make case for affirmative action in California [The Sacramento Observer]
Volunteers for Sikh nonprofit deliver food and supplies across L.A. amid pandemic [NBC News]
Immigrant ‘digital first responders’ provide vital services. They’re in a financial crisis. [The World]
Documentary looks at 1970s racial tension between Vietnamese, whites in Texas town [NBC News]
Column: ‘The fight is always somewhere in us’: Asian American history and a Little Tokyo combo meal [Los Angeles Times]
South Asian stars mourn death of Irrfan Khan [NBC News]
Are you working on the front lines in some way to help with the containment of the coronavirus, or are contributing to the health and well-being of our community?
Please reach out to me at tyu@sacbee.com. I’d love to do a story on you!
Finally, what stories would you like to read about? Please send me your tips and suggestions.
That’s it for this week’s newsletter. Thanks for reading, stay safe and hang in there!
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