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Politics briefing: 'We are not drowning, we are fighting'

Also this week: 2021 election recap; Senate gears up for final vote on Sung; bill honoring Mineta faces hurdles.
Samoan activist Brianna Fruean speaks at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland on Nov. 1, 2021. Photo courtesy of Karwai Tang via COP26.
Samoan activist Brianna Fruean speaks at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland on Nov. 1, 2021. Photo courtesy of Karwai Tang via COP26.

? Good morning and welcome to The Yappie’s Asian American + Pacific Islander politics briefing! Our editorial director Shawna Chen appeared on this week’s episode of the podcast Politically Asian!, which you can stream here. Support our work by making a donation. send tips to [email protected], and apply to join our team.


The Big Story

? DEEP DIVE—PACIFIC ISLANDERS TAKE CENTER STAGE AT COP26: It was a sight to behold: Hundreds of thousands of protesters packed into Glasgow streets, voices echoing through the city, fists raised in the air.

Island flags soared above the crowd as Pacific Islanders and other Indigenous protesters led the climate justice march. American Samoa, Fiji, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Narau, and more—all were represented by demonstrators defiant in the face of empty promises.

The protesters were among dozens of Pacific Islanders who traveled to Glasgow to demand immediate and aggressive climate action both in and outside the UN COP26 climate summit, which spanned Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.

What’s at stake: Pacific Islanders, who were key to securing the Paris Agreement, raised the alarm about climate change long before the rest of the world caught on. In the Pacific, people are facing a rate of sea level rise two to three times the global average. 

Nations have had to prepare exit plans in anticipation of having to move some or all of their people. Most low-lying coral atoll islands will be uninhabitable by 2030, studies show. 

Despite thin representation at COP26, Pacific Islanders captured headlines around the world. Here are some snapshots…

  • Brianna Fruean, a 23-year-old climate advocate from Samoa, opened the first day of COP26 by telling leaders, “We are not drowning, we are fighting.”
  • She and other Pacific Islander youth are calling on leaders to transition from “extractive economies to regenerative economies that are recognized by Pacific cultures,” per the signed declaration.
  • Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe gave his address knee deep in seawater as he stood on what used to be dry land. The striking image, accompanied by the urgency of his speech, went viral on social media.
  • “As the first stewards of the land and ocean, … we hold the keys to solving the issues of militarization, climate change, and climate colonialism.”

Even though the world sidelined them for decades, Pacific Islanders have led the way on climate initiatives and continue to push for a bigger seat at the table.

  • Governments have also collaborated on initiatives like the Micronesia Challenge, which was established in 2006 to manage marine and terrestrial resources.

Don’t forget: Indigenous people make up less than 5% of the world's population but protect 80% of global biodiversity.

In their words: “[T]he climate-justice movement must listen more carefully to those most vulnerable to the ravages of climate change,” Chamoru human rights lawyer Julian Aguon wrote in an essay for The Atlantic ahead of COP26. 

  • “We have insights born not only of living in close harmony with the Earth but also of having survived so much already—the ravages of extractive industry, the experiments of nuclear powers. We have information vital to the project of recovering the planet’s life-support systems.”

On the Trail

?️ ELECTION RECAP—More than 150 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander candidates ran for office in the 2021 election cycle, according to the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies. And while new mayors of Asian descent dominated the headlines in BostonCincinnati, and Seattle, last Tuesday’s results also show a diverse array of Asian Americans made history in local races across the country. 

  • Massachusetts tapped Thu Nguyen as the first Southeast Asian American and nonbinary Worcester City councilmember. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Harvard senior and first-generation Taiwanese American Justin Tseng was left “a little bit speechless” after winning his race to serve on the Medford City Council.
  • The biggest victories came in New York City, NBC Asian America’s Claire Wang writes. Voters elevated a group of five first-time Asian American candidates to the city council—including South Asians Shahana Hanif and Shekar Krishnan, Korean Americans Julie Won and Linda Lee, and Sandra Ung, the daughter of Cambodian refugees.
  • In neighboring New Jersey, Democrats Shama Haider and Ellen Park became the first Asian American women elected to the state legislature, The Record’s Mary Chao writesIrene Shin (D) also prevailed in her campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates amid a GOP sweep of state offices.

On the Hill

? TRACKING THE $$$The Biden administration has begun handing out the $21 million promised to state, local, tribal, and community-based entities as part of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) tells Axios’ Shawna Chen. The funding is aimed at training law enforcement to better identify and report anti-AAPI hate.

⚖️ UPDATE—SENATE GEARS UP FOR FINAL VOTE ON SUNG: Vice President Kamala Harris cast a tie-breaking vote last Wednesday to advance Oregon attorney Jennifer Sung’s 9th Circuit nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, putting her on track for full Senate confirmation. Sung faced unanimous opposition from the panel’s Republicans, who cited a letter Sung signed in 2018 that opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, reports Bloomberg Law’Madison Alder. Sung apologized in September for creating an “impression that [she] would prejudge any case.”

BILL HONORING MINETA FACES HURDLES: Members of Congress are now weighing competing bills on how to name the Department of Transportation building in Washington D.C., Roll Call reports. The House passed a bill last week to rename the agency’s headquarters after former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta—the first Asian American to hold a Cabinet post. But a separate bill to rename the same building after William T. Coleman Jr., the first Black transportation secretary, cleared the Senate in April, Bloomberg notes.

? CAPAC TALKS HEALTH INEQUITIES WITH HHS: Fresh off meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland last month, AAPI lawmakers pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra for disaggregated health data on Nov. 3, according to the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. CAPAC members also discussed ways to bridge language gaps that pose a barrier to healthcare access.


AAPI Nation

? NUMBER OF THE WEEK—15: That’s the number of days NYC taxi drivers and their supporters went without food in a hunger strike for debt relief. The strike led to a deal with the city that will rescue thousands of drivers who were forced to take on crushing debt due to exploitative practices. The NYC taxi workers union is roughly 40% South Asian.

Here's what else is happening across America..

  • Amid concerns about racial profiling, the ACLU has filed an administrative complaint against the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Justice on behalf of Sherry Chen, a Chinese American scientist who was cleared of espionage-related charges in 2015, Axios’ Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian notes.
  • The Asian American Women’s Political Initiative is expanding its fellowship program to four key states over the next three years and will launch an advisory council to help build political representation of AAPI women.
  • New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed legislation to establish a 30-member commission charged with “developing policies to address [AAPIs’] social and economic needs.”

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