Tuesday, November 28, 2017

80-20 PAC 2017-18 Membership Drive - Giving Tuesday








Giving Tuesday: Give to Others and Help All of Us!
Do you want political action to help our youth to gain equal access to top universities?
Do you want political action to fend off prejudice and discrimination?
Do you want political action to break the glass ceiling that is still over us?
We hope you do. 80-20 Political Action Committee is fighting for you, and shouldn't you give by joining us today?

Happy Giving Tuesday!


Yin-Long Qiu, Co-coordinator, yinlongqiu@gmail.com

Kathleen To, Co-coordinator, kathto0311@gmail.com


80-20 PAC

P.S. On last Friday (11/24), 80-20 PAC sent out a ballot for the 2017 officer & board election to all dues-paying PAC members. If you did not receive the ballot, please check your spam box, promotions box, or social box. Please vote!

Thursday, November 23, 2017

80-20 PAC 2017-18 Membership Drive Kicks Off

Double Our Membership in Six Months!  
 
80-20 PAC is at a historic time of growth and reform, thanks to Lt. Governor Dr. S. B. Woo's and many of his associates' two decades of tireless campaigning in and assiduous work with Asian American communities. With a new team in place and more young and energetic volunteers coming in, we are poised to develop into a leading Asian American political force. At a time when America is truly becoming a more perfect union, we Asian Americans must actively participate in the political processes of this democracy. 
 
Our current membership stands at slightly shy of 1,000. Historically, about 8,000 people joined our PAC over a 20-year period. Our goal is that in six months we will double our membership by 1) convincing you to join, 2) persuading former members to renew, and 3) asking current members to recruit new members. Think about this: how much can $35 or $50 buy over the holidays? Wouldn't it be better if you would invest into this steadily increasing stock called 80-20 PAC, for yourself, your family, and your future generations in this great country that we all call home! 
 
Please see some examples of our recent success storiesfighting discrimination against our youth by elite colleges, and engaging presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to urge them to help us win equal opportunities at federal judgeship appointments, at workplaces and in college admission. These were all the results of the work of volunteers, including many of you, over the last 20 years. Volunteerism and activism are some of the most fundamental values that have made America what it is today. 80-20 can only be as strong as you want her to be. Please join us. 
  
  
Happy Holidays! 

Yin-Long Qiu, Co-coordinator, yinlongqiu@gmail.com

Kathleen To, Co-coordinator, kathto0311@gmail.com

80-20 PAC

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Asian Americans win Elections to School Boards, Mayor's Office, Assembly and Senate

 80-20 is a national, nonpartisan, Political Action Committee dedicated to winning equal opportunity and justice for all Asian Americans
Asian Americans win elections in key NJ positions
It has been exactly one year since the last presidential election. In the past 12 months We have seen clearly what a huge difference it makes who gets elected to the powerful positions in the House, Senate and the White House. The political climate has changed so abruptly and so drastically, especially for the immigrant communities in 12 months. 

I have lived in central Jersey since 1965. I got involved in local and state politics when in 1987 I saw a gang of misguided white youth called Dot-busters harassing Indian men, women and children in Jersey City. Upendra Chivukula (former NJ Assemblyman) and I started NJ Chapter of "Indian American Forum for Political Education". We worked hard to free New Jersey of such racial bigotry and harassment. Over the span of three decades, we thought that gradually we had made so much progress that ugly incidents of stark racial hatred would never surface again in New Jersey.
  
But thirty years later, we were jolted to see the recurrence of such racial hatred in a central Jersey town. Two Asian Americans, Jerri Shi and Falguni Patel, were running for the School Board in Edison, the central Jersey town with the highest Asian American population. A week before the election, a flier was mailed to large sections of Edison Township proclaiming "MAKE EDISON GREAT AGAIN - Stop Jerri Shi & Falguni Patel from Taking Over our School Board. The Chinese and Indians are taking over our town! Chinese School! Indian School! Cricket Fields! Enough is Enough!" Passport size pictures of Jerri Shi and Falguni Patel were stamped "DEPORT".  

Click here to see the flyer: Racist campaign postcards in NJ

The incident did arouse the Asian American community. Nine candidates vied for three open seats on the Board. But, in such a tough election, both Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel won and will serve a three-year term on the School Board. 

Not only that, Asian Americans helped elect Vin Gopal to New Jersey Senate, Raj Mukherjee to Assembly and Ravinder Bhalla (an Indian American Sikh with full beard and turban) as Mayor of Hoboken, a large affluent and influential town across Hudson facing New York City and several council seats in towns across NJ. 

It shows that the general public is gradually accepting educated Indian Americans - even with foreign sounding, non-Christian names. Brown color and traditional garb is not as big a deterrent as it used to be. I expect that with these victories, more Asian Americans will get involved in school boards, town councils, and state level elections next year.  

While it is great that we have more and more Asian American elected officials, but make no mistake: none of them will stand up to the racial prejudice suffered by Asian American students in college admissions. Elected officials need votes from blacks, whites and Hispanics, so they cannot afford to antagonize the NAACP and other powerful organizations.   

Only 80-20 stands out as an Asian American organization that has taken the high road to rid America of racial bias in college admissions. If you want a level playing field for your children in college admissions, please support 80-20.  
Ved Chaudhary
Board Member & Life Member
80-20 National Asian American PAC

Thursday, November 02, 2017

Are you doing enough to empower yourself?

Are you doing enough to help yourself?
Asian Americans are the latest success story in this country of immigrants. Coming from different countries and with varying backgrounds, through our emphasis on education, hard work and plain old perseverance, many have reached a modicum of success. Most families can brag about a sibling or a close relative who is a doctor, lawyer, professor or an engineer in the high technology industry.
But, are you doing enough to help yourselves and your families? By all measures, Asian Americans have attained middle and upper middle-class successes, but how many of you can brag about a close relative who is a mover and shaker in a political, judicial, education, entertainment, arts, musical.... arena? Yes, we still have a long way to go before we can match the achievement of the other ethnic groups.
Emphasis on a good education is a good thing to start, but we need more than just a degree from a well-known university. In 1983, an American developmental psychologist Howard Gardener described 9 different types of intelligence. They include:


To attain leadership in this, our adopted land, we need to develop ourselves and our kids to be self-smart and people-smart, with leadership and political skills to be more persuasive to our peers and followers.
80-20 has done a lot and will be doing a lot more to level the playing field in the college admission process - read your newsletters. You can do a lot more to help yourselves and your children by cultivating your leadership and social skills.

In a future newsletter I hope to address why it is of utmost importance for Asian Americans to get involved in the political process – it is the key for us to break the glass ceiling and to sit at the table with the BIG BOYS!
Sincerely,

Joel Wong

3 terms on 80-20's National Board 
Point of Contact for Northern California 
Serving on several APA organizations, including APAPA




PS: 80-20 will elect its Officers and Board of Directors in November, to continue working for your empowerment. Please spend a few minutes to elect the next set of leaders. Watch your in-box: information for that election will follow soon. Become a member, so that you, too, can vote. 
Please join 80-20 PAC, or consider becoming a Life Member,
if you are already a member!
 80-20 is a national, nonpartisan, Political Action Committee dedicated to winning equal opportunity and justice for all Asian Americans