Hollywood creatives behind energetic video rebranding AAPI activism

HAPA MAGAZINE

Represent Us Now brought together some of the biggest AAPI names in Hollywood.

The names are familiar to Hollywood fans -- Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, Chloe Bennet, Steven Yeun, John Cho and Lana Condor, among others. The image of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is new.

The small but increasingly vocal Hollywood community of AAPI artists working in front and behind the camera are teaming up with political activists to promote AAPI pride and present the AAPI community in a more contemporary image that encourages  political activism.  

After Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, Agents of SHIELD actress Chloe Bennet teamed up with Brad Jenkins who served as associate director in the office of public engagement for the White House during President Obama’s administration.

Not long after the 2016 election, Agents of SHIELD actress Chloe Bennet Brad Jenkins, a Korean American who served as associate director in the office of public engagement for the White House during President Obama’s administration. They launched RUN AAPI (Represent Us Now) in 2017 as a way to help encourage more civic engagement from their peers.

For Bennet, a Chinese American, the campaign goes beyond politics. “We need to rebrand what it means to be Asian-American. We need to make sure we instill pride in our community,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “You might not be represented yet but look at what we’re doing so far. Let’s bring it all together to bring pride in our community.”

Because this is an election year, RUN launched #TheNew to draw in younger AAPI into the political world.

"Far too often, politicians and the media overlook young Asian American power and influence," said fellow RUN co-founder Brad Jenkins. "We are the fastest growing demographic in the country and yet, we are rarely given the room to share the realities we face in our day-to-day lives. Media, culture, advertising and television all go hand-in-hand with politics, and it's time we harness our collective power to get out the vote in our communities and make sure the issues facing young Asian Americans are addressed."

SCREEN CAPTURE / VIMEO

Chloe Bennet spoke at a gathering of Recognize Us Now (RUN).

#TheNew's political strategy and mobilization efforts are focused on Texas and Georgia; two new battleground states given the rising AAPI electorate. The following AAPI organizations supported the launch of #TheNew in solidarity: AAPI Victory Fund, AAPI Progressive Action, Asian Americans Rising, APALA, the Asian American Engagement Fund, the Asian American Action Fund, We Are Sikhs, National Sikh Campaign, and local community organizers and activists on the ground.

The campaign launched with a star-studded video, which was shared by #TheNew supporters Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, Cory Booker, Ted Lieu, Nathan Chen, Ross Butler, Ai-Jen Poo, Alexander Wang, Jenna Ushkowitz, Harry Shum Jr, Joel Kim, Ella Jay Basco, Steven Yeun, Joe Zee, Prabal Gurung, Tamlyn Tomita, Lou Diamond Phillips, Brenda Song and more.

The video (below) is youthful and energetic, a far cry from the quiet and reticent community stereotype often conveyed in popular and mainstream media.

"We are your next-door neighbors. We are your heartthrobs. We are your doctors," Bennet told Clio on The Muse when describing the video's message. "We are American, all of us. We might not look it to you, but this is what the new normal in America is going to look like. I'm speaking for the Hollywood side, but I think it's also relevant on the D.C. side. We're just not represented on screen, and in an age when we're all stuck inside watching Netflix till our eyes bleed, seeing ourselves represented on screen shows you what's possible. It moves into a very tactical, winnable opportunity. You just have to tell people they matter."

As part of the campaign, (RUN) partnered with the National AAPI Power Fund and the National Education Association to commission the first-ever political opinion poll focused exclusively on young Asian Americans, 18-34 years old.

Some of the report's findings:

• 43% of registered voters are still uncertain on whether they will vote in November
• The most important issue for voter turnout is responding to COVID
• 83% prioritize containing COVID spread over reopening the economy now
• 1 in 3 report being accused of spreading coronavirus
• Young AAPI voters strongly support The Green New Deal, Black Lives Matter, and Medicare For All

“For us, Chloe and I believe a fundamental thing we want to change is we want to be a lot more out front with why our community is so important and why you need to pay attention to us," Jenkins tells The Hollywood Reporter. "You have to make the case for politicians to pay attention to our story and why we matter.”

"Celebrities are one thing," Jenkins tells Clio. "Thought leaders, influencers in their fields—whether it's journalism or advocacy or politics—they all share this feeling of being on the outside looking in at the American experience. We want to change that."