I REALLY ENJOY listening to skillful speakers who turn it into an art. Wednesday night I heard three - perhaps four - speeches from the Democratic National Convention. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg masterly destroyed Donald Trump and his supposed business acumen and exposed his hypocrisy toward immigrant workers. Vice President Joe Biden did a fantastic job, occasionally returning to his Bidenisms as only he can, taking his message to the vast middle class of America, clothing his anger in rightousness. Middle-class Joe is Everyman, someone angry white males, Trump's supposed demographic, can relate to. Biden could have been a Knute Rockny firing up his team. Vice President nominee Tim Kaine surprised us and just as we were getting used to his loose, conversational style, he came on like gangbusters attacking, mocking Donald Trump. And when he effortlessly slipped into Spanish, I could see all the Latino voters moving towards the Democrats. But President Barack Obama was the clincher. He is a master orator, building up to a crescendo of emotion and then calming down, waiting until the cheering stopped and everybody was leaning forward to hear what he had to say, then speaking softly and then sweeping up to flourish, speaking louder to be heard over the applause. It was fun to watch and listen. What was he talking about? Sure he used the speech to attack Trump, but what stuck with me is he reminded us of all the good people who make up our country and the values they held. Trump is not America. Trump is not even the Republican Party. He made me proud to be an American. I'll savor his last remaining days in the White House.
Jason Tengco, the Clinton campaigns director of AAPI outreach, took this shot of the Democratic members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese/American woman to be elected to Congress. To see and hear the entire presentation, including a moving video tribute, click here. ***
CELEBRATING DIVERSITY: OUR AMERICA
THIS VIDEO, approved by the Democratic Party, is being shown during the convention to show a major difference between the Republican and Democratic political parties. While the Republicans want to keep people out, the Democrats want to include everyone "gay or straight, black or white ..." Oops. There's that darn obsolete black&white paradigm again.
The DNC showed the new video, “Our America,” which aired for the first time at the Democratic National Convention tonight. “Our America,” created by Henry R. Muñoz III, Robert Rodriguez and Emilio Estefan, features the true portrait of our country: a diverse nation where opportunities are endless and where every individual can thrive with no barriers.
While the message is clear and one that we wholeheartedly agree with, I do have a small quibble with it: There is only two (perhaps 3) identifiable Asian images in the video. The third image being a sign showing Chinese calligraphy.
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NOW that Hillary Clinton is officially the Democratic candidate for President of the U.S., you might be interested where she stands on issues that affect the AAPI community. Her campaign has put together a fact sheet on how she plans to break down barriers for the AAPI community.
The website says the AAPI community is standing with Hillary because they know she’s had a career-long record of defending their best interests: from advocating for the Children’s Health Insurance Program while she was First Lady to fighting for comprehensive immigration reform as a U.S. Senator to making the Asia-Pacific region a top foreign policy priority as Secretary of State. As President, Hillary has plans to break down barriers and improve the lives of AAPIs by:
Raising incomes and creating good-paying jobs
Providing quality and affordable education
Improving health and expanding access to health care
Protecting Social Security and Medicare
Keeping us safe here at home
Fighting for comprehensive immigration reform
Breaking down barriers and bringing AAPIs together
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BEYOND THE CONVENTION FLOOR
MAINSTREAM MEDIA is good at capturing the Big Moments of the political conventions but they usually don't show all the things that keep our AAPI delegates busy before the TV cameras start rolling for prime time.
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REP. MIKE HONDA HONORED BY LGBT CAUCUS WHILE IN PHILADELPHIA for the Democratic National Convention, Rep. Mike Honda (Silicon Valley) took time Tuesday (July 26) to accept an award from the Democratic National Comittee's LGBT Caucus.
Barbra Casbar Siperstein, a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Executive Committee, presented Honda with the Jane Fee Award, which is named after the first trans delegate to a Democratic National Convention.
The Silicon Valley representative spoke about his trans granddaughter Melissa after he accepted the award.
“When I see things like Pulse, the mowing down of people who are enjoying themselves in a nightclub, I think of Melissa,” he said, referring to his granddaughter. “I don’t want that to happen to her and I don’t want that to be in her future. I want that sense of security, safety for her as she moves through her life.” FILIPINO/AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN Virginia's Rep. Bobby Cortez Scott, who can claim to be the nation's first Filipino/American congressman, introduced Vice President nominee Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents Virginia in the U.S. Senate. Scott's Filipino roots go back to his grandfather on his mother's side. He also appeared with the other AAPI lawmakers when the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus took the stage earlier in the day. TIM KAINE'S FILIPINO/AMERICA AIDE DIES Last week, Joe Montano, a key aide to Vice President nominee Tim Kaine, died. He was looking forward to attending his first Democratic National Convention. He served as Kaine's Northern Virginia Regional Director. “My staff and I are deeply saddened by the death of our Northern Virginia Regional Director, Joe Montano.," said Kaine. "Joe was an outstanding representative of this office, enthusiastic servant of the people of Northern Virginia, and admired colleague by all who worked with him. We will remember him by his positive energy, tireless work ethic, and infectious smile. Our thoughts and prayers are with Joe’s family.”
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ASIAN/AMERICAN MOTHER SPEAKS
Christine Leinonen was comforted by two friends of her late son.
CHRISTINE LEINONEN, the mother of Orlando shooting victim Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, delivered a powerful and heartbreaking message for gun control at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
She told the audience that her paternal grandparents were born in one of the internment camps where American citizens of Japanese descent were detained during WWII.
“It takes about 5 minutes for a church bell to ring 49 times,” Leinonen said. “I know this because last month my son Christopher, his boyfriend Juan and 47 others were murdered at a club in Orlando.
Leinonen said she was a state trooper the day she gave birth to Christopher, and the hospital put her gun in a safe.
“I’m glad there was common sense gun legislation the day Christopher was born. But where was that common sense policy the day he died?” Leinonen said.
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CNN reporter Richard Liu moderated a panel to AAPI delegates on shaping the AAPI message to the media and general public.
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AAPI SPEAKERS FOR THURSDAY, JULY 28;
REP. TAMMY DUCKWORTH, who is campaigning for a U.S. Senate seat for Illinois, will have a major speaking slot (approximately in the 5:30-6 p.m.) If she wins the Senate, the Democrats might have a chance of taking control of the U.S. Senate and that's why the party is giving her a prominent spot.
Duckworth, who lost her legs and part of one arm when a grenade launcher hit her helicopter in Iraq, is the first Asian/American woman elected to Congress in Illinois, the first disabled woman elected to the U.S. House, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
KHIZR KHAN, an immigrant from Pakistan, will speak before the assembly. He'll talk about his son, war hero Captain Humayun S.M. Khan, who lost his life in Iraq.
Captain Khan, a University of Virginia graduate, was one of 14 American Muslims who gave their lives serving the United States during the ten years that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. “This is our country too,” Khan, 65, said in an interview. “This is not only Donald Trump’s country.
THE OTHER AAPI lawmaker to take the convention stage will be Rep. Ted Lieu, who will be speaking in prime time, 8 p.m.-10 p.m., about supporting the United States' military.
OH, MAN! Lump-in-the-throat time. Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus shared the stage at the Democratic National Convention today (July 27). But before they were introduced, a video that was both a tribute to their predecessors including Senators Patsy Mink and Daniel Inouye and Rep. Norman Mineta and a record of their achievements through the years. For a lot of Americans, this may be the first exposure they've had on Asian/American and Pacific Islander history. Rep. Judy Chu, California, had the best line, "We've came from being marginalize to becoming the margin of victory" in key swing states like Virginia, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Chu is the first Chinese/American woman elected to Congress. Several of them stood at the podium to say why they are supporting Hillary Clinton. Diversity and inclusion seems to be the theme this afternoon at the Philadelphia conclave. It's hard to believe but it was only 37 years ago before any AAPI lawmakers walked Washington's marbled halls. Today there are 13 representatives and one senator. "Today, we have a voice."
THE DEMOCRATIC National Convention (DNC) is a place where you wake up early to work, push it to your physical and intellectual limit all day and then stay up all night watching speeches, going to parties, or sometimes both. Every night you go to sleep late and wake up tired. It is exhausting, yet eye-opening all at once.
Though our team is close to twenty people, the work is close and collaborative. Each day, our irrepressibly cheerful leader Toby Chadhuri works hard to make sure that even though we all have a lot of work to do, we share a detail about our day, our night, or our personal lives. His motto is, “if you have to work with each other, you have to know one another.” He lives by this motto by taking the time to answer our questions no matter how big or small, a kindness rarely seen in any work space and least of all in the fast-paced world of politics.
This lesson has already proved to be incredibly valuable, particularly when we learned we lost a colleague that was supposed to work the Convention with us. Joe Montano, a veteran of many great campaigns and efforts to effect positive change in our society, passed away suddenly over the weekend. Though he had fought fiercely throughout his life for the Democrats, he had never experienced a Democratic National Convention before in his life. Philadelphia was set to be his first one.
Though I was not close to Joe, he was one of the first people who truly welcomed me to DC. I met him at a networking event for AAPIs and he agreed to meet at a local restaurant. There he answered all the boring, silly questions that many recent college grads in DC have about getting a job, getting involved in politics, and how to move from an internship into full-time employment. Even though he was much older than me, he spoke with youthful enthusiasm about his work bringing people together on campaigns, moving from battleground state to battleground state to fight for the Democratic cause. Every now and then, there was a glimmer in his eyes that paired with his frequent grin showed the raw energy and passion that fueled his work.
Like many 22-year olds, I took this opportunity for granted and we fell out of touch until we reconnected volunteering for Hillary a few months ago. I remember he exclaimed to me as he rushed out the door to another event, “we need to get out there and do more than phone bank, we have to knock doors and meet people so she can win Virginia!”
The news of Joe’s passing weighed heavily on all of the Media Team when we found out Monday morning. Just two weeks ago we had met at the DNC headquarters in DC and performed an exercise to get to know each other. The exercise consisted of writing down the ten lenses through which we see the world through on a piece of chart paper, and explaining why they were important to us. I learned that Joe grew up as a Navy brat, that he was very close with his siblings, and that he felt strongly about being a Virginian. These small details, no matter how insignificant in the moment mean so much to me now that I know he is gone.
Last night, Hillary made history. I rooted around the floor of the convention for half an hour looking for one of the few and precious signs passed around labeled “History” so I could cherish the moment. However, I do all this with the knowledge that history was only made because of the work of fighters like Joe. Individuals that rise to the challenge of creating the environment necessary to successfully nominate the first ever woman candidate of a major party for President of the United States. To know them is a gift, and to fight to complete their life’s work is a gift to their memory.
(Nick Lee of Chinese Americans for Hillary, will be sharing his thoughts all week with AsAmNews readers.)
