Sunday Read: AAPI communities need to step up in environmental movement

COURTESY SUNRISE MOVEMENT

Varshini Prakash is shown at a Sunrise Movement sit-in in Nancy Pelosi's office on Dec. 10, 2017. She is one of the young environmental activists changing the perception of the lack of involvement in the AAPI communities.

This past week demonstrations around the world demanded action to reverse climate change to prevent sea level rise, ecosystems collapsing and the decimation of species. Climate change knows no boundaries. It affects us all regardless of race or political affiliation. 

AAPI are learning to join their voices, -- and in some cases, lead the charge -- in this worldwide challenge. Nevertheless, the general perception of mainstream media is that climate change is not a high priority to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders even though that is not true. As we fight climate change, we also need to fight this invisibility and help redefine what it an American looks like.

For Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to become more visible in the environmental space, we need to challenge assumptions about what it means to be American and build a movement strengthened by solidarity. This article by one of the most visible AAPI members of the environmental movement was originally published  for the Natural Resources Defense Council blog during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month last May.

By Rhea Suh
Former President, Natural Resources Defense Council

I’ve spent a lot of my career thinking about how to build a better, stronger, more unified environmental movement. To consider this issue during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, however, is a tricky matter, because Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been largely invisible in this space—a void where a reflection should be.

RHEA SUH

This invisibility problem is one that we need to correct—and quickly. The proportion of Asian Americans in the United States grew by 72 percent between 2000 and 2015, making them the fastest-growing population in the United States. And not only does the group tend to hold strong opinions and values on the environment, but it is also growing as a voting bloc.

Further, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders suffer environmental injustices similar to those disproportionately borne by other people of color, despite the myth of the “model minority.” Studies show that Asian communities are being exposed to more harmful substances in the air (such as nickel, nitrate, and vanadium) than white people are. Other research illustrates that neighborhoods with high proportions of Chinese, Korean, and South Asian people have significantly higher cancer risk than do white populations. And the Laotian community in North Richmond, California, must deal with the dangers and health effects of living near a toxic oil refinery.

RELATED: 

• Indian American activist who organized US climate change demonstrations
• Pacific Islander teens present petition to United Nations
• Trump's biggest blunder: 'No' to climate change 

There are examples of Pacific Islander communities, too, being subjected to environmental injustice, including documented instances of sludge dumping on the Waianae Coast of Oahu and the failure of authorities to limit pesticide exposure in native Hawaiian communities.

More to the point, the general lack of research into these subjects—especially on the health of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders—speaks volumes about the degree to which they are invisible.

The first step in addressing this issue is to recognize that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders do not constitute one monolithic entity—that there are not only people with East Asian heritage, but also South Asians, Southeast Asians, and those with indigenous ancestors from Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific. When we can make room for more definitions of what it means to be an American, more diverse stories, nuances, and voices can surface.

It’s heartening that recently I’ve seen more faces in the youth climate movement that are rising up from this group, and I’ve witnessed brave acts of resistance. But it’s not nearly enough for a fair representation. We need more people—more of everyone, especially Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of all stripes—in the fight for environmental and climate justice.

At the same time, we also need them to be seen and heard. The responsibility for achieving this falls to those with the power and the privilege—be it organizations like NRDC or other communities within this diverse racial group—to lift up those in the margins and to bring more attention to their stories.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders contain multitudes—quite literally—and will begin to become more visible when we redefine what it means to be American, build strength in numbers, and link arms in solidarity. These changes will also help create a crucial, more unified front, one that’s necessary to face the toughest challenge of our time—addressing the related crises of climate change and biodiversity extinction. We can create the transformative change we need only if everyone can see themselves strongly reflected in the movement.

CORRECTION: Byline credit for the oped has been changed to indicate that Rhea Suh left her position as NRDC president in June, 2019.

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The Indian American activist who organized the US demonstrations against climate change

SIERRA CLUB

Boston resident Varshini Prakash led the US demonstrations urging leaders to act against climate change.

Millions of students -- from grade school to college -- skipped school Friday to join older environmental activists to demand the world's leaders to do something to stop climate change.

Students and activists marched through the streets of hundreds of cities, from Berlin to Mumbai, India, from Melbourne, Australia to New York City.

"It's amazing," Varshini Prakash told Al Jazeera of Friday's attendance in New York where 250,000 marched. "This tremendous amount exceeded expectations. I woke up this morning to see my Twitter feed flooded with images [from] around the world."

"Young people in more than 140 countries are taking to the streets to demand that our political leaders treat the climate crisis like the emergency that it is. Fossil fuel CEOs will stop at nothing to squeeze every last drop of money from the Earth—but our generation is mobilizing by the thousands and will strike again and again until we win," said Prakash, co-founder and executive director of Sunrise Movement in the United States.

The protests on Friday come ahead of a Youth Climate Summit on Saturday (Sept. 21) and a United Nations Climate Action Summit on Monday. Another strike is planned for Sept. 27.

Prakash is the Executive Director and co-founder of Sunrise, a movement of young people working to stop climate change, take back democracy from Big Oil, and elect leaders who will fight for the health and well-being of the protesters' generation. Under Prakash's leadership, Sunrise was one of the organizers of the demonstrations in the US.

Sunrise is part of a new generation of youth-led climate change movements that emerged out of the failure of the global political system to address the climate crisis. They’re the ones who made the Green New Deal a household term.

"The momentum from today shows that any candidate for the American presidency who wants to win our generation's votes must commit to making the Green New Deal the number-one priority of their administration," said Prakash, 26, who helped organize the strike in the United States.

SUNRISE MOVEMENT

She said "a new movement is emerging as political institutions fail," adding that leaders needed to "wake up and grow up, and take this seriously."

Other young people who took part in the demonstration reinforced Parkash's message.

“We’re not going to be the apathetic generation that watches as our world collapses,” said 15-year-old Helen Deng of San Jose, Calif., a Youth Climate Strike organizer who spoke at Friday’s rally at San Jose's City Hall.

Supriya Patel, partnerships coordinator of Earth Uprising in the United States told Common Dreams: "I strike for my family in India who are forced to breathe toxic air every day. I strike against the systems that cause them to be hit first and worst by the climate crisis. I strike because though the climate crisis will hit marginalized communities the most, corporate greed is universal."

In 2004, India was devastated with floods. That environmental disaster made an impressioin on Prakash.

“In a cultural and personal way, I began to feel the climate crisis a few years ago when there was this tremendous series of floods that absolutely devastated Chennai—my father’s home town—and Pondicherry," said Prakash.

"I was deeply affected, seeing the terrible levels of inundation that sank streets familiar to me from visits to Chennai—especially the images of mothers and children having to walk miles to find safety. Everything they were saying would not come about for another 10, 20, or 30 years was occurring right before our eyes in South India and in the United States as well.”

“My dad would tell me stories about his great-uncle who protested against the British and got scolded by his parents. Those are my roots,” said the Boston-born Prakash.

As an undergrad at the University of Massachusetts, she took on the fossil fuel industry by pushing her university to stop investing in coal, oil, and gas.

Varshini has been a leading voice for young Americans, including last fall when she helped lead a mass demonstration for the Green New Deal that went viral and put climate change on the map for Congress.

“Our message is clear: our movement is growing, and young people in the U.S. are coming together by the hundreds of thousands — millions — to make clear that if politicians want our generation’s support, they need to treat this crisis like the emergency that it is and fight for a Green New Deal.”

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SOTU guests make political statements

Environmental activist Varshini Prakash will hear Donald Trump's SOTU.

Updated: Feb. 5, 10:30 a.m. PDT to include Rep. TJ Cox.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is allowing Donald Trump to give his State of the Union address later today in front of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Supreme Court, Cabinet members and the lawmakers' guests.

Congress members are allowed to invite guests to the annual speech where presidents can cite their accomplishments and lay out their agenda for the coming year. Donald Trump is expected to use the occasion to defend his proposal to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and blame the Democrats for the government shutdown that he forced on federal workers.

The SOTU was originally scheduled on Jan. 28 but because the government was shut down, Pelosi cancelled the invitation to Trump because of security concerns.

Each member of Congress may bring a guest to the address, and many representatives choose guests who highlight key policy issues or stances that they support. Among today's guests will be a handful of Asian Americans, including an environmental activist, a recently furloughed government worker, a Rhodes scholar and the wife of a man being held in captivity in Vietnam.

Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. will bring Varshini Prakash, Executive Director and co-founder of Sunrise, a movement of young people working to stop climate change. Born in Massachusetts and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 25-year old Prakash has already spent years successfully organizing young people who are dedicated to ending the reign of Big Oil and King Coal in politics and elect leaders who will fight for the health and well-being of future generations.

“Varshini is a powerful voice of her generation, leading an historic movement of young people who recognize that climate change is the most important issue facing the planet and its leaders,” said  Markey. “As a fearless leader on climate change, Varshini’s efforts are progressive, passionate, and effective, and that is just what we need to implement a green New Deal for our country."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced that Sajid Shahriar, an employee of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who was furloughed during President Trump and Senate Republicans' 35-day-long federal government shutdown, will accompany her to the State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 5, 2019.

Sajid is a Massachusetts labor leader who serves as Executive Vice President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3258 and AFGE Vice President to the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. During the federal shutdown, 

Sajid did not receive a paycheck for 35 days and organized rallies in Boston with fellow federal workers, unions and community allies to urge Republican leaders to re-open the government. Sajid has devoted his career to fighting for fair housing, equal pay, the dignity of all work, and strong collective bargaining rights for workers across this country."It's time to send a message to ... Trump and Senate Republicans: federal and contract workers are the backbone of our economy and their livelihoods should never be used as pawns in Republican political games," said Warren.

The guest of Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., will be Helen Nguyen. Michael Phuong Minh Nguyen, Helen's husband, has been held in a detention center in Ho Chi Minh City for nearly seven months without any formal charges being brought, Porter said in a statement.

“The continued detention of an American citizen without charge is unacceptable,” Porter, who took office last month, said. “Michael Nguyen needs to return home as soon as possible to his family in Orange County.”

Since his detention, the Nguyens have lost their business, and the ordeal has created enormous stress for Helen Nguyen and their children, Porter said in her statement.

“She has essentially been a single mom with four school-aged daughters for nearly seven months, while she works two jobs as a nurse to support their family,” Porter said.

SCREEN CAPTURE

Rhodes scholar and DACA participant Jin Park.

Rep. Grace Meng is inviting South Korean immigrant Jin Park, 22, is a recent Harvard graduate and Define American Chapter Leader who won a Rhodes Scholarship for this fall at the University of Oxford in England. But since President Trump moved to end the DACA program, Park fears that he will not be permitted to re-enter the United States if he leaves the country to study at the school.

“Inviting Jin Park to Washington for the State of the Union will bring more attention to his plight and show firsthand how President Trump’s un-American immigration policies are shattering the lives of DREAMers,” said Meng. 

“In September 2017, ... Trump ended the DACA program and since then the lives of 700,000 young people across the country have hung in limbo. It is unconscionable that the President has put their hopes and dreams of a better future in jeopardy, and that includes Jin’s fate as well. It is shameful that Jin may have to abandon this coveted opportunity for a Rhodes Scholarship, an opportunity that he worked tirelessly to achieve.”

Freshman Rep. TJ Cox is inviting Raj Kaur, a federal law enforcement officer, single mother and cancer survivor, as his State of the Union guest tomorrow. Rep. Cox had previously highlighted the story of Raj – and 250 of her fellow law enforcement officers in Mendota who were forced to work without pay.. 

On medical leave from her cancer treatment, Raj had her pay disrupted during the shutdown. 

“People in Washington could learn a lot from the example of Raj Kaur and the 250 other law enforcement officers in Mendota who put their lives on the line everyday to protect us," said the Filipino American House member. "They deserve our respect, and they certainly deserve their paychecks. I’m honored to invite her to the State of the Union this year.”

“I’m proud to represent my fellow law enforcement officers, the community of cancer survivors and those who are still fighting, and working moms at the State of the Union," said Kaur. "Law enforcement is not simply a job – it’s a calling. But to do our jobs, we need government to function – and we need the assurances that we’ll be able to make rent every month, and receive our medical benefits on time.

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