AAPI Charitable Giving
Inspired by Vietnamese coffee
It's... already December.
With deep uncertainty,
Jamie and Melinda
You may have missed...
๐ฌ It's no secret that Asian American voters have often the lowest turnout rates nationally in any election. But, in Georgia this year, the AAPI turnout in the general election increased by 91%. With such a small margin in the state, large AAPI turnout (partially a result of mass voter registration efforts) in the suburban counties no doubt helped put Biden over the top. Asian American voters in these areas favored Biden 2 to 1, but especially with the two Senate special elections coming up, it's important to note that there is incredible variety in the political views and priorities among AAPI voters.
๐ Take a look at the oldest, continuously-running Chinese restaurant in the US. Located in Butte, Montana, the Pekin Noodle Parlor opened in 1911 and has been family-run for 3 generations. TIL: A loophole for restaurant workers in the Chinese Exclusion Act allowed immigrants in the early 1900s to open and work in the food industry.
๐ถ Although I'm personally tired of the song "Dynamite" by BTS, it did get nominated for best duo/group performance for the Grammys 2021. Apparently, **3%** of all nominees are Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander. (Rest of breakdown: >50% white, 21% Black/African American, 8% Hispanic, 5% "other", and 13% did not disclose)
โ Vietnamese coffee makes me literally shake, but it is so so good. Did you know that Vietnam is the second-largest producer of coffee beans? I didn't until I read this article about Vietnamese coffee culture (it also has recommendations for coffee shops ๐ต)
๐ง I've been enjoying some of the short end of 2020 episodes from the **Bamboo & Glass podcast (**I went to a cute Zoom panel of Asian American podcasters, and they were one of them!)
๐ฐA REAL chef! David Chang, the founder of Momofuku, won "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" will be donating his winnings to Southern Smoke, which helps small biz owners and food service workers with debt/other crises.
AAPI Charitable Giving STATS
โฅ๏ธ Yesterday was #GivingTuesday, a national campaign founded in 2012 to promote giving to non-profits. Reappropriate.co made an awesome list of the AAPI-focused organizations here (including Asian American Feminist Collective, 18 Million Rising, APIAVote, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, and lots more).
This made me wonder about Asians/Asian Americans and philanthropy... (remember when the founders of Panda Express donated $2M to provide PPE and $2M to Feeding America...) Philanthropy is really complex and would warrant a really long discussion, but I just wanted to share some things that AAPI Data's research revealed on this (published in September 2020).
Re: philanthropic institutions GIVING to AAPI causes:
it's... quite lacking. Apparently, between 2005 and 2014, the proportion of foundation dollars targeted at AAPI was 0.26%. 0.26%!!!! Only a total of 8.5% was dedicated to communities of color overall. Sigh.
In a survey to a few hundred professionals in philanthropy within the network of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), the below revealed the priorities of the grantmaking foundations they are a part of:
In this survey, they also asked about their grantmaking organizations' priorities vs. their perception of top issues facing AAPIs... which was interesting to see (below... really hoping more is dedicated to immigrant rights soon).
The respondents highlighted that the philanthropy world often views AAPIs as monolithic and maintains the model minority myth...
Re: giving/donations by AAPI communities
In the 2016 National Asian American survey, it was found that giving to a charitable/religious cause was lower among Asian Americans when compared to non-Hispanic White and Black folks. Meanwhile, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were among the greatest givers. (I'm a bit disappointed at my Chinese folks ๐)
This report goes into a lot more interesting discussion on the history of AAPIs in philanthropy, work that foundations need to do to strengthen philanthropy dedicated to AAPI communities, quotes from the survey respondents, and more. Philanthropy is tricky, and I am far from knowing what that world is like, but I wanted to dig a little into it today ๐
Small Feelings
I've been feeling quite demotivated for work... I feel really grateful to have gotten the role I had wanted right out of college, but it has gotten not-so-exciting. fun fact: my entire product team is located in China (now it's not just my mom who has nighttime calls)
BrO I feel quite demotivated for college... I think everyone is starting to feel a lil done with the year. Hopefully winter break/holidays is a nice reset?
โจ Spotlight โจ
Hasan Minhaj
Thinking about Hasan Minhaj after that viral Vanity Fair lie detector clip (start at 1:45)โฆ
Hasan Minhaj is a comedian, producer, actor, and TV host of South Asian descent. Born and raised in Davis, CA in a Muslim household after his parent immigrated from Uttar Pradesh, India, he became interested in stand-up comedy during his time at UC Davis. Instead of going to law school like all other political science majors do, he began his career in comedy by moving to SF and then LA to perform in NBSโs Stand Up for Diversity and a number of smaller TV roles.
His big break came in 2014 when Jon Stewart hired him for The Daily Show. Since then, itโs only been uphill - Minhaj was the 2017 White House Correspondents Dinner speaker. He turned his Homecoming King show into a Netflix special, and later followed up with Patriot Act in 2018. His comedy regularly incorporates political themes, and he has won 2 Peabody Awards for his work! Following the cancellation of Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj will be joining the Morning Show!
Events
Asian American Writers' Workshop has some wonderful upcoming events
TODAY, Dec. 2 at 7PM ET: Author/activist R.O. Kwon in conversation with AAWW Director Jafreen Uddin - link here
Monday, Dec. 7 at 7pm ET: Open Mic "Mouth to Mouth", a bimonthly showcase dedicated to uplifting Queer, Non-Binary and Trans BIPOC poets (this time: Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ashna Ali, Venus Selenite, Porsha Olayiwola, and Jake Skee) - link here