This week CAUSE took a trip to Monterey Park City Hall to meet with community leaders and Monterey Park City Council Members. My highlight for this week was our guest speakers Jason Liang from Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA) and Benjamin Tran from Asian Americans Advancing Justice of Southern California (AJSOCAL).
Our session with Jason was a highlight for me because I learned about so many legal proceedings that Asian American communities had to face while living in America. Some of the legal proceedings that were brought to our attention were Vincent Chin in 1982, Dr. Wen Ho Lee, researcher Feng ‘Franklin’ Tao, Sherry Chen, and many other victims. One case that stood out to me was researcher Feng Tao for being accused by the U.S. of concealing work he did in China while being employed at the University of Kansas. While being accused, there was no presented evidence in support of the accusations. Despite the fact that there was no evidence against researcher Feng Tao was convicted on four counts with three counts of wire fraud. Researcher Feng was not the only Asian American accused of fraud but one of the many.
Jason Liang from Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Benjamin was also another highlight for me because I got an idea of what advocacy in policymaking may look like at the non-profit level and state level. Public policy advocacy to me felt very interesting as I got to know more about the work they do. Public policy advocacy is the process of influencing decision-makers on the outcome of implemented public policies, such as laws and regulations. It was a surprise to my view that influence on policy-making does not necessarily need to be at the state. Influence on policymaking can be made in the city and non-profit sector as well. Overall, I felt that our two sessions with APABA and AAJC have sparked an interest in legislation at the state level.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Pa Houa Lee, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.