2020: A Year-End Wrap

The pandemic, the slow build-up of the 2020 Elections, an ever-changing Census deadline, and the murder of George Floyd, pushed out communities to come together to care for each other — on the streets, through mutual aid efforts, through voting, and more. 

This past year, AAOP had to cancel many in-person events just as the Minnesota government was issuing Shelter-At-Home (SAH) orders. Our partnership with the City of Minneapolis and Mixed Blood Theatre saw the cancellation of a North Minneapolis-focused Census door knock and a theatre-and-conversation of Interstate, a musical uplifting queer and Asian identities. 

Like many other organizations, AAOP pivoted to our first-ever remote summer programming. Check out our highlights below: 

• We launched our first Census IMAP Cohort with 9 pan-Asian organizations in Minnesota reaching out on the Census.
• Our Gender Justice program launched the Gender Justice Visibility Project exhibit
• In March, we sent out 2,522 texts to our young Asian community members to remind them of the Presidential Primary Election. It was the first time we started using texting in this way.
• We initiated our first Gender Justice Research Cohort with 6 cohort members
  • One research team compiled the Queer Allyship report
• Our first Youth Action Team compiled a youth-led, for-youth zine called The Pandemic Depression 
• We launched our first-ever Storyteller Program:
  • Where Npaus Baim compiled stories from Asian Americans in MN on how COVID-19 have impacted them, called We Are Not Fighting Alone 
  • Where Anya developed AAOP’s first podcast, New Narratives 
• Our summer youth created a whole website touching on social justice issues such as ethnic studies, gender justice, immigration, and more.
• We entered our 3rd year of the Organizing Fellowship program, where Fellows: 
  • developed a video series on navigating the Secretary of State website, a series of infographics on voting during the pandemic
  • Crafted the Dear Reader series, stories on organizing and organizations
  • Facilitated Solidarity Now & Forward, a virtual workshop on Black-Asian Solidarity
• We joined the Minnesota Immigrant Family Fund Coalition and together, launched the first round for the MN Immigrant Relief Fund in May, and a second round in September, disbursing over 800 grants to families in need.
• In June, we launched our own COVID-19 Relief Fund Efforts for youth and young Asian folks in Minnesota, and disbursed $50,000 to fund them all.
• We joined other community organizations, including CAPI USA, and PBS TPT for Stories of Asian America: Performances & Conversations, the launch of a documentary about Asian Americans. 
• Our AAOP youth wrote a response to Governor Walz’s School Plans
• For the August Primaries, our Civic Engagement team sent out 2455 text reminders to Asian community members in Minnesota to vote. 
• We also sent out 25,832 text reminders to Asian community members in Minnesota about the Census, keeping up with the new Census deadlines.
• In September, we hired our first National Voter Registration Day Organizer who organized a NVRD Panel with student organizations at the University of Minnesota and guest speakers Representative Samantha Vang, Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotan (CAPM) member and Attorney General Saraswati Singh, and AAOP Leadership & Movement Director Vang Xor Xiong. Student organizations included Asian-American Student Union (ASU), Hmong Minnesota Student Association (HMSA), and Chinese American Student Association (CASA). 
• We had our first virtual Absentee Ballot Party in October where folks could join us for trivia and a walkthrough on completing your absentee ballot.
• Our Civic Engagement team also hosted our first Boba & Ballots webinar on Election Protection. 
• For our Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign, our coalition of 12 pan-Asian and immigrant Minnesotan organizations reached out to over 80,000 Asian and immigrant voters, speaking with 5,880, and texting 8535 to check in on their voting plan.
• In November, Minneapolis Public School approved the Ethnic Studies graduation requirement for the Class of 2025 and beyond — work pushed for by Ethnic Studies coalition members including AAOP, activists, teachers, students, organizers, and community members like you.
• After the elections, we joined the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL), Filipinx for Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice (FIRM), and Release MN8 for What Now? Asian Americans Defending Democracy where Pa, an AAOP and CAAL Youth Leader, provided a protest testimony.