Rising Voices | Lessons from In-Language Digital Organizing In 2019, Rising Voices of Asian American Families saw the need to build out organizing capacity for APIA in Michigan. They also knew AAPI communities were often overlooked by national campaigns with little attention given around the language divide between these campaigns and mainstream electoral messaging. Through the Digital Innovation Fund, Rising Voices of Asian American Families received a $55,000 grant, and digital strategy coaching to support their digital organizing experiments. This piece by Marium Navid on behalf of the Cooperative Impact Lab details Rising Voice’s accomplishments and lessons learned in their pursuit of answering two key questions: Does translating GOTV materials to other languages increase turn out rates? How much in language work is required to make an impact in engaging with AAPI communities?
Protect the Results! Rally for Ballot Counting Protection Election Week has been a roller coaster of a ride, with ballot counts continuing in battleground states. Voter turnout was extraordinary and all volunteers, organizers and community leaders who worked to get out the vote must be congratulated for the historic numbers we’ve seen. Despite there being no evidence of fraud, however, the Trump administration and its supporters continue to push a false narrative of corruption and interference meant to sow chaos and call legitimate results into question, driving the election decision of the people into the courts. To combat this narrative, coalitions of organizations are rallying across the country this weekend to demand protection for ballot results and that all votes be counted. Protect the Results is a resource to find an action near you to join; they advocate for peaceful demonstrations and do not include actions near ballot counting locations or after dark. Please find an action near you and show your support—as always, we citizens must join activation and protest to the act of voting in order to keep our civil society and democracy alive. You can find more information at the Protect the Results website.
Census 2020 Straight Facts Rising Voices for Asian American Families has been providing information on the 2020 Census and encouraging their communities to complete the census through their 2020 Census Pledge. Now more than ever, it is glaringly obvious how important it is for our communities to be visible and accurately counted. The availability of culturally competent medical services and public health information and updates is informed by the data that the census aims to capture. Take action and get counted today, for our communities’ fair share of funding, resources, and representation! Remind your family, friends, and loved ones to fill out their census (online, by phone, or by mail) and for them to inform their networks. The census is available to be completed in 13 different languages, and census language guides are available in both video and print form in 59 non-English languages. More information on 2020 Census guidelines and resources can be found at https://www.countusin2020.org/ Check out their 2020 Census Fact Sheet here or read it down below