A Pioneer in Asian American Civil and Human Rights
Very few people have exhibited an unwavering commitment to Asian American civil and human rights as Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC’s former president and executive director, Karen Narasaki.
To know Karen is to know that she is tireless in the fight for recognition of and equity for our community. Her efforts to increase Asian American visibility often kept her up until 3:00 in the morning at times strategizing how to get Asian Americans a seat at the table for policy discussions, fighting against voter suppression, and making sure every Asian American is counted in the census.
Her desire to increase Asian American visibility led her to serve as chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition for over a decade. She recalled early morning strategy sessions where only four hours later she would be hard at work negotiating diversity agreements with ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS. Karen has touched the lives of many people and many more consider her a mentor. Her wit, boldness, and devotion to the community have inspired everybody who has come to know her.
Several times Karen was named as one of the 100 most powerful women in the nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine. Known to say, “If it can’t withstand scrutiny in the Washington Post, then don’t publish it,” Karen has always looked out for the interests of the Asian American community. As a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, she was behind some of the most prolific reports on Native Americans, minority students with disabilities, voting rights, police use of force, environmental justice, detention of immigrants, and the inequitable distribution of school funding.
Karen shed light on the issues and showed the world the impact of these issues not just on Asian Americans, but also on fellow communities of color. Working on these issues has resulted in the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, the continuation of federal affirmative action programs, the expansion of the federal hate crimes law to cover everybody, and an increase in minorities on television.
Before being appointed by President Obama to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2014, one of Karen’s crowning achievements was when she led a delegation of Asian American leaders to the United Nations World Conference on Racism and Xenophobia in South Africa. Karen is finishing her tenure at the Commission while consulting with the Bauman Foundation, where principal in her work is ensuring that communities of color are fairly and accurately counted by fully funding the organizations dedicated to getting full participation in the 2020 Census.
The Asian American community wouldn’t be the same without Karen Narasaki. It is only fitting to recognize her with the 2019 American Courage Award for an un-ending commitment to the cause of civil and human rights not just for Asian Americans, but for all Americans.
The American Courage Award honors an individual, company, or organization that has shown extraordinary courage or commitment to civil rights. Join us October 3, 2019 to celebrate Karen Narasaki. If you can’t attend you can still support our work online.
