On The Agenda: Tina Tchen takes the helm at Times Up
The announcement comes as Asian women continue to come forward to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault
Editor’s Note: This is a preview of the October 14, 2019 edition of The Yappie, a newsletter about Asian American power, politics, and influence. Subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter every Monday morning, with additional coverage and resources. Subscribe for free here.
TINA TCHEN TAKES THE HELM AT TIMES UP: Ex-chief of staff for former first Lady Michelle Obama Tina Tchen has been named president and CEO of the advocacy group Time’s Up — a major development as Asian women continue to come forward to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault.
- Rowena Chiu, a former assistant to disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein, detailed in a powerful New York Times op-ed last week why “it is important to me now that I speak out, that I allow my voice, an Asian voice, an assistant’s voice, to join the array of voices in the #MeToo movement.”
- Meanwhile… Chanel Miller, the Stanford rape survivor who reached millions with her victim impact statement in 2016, is carrying on her media blitz after reclaiming her name in a memoir published last month called “Know My Name.” Author Lisa Ko states that “the knowledge that [Miller] is Asian-American necessitates a new understanding of what she experienced and how she was perceived — as a woman of color, assaulted by a white man, trying to obtain justice in a courtroom presided over by a white male judge.”
- Why this matters: HuffPost’s Marina Fang contends that Chiu and Miller’s bravery “may reduce the stigma within Asian communities against speaking out about trauma,” and Madelyn Chung writes in FLARE that Asian women around the world “are defying years and years of damaging stereotypes that abusers have been able to take advantage of.”
SCOTUS APPEARS DIVIDED OVER LGBTQ JOB DISCRIMINATION: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a landmark case that will determine whether existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status — a decision that could directly impact thousands of LGBTQ AAPIs. Nearly 1 in 3 Asians live in states where “they are at risk of being fired, refused housing or denied services simply because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” according to National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance. Read more.
AAAJ-LA SUFFERS MASS LAYOFFS AMID FINANCIAL WOES: 20 percent of the staff at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles — one of the largest AAPI legal and civil rights organizations in the nation — have been laid off as the group continues to grapple with a $2 million deficit, LAist’s Josie Huang reports. AAAJ-LA’s unionized staff had circulated a petition calling for a moratorium on layoffs in August, and they remain locked in an unusually public labor dispute with the organization’s board of directors — alleging that management and the board engaged in unlawful retaliatory conduct earlier this year. Read more.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOES APPEAL HARVARD ADMISSIONS RULING: AAPI activists cheered after Harvard University prevailed in a recent lawsuit threatening its race-conscious admissions process earlier this month. But plaintiffs have already filed a notice to appeal the decision, and supporters of affirmative action fear that the case could ultimately land in front of a less friendly Supreme Court. A majority of AAPIs have consistently supported affirmative action, according to a 2018 APIAVote survey. Read more.
THE LONG READ — THEY CROSSED AN OCEAN TO BUTCHER PIGS, BUT IT WAS NO AMERICAN DREAM: 200 Pacific Islanders recruited to work at an Iowa pork plant ended in a tangled migration dispute with accusations of mistreatment, exploitation, and broken promises, the New York Times reports. Read more.
