Hillary Clinton to speak at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders summit

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will address the inaugural Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Unity Summit this month amid a rise in violence and hate crimes against members of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community in the U.S. 

The virtual event, dubbed “From Victory to Unity,” will be hosted by the AAPI Victory Fund. It is slated to take place Wednesday.

“AAPI electoral power is on the rise and it’s time AAPI communities get the same recognition, resources, and support as every other ethnic group,” Clinton said in a statement. “AAPIs are diverse and growing communities with their own set of challenges and opportunities, and we need to acknowledge that and work to empower them in diverse ways.”

Hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have skyrocketed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Anti-Asian hate incidents increased from 3,795 to 6,603 in the period between March 2020 and March 2021, according to Stop AAPI Hate. 

At the same time, more Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are becoming politically active in the U.S. 

Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, last month launched In Our Hands PAC, which will recruit and support Asian American and Pacific Islander candidates and other candidates of color.

Vice President Harris also became the first South Asian person and first Black person to hold the nation’s second-highest executive office earlier this year, while Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) became some of the first Korean American women to serve in Congress. 

Asian American and Pacific Islander voters turned out in record numbers in the 2020 election cycle, playing a crucial role in states such as Georgia, where some counts show their voter participation doubling, helping Democrats flip the Republican stronghold.