UPDATE: Use the Twitter hashtags #TwitterStayUp #NoMaintenance to tell Twitter to keep running!

As millions of Iranians in Iran and around the world stand up and make their voices heard, we are witnessing history being made in Iran. Depending on how these unprecedented events unfold, Iran may be on the cusp of a new era of freedom and democracy.

We’re also seeing yet another amazing change in how movements are made and news is reported through the use of Twitter as the Iranian regime has attempted to shut down most other sources of communication used to great effect by the reform movement, including websites, Facebook, and text messaging. It’s astonishing to see the on-the-ground reports coming in through Twitter - watch history unfold at #iranelection. The technological revolution has enabled people to coordinate their efforts and keep in touch with the outside world in ways that were not possible during the 1999 student demonstrations or in similar situations such as Tiananmen Square in 1999.

Unfortunately, Twitter has scheduled 90 minutes of maintenance tonight, during which time it will be temporarily offline. Tell Twitter to find a way to keep the site up - it remains one of the most important tools, and the possibility of real change is still very fragile. Without it, millions of Iranians may be left in the dark, cut off from the world and each other at this critical time.

For the latest updates, see the excellent liveblogging at Andrew Sullivan, Huffington Post, and the National Iranian American Council.

Most material reposted from APA for Progress:

In the special election to replace recently appointed Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in Congress in California’s 32nd Congressional District, California Board of Equalization Member and APAP PAC endorsed candidate Judy Chu has won the Democratic primary. With 75% of the precincts in, Chu leads her closest Democratic opponent, State Senator Gil Cedillo, by 3,300 votes, leading California political blog Calitics to call the race for her.

In California’s “jungle primary” system, all candidates for all parties are listed on a single ballot in the special election. If no single candidate gets over 50% of the vote, then the top vote-getters from the top two parties go to a run-off. Judy Chu will face Republican Monterey Park City Councilmember Betty Chu (and Judy’s cousin by marriage!) in the run-off. However, given the overwhelmingly Democratic bent of the district, most people consider Judy the presumptive next Congresswoman from CD32. Dr. Chu would be the first Chinese American woman in Congress.

Congratulations to Judy Chu!

California’s 32nd Congressional District contains portions of East LA, Monterey Park, Rosemead, El Monte, South El Monte, Baldwin Park, Irwindale, Azusa, Duarte, Covina, and West Covina - much of the San Gabriel Valley.  California Board of Equalization Member Judy Chu has represented much of the district before in the State Legislature, as a City Council Member, and as a Mayor.  The district is known for its large Asian American population, but the Latino population is even larger.  However, Dr. Chu’s record of strong advocacy for all the people in the district has earned her the support of most of the Latino community leaders.

She’s been endorsed by Hilda Solis’s family, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, virtually every labor organization, the California Democratic Party, environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club, NOW and EMILY’s List, as well as every daily newspaper in the district and AAPI organizations such as the Asian American Action Fund, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress PAC, California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance.

Dr. Chu is a wonderful, progressive candidate who will fight to improve life for all of the residents of CD32.  In a low turnout special election, getting out the vote is critical to victory - as few as a thousand votes may be enough for victory.  On the “jungle primary” ballot, opponents are hoping that a candidate named “Betty Chu” will take votes away from Judy.  And Dr. Chu has faced vicious race-based personal attacks in recent days attempting to question her loyalty to the United States.  Let’s help Judy Chu get to the US Congress!

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, I moved out here to DC last month. Almost immediately, I joined a small team of AAPI organizers and leaders (including Lisa Hasegawa and Parag Mehta) on a special project for our community.

I’m writing to invite all of you and other AAPI’s for Obama members to join us in making our voices heard by the Administration! Our major initiative for AAPI Heritage Month is a National Week of Service from May 24 - 31st. If we can perform well this May, it will really demonstrate the strength of our community to the White House.

Please visit our beta site at www.AAPImomentum.org for a master calendar of service opportunities and cultural events throughout the month of May. (it’s a work in progress so if you notice any problems, please let me know).

I would be extremely grateful if you could do the following:

1) Join the site, create a profile for yourself and upload a photo.

2) Post any service events that you or other AAPI’s for Obama members are planning in your area during that week.

3) Submit a photo/video to the site, answering the question: “What Moves You?” We are compiling them into a music video to be featured prominently on our homepage. We would love to have a video consisting solely of our members from across the country. See the sample video on our site!

Let me know if you have any questions at all. Thank you,

Brian

–
Brian Wang
626-512-2249
bwang1@gmail.com
www.aapimomentum.org

Title: Austin’s Asian Occasion: APA Heritage Celebration to benefit MOWAM
Location: Austin Long Center
Link out: Click here
Description:
The Asian American Cultural Center Presents
The Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival
Saturday, May 23, 2009
3:00-5:00pm (the pre-show begins at 2pm)
The Long Center (directions: http://www.tinyurl.com/austinlongcenter )

Join us May 23rd at The Long Center for a multicultural Asian celebration, featuring world-class musicians and timeless presentations of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian dance. The Asian Pacific American Heritage Celebration will feed your soul and help Austin’s Meals on Wheels and More deliver hot, nutritious meals to our homebound and elderly citizens.

The event begins at 2:00 p.m. with exciting outdoor performances of Hawaiian dance, martial arts, Taiko drums and Lion Dance.

Purchase your tickets in advance here: http://www.thelongcenter.org/performances.aspx?id=2904

**Children under 12 get in free with a canned or dry food donation. If you have not bought your tickets, your gracious $10 contribution or more will be welcomed at the door, with a portion of the event proceeds benefiting Meals on Wheels and More.

When: Wednesday, May 27 at 6:30-9:30PM
Where: Café Asia, 1550 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, Va (near Rosslyn metro station)
Speakers & Performances: Asian-American Elected & Administrative Officials; Mark Keam, Candidate for VA Delegate; Wuiping Yap, Chair, Arlington Multicultural Advisory Commission; Candidates & Elected Virginia Officials;Asian American Film Shorts; Asian Cultural Dance Performances
 
Tickets: $15 in advance; $20 at the door
(Appetizers, Sushi & Happy Hour Drink Specials Provided)
Please RSVP to Daphne Dador at deputyoutreach@arlingtonyoungdems.org

This year’s Fiesta Asia Street Fair will take place on May 16th, 2009 and is FREE and open to the public. Come join us for a fun filled day of happenings – enjoy live performances by musicians, vocalists and dance artists, sample mouth watering Pan-Asian cuisine, browse through multi cultural marketplace, participate in interactive activities, wowed by martial arts performances, learn from cooking demonstrations and stroll through exhibits of traditional and contemporary Asian crafts!

Savor the Flavors of Asia!

For more information, please visit www.AsiaHeritageFoundation.org

Now Seeking Vendors, Performers, Sponsors, Partners & Volunteers!

Contact Person with Contact Information: Edea Nor @ enor@asiaheritagefoundation.org

May 28, 2009
7:00 pm
Arlington Central Library, 1015 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA
METRO: Orange Line – Ballston Station. From Ballston, walk 3 blocks up
Fairfax to Quincy Street and turn left.
Following the Film a Q&A Session will be hosted with Producer Curtis Chin
RSVP or Questions should be directed to: rsvp@ocanova.org

The film Vincent Who? resurrects the meaning of the brutal death of Vincent Chin in Detroit and the ensuing campaign. Inspired by the 25th anniversary of Vincent Chin’s killing, Curtis Chin, himself a Detroit native, begins with the premise that the meaning has been forgotten in the current generation of young Asian Americans. Vincent Chin was a Chinese American draftsman, who two white autoworkers, conflating all Asians with Japanese, beat to death with a baseball bat. When a white judge sentenced the two to probation and a $3,000 fine, his case became a rallying point for the Asian-American community. Nationwide pressure forced the civil rights trial and conviction of Ron Ebens and Michael Nitz. That conviction was eventually overturned.

May 17, 2009
4:00 pm
Arlington Central Library, 1015 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA
METRO: Orange Line – Ballston Station. From Ballston, walk 3 blocks up
Fairfax to Quincy Street and turn left.

RSVP or Questions should be directed to: rsvp@ocanova.org

Presentation by Terry Hong, Media Arts Consultant, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and Anita Merina, National Education Association
Book Reading by Local Asian American Author – to be confirmed

Asian American authors and literature has continued to grow throughout the last decade. Learn about some of the more popular titles in Asian American literature for youth of all ages. There is a book out there to help children of various ethnicities to understand their Asian American background and experiences. Overall this literature helps all children understand the experiences of Asian American children.

Dear Asian American Democrats of Texas Members, Supporters, and Friends,

In the last few weeks many of you have received emails from us (AADT) and the Texas Democratic Party about Rep. Betty Brown’s unfortunate comments about Asian American voters.

When presented with testimony concerning potential challenges faced by Chinese Americans under the proposed Voter ID bill, Brown stated: “Rather than everyone having to learn Chinese - I understand it’s a rather difficult language - do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?”

Many of you contacted Rep. Brown directly and AADT collected your names on a petition which we sent to her office. Many national Asian American leaders and organizations also condemned her statements. As a result, Rep. Brown finally issued an apology.

But our work is not done!

AADT is now focusing our efforts on mobilizing our community against the various Voter ID bills that have been filed in the Texas House of Representatives. We expect several versions of the Voter ID bills to get out of committee this week and to go the House floor. That is where we have the opportunity to make the most impact. The Texas legislature needs to hear from the Asian American community!

To that end, we are asking you to do the following:

1. If you live in Texas, please call or email your legislator and ask him/her to vote against the Voter ID bills. Visit www.aadt.us to find your legislator, and for talking points, resources and updates on the bills.

2. If you do NOT live in Texas, but you want to help us out, please email vote@txdemocrats.org to access call lists of Asian American voters in Texas in a targeted legislative district. You’ll get talking points and materials to help educate Asian Texans about the bill.

3. If you don’t have time to make calls, help us reach more voters through paid voter outreach targeting Asian Texans. Visit our Act Blue page, at www.aadt.us and give at any level you can. Your contribution will go directly to the Voter ID education effort!

And if you haven’t become a Member of the Asian American Democrats of Texas, please become one today! Membership only costs $20! Your contributions support outreach efforts to the Asian American community, advocacy on behalf of the community, and the work we do to support Asian American candidates.

If you would like to get more information about our efforts against on the Voter ID Bill, please contact AADT Vice President Mini Timmaraju on mini.timmaraju@gmail.com or (832) 452-7038

With warm regards,

AJ Durrani,
President AADT

Political advertisement paid for by AADT PAC, Farrukh Shamsi Treasurer

About AADT:
Founded in 1990, Asian American Democrats of Texas serves as a link between the Asian American community, the Texas Democratic Party, and the larger political community both locally and nationally. We are also a registered political action committee registered with the Texas Ethics Commission.

We invite you to join us in our activities as we organize for the future!

A Nation-Wide Conversation on the State of AAPI w/ Konrad Ng and other special guests

Sunday, May 31, 2009
4 pm EST/1 pm PST

Consider hosting a party. It’s easy. Just gather 12-20 friends, family members or co-workers and call into our conference call. You can even provide snacks or make it a potluck. After hearing from our special guests on the call, we encourage you to engage in a conversation with your guests to discuss what issues are important to you, write up a report and post it on the APAP website with pictures. This will become a record of the issues that AAPI’s around the country are talking about. We’ll even submit our report to the Obama administration.

Email Patrice for details or to sign up your house party!

More details at APA for Progress.

Name of Event
Location (Address, City, State)
Date and Time
Brief Description of Event (Cost?  RSVP required?  Volunteers, performers, exhibitors needed? Etc.)
Contact Person with Contact Information

And then check back regularly with the Calendar at Asian Americans for Obama to see what events are happening in your area.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Here’s a great article that describes the Cambodian New Year from remarks given by Leng Lim, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Khmer Community in Seattle, WA, at a New Year’s celebration in 2001.

And here’s Secretary Clinton’s New Year’s message to the people of Cambodia.

“Penn, 31, campaigned for Barack Obama last year. Word is the Indian American actor was a big hit on college campuses. Now Penn will become associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison, an envoy to the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, to Hollywood and to young people.”

Personally, I think this is pretty cool - especially since Kal Penn just seems like a guy I could sit down and chill with. Kind of like our president, too. (I’ll just ignore the slight sense of awkwardness and irony with the fact Obama has stonewalled the extremely popular issue around the legalization of marijuana while Kumar goes to the White House.)

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts: David H. Stevens, Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner, Department of Housing and Urban Development; Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, State Department; and Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, Director of Indian Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services.

President Obama also announced that he has designated Judge Emily C. Hewitt to be the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. 

President Obama said, “The expertise that these talented individuals bring to their respective roles gives me confidence that they will be effective advocates for the American people in meeting the many challenges our nation faces.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today:

David H. Stevens, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner, Department of Housing and Urban Development

David H. Stevens is President and Chief Operating Officer of the Long & Foster Companies which includes Long & Foster Real Estate and its Affiliated Businesses including Mortgage, Title, Insurance, and Home Service Connections.  Stevens joined the Long & Foster Companies in July 2006 as President of Affiliated Businesses.  Prior to this, he served as Executive Vice President, National Wholesale Manager responsible for all sales, operations, and finance for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage’s wholesale channel.  Before his work at Wells Fargo, Stevens was Senior Vice President of the Single family business at Freddie Mac where he was responsible for sales, marketing, affordable lending, and product development for the firm.  He began his career at World Savings bank, where after 16 years; he was promoted to Group Senior Vice President, National Sales Manager for the mortgage division.   Stevens was the founding Executive sponsor of the Woman’s Mortgage Industry Network, and coordinated the first Latino initiative joint venture with Freddie Mac and Latino mortgage industry leaders. Stevens is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder .

Harold Hongju Koh, Nominee for Legal Adviser, State Department

Harold Hongju Koh, Dean and Gerard C. & Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law at Yale Law School , is one of the country’s leading experts on public and private international law, national security law, and human rights. From 1998 to 2001, Koh served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. He previously served on the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Public International Law.  A Marshall Scholar, Koh graduated from Harvard, Oxford , and Harvard Law School , and has received eleven honorary degrees and more than thirty awards for his human rights work, including awards from Columbia Law School and the American Bar Association for his lifetime achievements in International law.  Following clerkships with Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, he served as Attorney-Adviser at the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice and practiced law at Covington & Burling.  As a Yale law professor since 1985, Koh has taught courses, authored or co-authored eight books, published more than 170 articles, testified before Congress, and litigated numerous cases involving international law issues. A Fellow of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council of the American Law Institute, he has served on the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law and as a Counselor of the American Society of International Law.   He has sat on the boards of Harvard University , the Brookings Institution, Human Rights First, the American Arbitration Association, and the National Democratic Institute. He has been named one of America ’s “45 Leading Public Sector Lawyers Under The Age of 45″ by American Lawyer magazine and one of the “100 Most Influential Asian-Americans of the 1990s” by A Magazine.

Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, Director of Indian Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Yvette Roubideaux is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at The University of Arizona College of Medicine.  She has conducted extensive research on American Indian health issues, with a focus on diabetes in American Indians/Alaska Natives and American Indian health policy. Roubideaux previously worked in the Indian Health Service as a Medical Officer and Clinical Director on the San Carlos Indian Reservation and in the Gila River Indian Community.   Roubideaux, 46, is a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe. She received her MD from Harvard Medical School and her MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health.  She completed the Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston , MA .  She also completed the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy in 1997.   Roubideaux is the Co-Director of the Coordinating Center for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Competitive Demonstration Projects, a program implementing diabetes prevention and cardiovascular disease prevention activities in 66 American Indian and Alaska Native communities.  She also serves as Director of two programs, the UA/ITCA Indians Into Medicine (INMED) Program and the Student Development Core of the ITCA/UA American Indian Research Center for Health, that focus on recruiting American Indian and Alaska Native students into health and research professions.  Roubideaux was appointed to the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Minority Health from 2000 - 2002.  From 1999-2000, she served as President of the Association of American Indian Physicians.   Roubideaux has received numerous awards including the American Diabetes Association’s 2008 Addison B. Scoville Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service and the 2004 Indian Physician of the Year Award from the Association of American Indian Physicians. She is co-editor of the APHA book entitled Promises to Keep: Public Health Policy for American Indians and Alaska Natives in the 21st Century. She has authored several monographs and peer-reviewed publications on American Indian/Alaska Native health issues, research and policy.

President Obama also made the following announcement today:

Judge Emily C. Hewitt, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Judge Hewitt has served on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims since her confirmation by the Senate in 1998.  At the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Judge Hewitt has handled cases in all areas of the Court’s jurisdiction, chaired the court’s Rules and Building and Space Committees and served on its Management Committee.  In 2006, she was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve on the Financial Disclosure Committee of the United States Judicial Conference.  Prior to her appointment to the Court of Claims, Judge Hewitt was appointed general counsel to the General Services Administration during the Clinton Administration. Judge Hewitt, born May 26, 1944, in Baltimore , is a graduate of Cornell University (A.B. 1966), Union Theological Seminary (M. Phil 1975) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1978).  Before entering government service, Judge Hewitt practiced from 1978 to 1993 with the Boston law firm Hill & Barlow, where she chaired the firm’s real estate department from 1987-1993.  A leader of the effort to open Episcopal ordination to women, Judge Hewitt was one of the first eleven women ordained to the Episcopal priesthood on July 29, 1974. 

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Watch this video and learn about John’s level of commitment and dedication to managing the City’s finances for the betterment of all. This is what he’ll bring to the office of New York City Comptroller.

A few other things you can do to support John:

1.) Friend John Liu: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=556364452&ref=ts

2.) Join People for John Liu Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37919076094&ref=ts

3.) John John Liu’s Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/John-C-Liu/16884622562?ref=ts

For those in NYC and near by, visit the upcoming Candidate forum on March 25th. (We will have more information on this as it is posted.)

This coming Monday, please join the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) for a national census teleconference on ensuring an accurate count of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for the 2010 census. The call provides an opportunity for the Census Bureau, congressional leaders, community stakeholders, and ethnic and mainstream media to have a dialogue on conducting outreach to this growing and diverse population.

Engaging Asian and Pacific Islander Communities for the 2010 Decennial Census

Event: National Census Teleconference on ensuring accurate count of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities

Date: March 23, 2009, 2-3pm EST

Speakers:

Rep. Michael Honda, CAPAC chair (other CAPAC members invited)
Arnold A. Jackson, Associate Director for Decennial Census U.S. Census Bureau
Terry Ao, Asian American Justice Center and the 2010 Census Advisory Committee
Bill Imada, IW Group
Other speakers to be determined

Call-in: For call-in information, please respond to this form.

Another notable name on the list is Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske for “drug czar”; Kerlikowske’s innovative approaches to drug enforcement indicates that Obama is committed to his stated intention to reform drug policy. Full list of nominations sent to the Senate yesterday below the fold.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 16, 2009

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:

Ladda Tammy Duckworth, of Illinois, to be an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Public and Intergovernmental Affairs), vice Lisette M. Mondello, resigned.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, of Washington, to be Director of National Drug Control Policy, vice John P. Walters, resigned.

Roy W. Kienitz, of Pennsylvania, to be Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy, vice Jeffrey Shane, resigned.

Gary Locke, of Washington, to be Secretary of Commerce.

Demetrios J. Marantis, of the District of Columbia, to be a Deputy United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, vice Peter F. Allgeier, resigned.

Regina McCarthy, of Massachusetts, to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, vice Jeffrey R. Holmstead, resigned.

Kim N. Wallace, Texas, to be a Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury, vice Kevin I. Fromer, resigned.

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