May is Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage month and this moon’s Love In Action shines a light on a women-led organization that was created based upon personal and political needs for there to be more accurate and diverse representation of AAPI self-identified women and girls in the United States. AAPI Women Lead was co-founded by Dr. Connie Wun and Jenny Wun, both of whom experienced decades of racial and sexual harassment and violence at home, in their communities, at work, and academia. They found that there was limited research and support for AAPI women and girls and their experiences with various forms of violence. Informed by their extensive experiences as educators, advocates, and researchers within communities of color, Jenny and Connie established AAPI Women Lead to identify and share AAPI women and girls’ stories of struggle, survival and leadership.
The #ImReady Movement — Turning Love Into Action
AAPI Women Lead’s #ImReady Movement is a series of conferences that raise awareness around the experiences that AAPI women have with #MeToo, gender and racial discrimination, war, immigration, and more. Many of these families and communities are experiencing high rates of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, sex trafficking, human trafficking, and domestic worker abuse. It is time to act.
AAPI Women Lead and #ImReady Movement aims to strengthen the progressive political and social platforms of Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the US through the leadership of AAPI women, girls, and gender-expansive communities. It celebrates the leadership and power of AAPI women in education, business, technology, and politics by bringing together AAPI women leaders and their supporters to learn from one another, tell their stories, and to highlight their diverse roles in leadership. By creating safe and healthy community spaces, their goal is to challenge and help end the intersections of violence against and within their communities and this work is done in solidarity with other communities of color.
The More We Know, The More We Care
AAPI Women Lead invites us to join them to better understand the complex Asian and Pacific Islander diasporas, histories, and experiences by honoring the stories, experiences, and leadership of APPI communities.
There's limited data on Asian and Pacific Islander communities, especially around self-identified women and girls and their experiences with violence. AAPI Women Lead‘s mission is to collect and tell their communities' stories by traveling across the country to connect with AAPI communities, share, collect and expand on their data, and present their movement building series. Their movement building series includes workshops on existing research and stories including conversations among attendees, partners, and communities, concluding with collective story-telling and powerful testimonies about what it means to be a self-identified Asian and Pacific Islander women and girls in the United States.
With support, #ImReady will host conferences across the United States on the status of Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islander Women to learn about the unique and common stories that AAAPI women experience with violence in the home, school, communities, and workplace. This effort will help to formulate the path toward empowerment, ending violence within and against these communities, uplifting AAPI community voices, and building an effective political call to action network.
AAPI Women Lead is currently working to take their community-driven research campaign across the country.
Here are some ways we can help AAPI Women Lead continue their mission for positive change
✷ Visit their website to learn more and join their newsletter for current news and updates
✷ Make a monetary donation to support their workshops and community connections
✷ Follow their journey and join the community on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
*All information and photos from www.imreadymovement.org