Filipinx Advocacy Day 2023!

Shouting out ourselves for organizing our first hybrid Filipinx Advocacy Day yesterday at the California State Capitol! Together, our in-person and virtual delegations brought over 25+ Filipina/x/o community members, students, and families to Sacramento from San Diego, San Francisco, the Central Valley, and San José/South Bay Area to meet directly with legislators and their staff about our priority issues this legislative session. Thank you to Genevieve Jopanda for providing opening keynote remarks on the importance of power building through cultivating local networks. From the jump, our youth and young folks took the lead in facilitating and sharing their lived and learned experiences on the importance of Ethnic Studies credentialing [AB 1255], creating statewide standards for Hate Crimes reporting and data collection [AB 449], and Reinstating California’s Cultural Heritage District Designation program [AB 1283] to support the cultural and historic preservation and economic growth of our communities and neighborhoods. As the Filipinx Igniting Engagement for Reimagining Collective Empowerment (FIERCE) Coalition we continuously assert our rightful place as Filipinas/xs/os across all levels of government and public policy development be it local, state, or federal. At a population of 1.3 million in California, we stand to change the current with our voices, experiences, and collective might. Being absent from state-level dialogues on critical budget and legislative conversations as one of the largest Asian Pacific Islander groups is unacceptable! We recommit to our collective pact to bring more of our members, youth and families every year into our statewide organizing efforts. Thank you to all the members and orgs that made yesterday possible: @faeac_ @emacstockton @littlemanilastockton @somapilipinas @leadfilipino @naffaa.norcal @pawissouthbay @malaya.sbay @bnkfilamschoolsj @sacfilpac @fanhs.scv #FIERCECoalition #FilipinxAdvocacyDay #FilipinoAmericans #FilipinaAmericans #FilipinxAmericans #FilAms #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Action #Sacramento #StateCapitol