 I think it is fair to say because if you imagine a group that voted zero, you would end up being like, wow, like how's that group going to get treated over time? Pretty poorly. You know, it's Asian, it's Latino, it's black, and rather than being pitted against each other, what we have to do is say, for wait, it's all of our communities. A lot of voting habits, you know, our behavior with politics has passed down from our parents. Ah, voting. It's the defining feature of this country's political system. It's your right as a citizen. It's your way to make an impact, and best of all, it's free. But even if Asians do like free stuff, the Asian voter turnout has always been historically lower than other groups, whether it be for local or federal elections. So why is that? We're here to ask a lot of important people to find out more and to find out how this new nonprofit, the AAPI Democracy Project, is trying to change that for the next generation. Well, again, I'm going to share an experience I think is pretty familiar to you all. Like, son of immigrants, my parents never talked about American politics, and they certainly weren't like, you got to get out and vote, you got to volunteer, you got to run for office. Instead it was like, keep your head down, get good grades, try and get a good job. It's one reason I love you guys because you already have taken, you know, on a lot as creatives in the community. I mean, your parents probably are also like, you know, like, why don't I go to law school or whatever. We don't have a heritage or a history of voting. And I think that there have been messages that we've received that make it seem like politics is not for us. But it's one reason why I really want to win this race is because I think if you had an Asian-American mayor in New York City, it would be a game changer, not just here in New York, but around the country. I think a lot of it is having a lack of faith that it will make a change or a difference for our communities, right? And there's just a lot of sense of it doesn't matter who I vote for because whoever I vote for won't really deliver. So I think part of it is as immigrants we don't know about the system and a lot of us come from countries where we didn't have the right to vote, right? If you come from Communist China or Communist Vietnam, when people immigrated, they didn't have that. A lot of voting habits, you know, our behavior with politics has passed down from our parents. You know, I will say that my parents came to America, they were just trying to survive, you know, trying to make ends meet and, you know, make it better for their families. So for them to think about the community as a whole was not really a priority for them. Yeah, I think traditionally Asians do not vote because our parents didn't vote. We don't actually think that our vote actually counts. And traditionally it's just not really cool to vote, right? Like, we don't have influencers, we don't have media, we don't have kind of our mentors or people older than us, you know, educating us and telling us, hey, voting is important, it's going to impact your life, you should probably do it. I mean, you know, there are a lot of challenges, language barriers. You know, my mom has been in this country for 30 plus years and still doesn't speak any English. There are many moms and grandmothers like that in our community and we need to be speaking to them and we need to make sure that we are, you know, reaching out to them in the languages that they speak. A lot of people were very upset by the video they had seen of my mom, from the doorman or the person that had attacked her himself. And a lot of people when they expressed this frustration to me said, what are you going to do? Unfortunately, the best way to change a lot of the issues that we're dealing with in our system and a lot of the attacks that we've seen that have happened not only in New York City but across our country in this period are that there are people that probably should not be out on the street or need further assistance to be living unassisted and wandering around mixing with our families, our parents, our children and to get them the help that they need and make sure that we have a safe place to live. It's very important to voice your concerns and vote. In a lot of these countries, there was no tradition of voting and there's a view, I'm just going to mind my own business, but you know what folks, minding your own business is voting. You need to get out and vote for sure and if Asian Americans voted at the level of our population in New York City, we'd transform New York politics forever. That's a true statement. 15% of the population, our community based nonprofits get 1.5% of the public funds that go towards different communities' nonprofits. So that's out of whack. Anyone can see 15%, 1.5%. And as mayor, I've said that I'm going to treat all the communities the same and unfortunately, being treated barely would be a massive upgrade for the Asian American community, but it won't happen unless we vote. Because it's such a historic moment because of the crisis, because of the rise in hate crimes, because of the fact that we've lost so many jobs in too many communities of color, Asian, Latino, black and because it's our communities that have so often been complaining about not getting enough resources and investments that there's a real sense that it's time to get involved and engaged. We got to vote. First of all, we all pay taxes. Asian or not, we're paying taxes. Secondly, more importantly, look at all the crap that we've been dealing with, the anti-Asian hate. More importantly, the government response or lack there, look at what happened in the Atlanta shootings. The law enforcement talked about how the guy had a bad day and that he had some kind of sex addiction and they wouldn't characterize it as a hate crime. I mean, that's just one of many examples of how we get marginalized even by government, not just by adapters, but by government itself. And they're supposed to help us. Eggs, well, you know what? You don't get anything for nothing. I don't buy into anybody saying that Asians aren't born to be tough. We're tough as hell as anybody else. And I think for us, the younger generation, because our parents have provided for us, we're at a point where we have a privilege to be able to think about these things and have time to think about, okay, well, what matters for my community? That's why I think it's so important for us to get out and vote and make that change for our future. Yeah, I think voting is the real way to get power in this country. Even the small things we're doing here, doing rallies, right? Doing rallies gets the attention of some of the political leaders in Albany and therefore they give us more allocations to funds and social services, more rights, even the hate crime bill that was just passed recently, right? So voting and circling that we are Asian and letting the people know that the Asian vote does count and is going to hold the political leaders accountable, it really makes a difference. Most folks, if they come out, they'll come out for the presidential and they don't come out for the local. And the local ones might be even more important than presidential As I mentioned, the president and the congress are going to set some macro stuff, but it's the city council member, it's the state assembly member, it's your mayor. Come talk to a public advocate. They're going to figure out if you can drive on the street or you can't drive on the street. Are you going to pay a toll or you're not going to pay a toll? Are you going to pay tax on extra tax on your income or you're not going to pay a tax? How much is the housing where you live? How much is the bus? Is there a bus by your house? All of those things. Can you get a store by your house? All the land zoning, the zoning stuff. Go to a local elected official. And then another thing I'd urge people to do is do some work on different community organizations. Join, get involved. That's second generation. Things that affect our daily lives are usually in local governments. You know, city council, DA, mayor. And we have to look at their policies. It's not enough just to have a support an Asian person just for their representation. They have to go above and beyond to make effective change. Non-related as just like violence on the streets could be related to not voting. It's absolutely related. You know, if we matter in this country, then our government will ensure that these incidents will never happen. And when they happen, we are fighting them with the full force and power of our government, right? And that's what we need. We need to make sure that we have a voice and a stake in this democracy and that we're building the structural power. And you don't care how people vote, right? You just want people to vote. Like you're not telling people who would vote for it. No. I mean, we just need that civic engagement. We just need the numbers to come out. We need people to say, wow, Asian Americans, they are voting in droves. Let's focus on them. Like, let's try to get their vote. The system has a lot of work to do, but that doesn't mean you don't get involved. I have issues with capitalism also, but that doesn't mean you don't get a job and get involved. You use all the tools that are available to you. And voting is one of them. Why folks, for various reasons, don't want to come out. And then I got to leave my house. Like, I understand that. I got to break my flow. But the cost of not doing it is what you got to think of. Some of the issues that you are looking at and trying to figure out are really because of the people who want power. And it really doesn't take as much time as you think, man. Just go pick up whatever you're picking up. There's early voting now. There's a whole bunch of stuff that makes it easier. We're trying in the state to get them to do same-day registration. It means you can go in right there. So we're trying to make it as possible. It seems like every mayor, a bunch of people hate that. And they're like an asshole. Even if they're not. Is that true? The next mayor is just going to be an asshole? Like a bunch of people? Inheriting a rusty bike. There's no good way to ride a rusty bike. It's a terrible job. It's a terrible job. Maya, Andrew, if you're watching this, I know we just interviewed you guys. It's a terrible job. You can't win, right? You're going to come out bruised. There's nowhere around it because you're going to piss half of the city at some point or the other and the other half some point or the other. Because there's no way you can please everybody. But you can move through it with equity and with justice for everybody, for every community. And that's the best thing you can do so that you can sleep at night. That's what I try to do. It's a hard job. I think, honestly, after the President of the United States, the way of New York City is probably the second hardest step. Hi, I'm Liz Carey. Some of you may know me as the daughter of Vilma. My mom had been walking to church on March 29th in the morning, minding her own business when someone came up to her on the street and told her she didn't belong here, kicked her and stomped on her. From that day forward, my life has completely changed. A lot of people were very upset by the video they had seen of my mom, whether it be from the doorman or the person that her attacked her himself. And a lot of people, when they expressed this frustration to me, said, what are you going to do? Unfortunately, the best way to change a lot of the issues that we're dealing with in our system and a lot of the attacks that we've seen that have happened not only in New York City but across our country in this period are that there are people that probably should not be out on the street or need further assistance to be living unassisted and wandering around mixing with our families, our parents, our children and to get them the help that they need and make sure that we have a safe place to live. It's very important to voice your concerns and vote. Alright, we are here with the leaders of the community-based non-profit FUJO America. I'm Alan. I'm Tang. I'm Sudan. I gave you a very brief background of who we are, so our group is pretty much a non-profit organization that aims to bridge the gap between the first generation immigrants and second generation immigrants together to ensure that our culture and our legacy will not be gone at least in America because a lot of times, like you said, regional culture is being gone and we want to kind of find a group where people can come together with shared cultural values to kind of have that community support. Man, that's dope that you guys are taking a collective experience that you guys have together and you guys are making it more than a meme page making things happen positive in your community and obviously interfacing with ADP, a more larger movement and Kudo, see you guys. Sure. Thank you. And I will say, if I'm mayor of New York City, the Fung Bros are going to have the run of this town because I owe these guys a lot. I mean... You were saying in the interview you don't owe a lot of people, but we're on that short list. The Fung Bros are on the short list. Alright. But for sure. And you know what? I will say this now. Andrew Yang doesn't owe anyone a damn thing except for these guys. Okay. Alright you guys, thank you so much for watching that video ADP. I've got to say guys, even I have been convinced throughout the course of this video to get more involved in the local politics. You guys, it doesn't always have to be this framing that is so over your head or unrelatable. You can put it in terms that relates to your everyday life. For example, right after I talked to Patel and I contacted the local New York City government to fix one of the basketball hoops at Grand Street Park and I realized that the government has to work for the people through talking to Ms. Patel. Like we said guys, voting and finding out who your local politicians are or your local councilman is just good for even changing little stuff. Anyways, you guys have seen the takeaways. You guys saw them talk. There's a lot of information out there. But again, if you guys want to get involved in an organization like ADP, the AAPI Democracy Project which is really just pushing voting into the next generation then please click on that link down below. You guys can donate regularly. You guys can donate through the QR code over on that mural on the wall on East Broadway. But whatever you guys do, remember to get involved somehow. After getting to know the people that are behind ADP I know that their intentions are clear. They're just trying to bring the Asian community into the future as far as political involvement goes. And that is how we're actually going to gain power and that's how we're going to get heard. You guys, being second generation, being the first generation in your family to be born in America doesn't just mean your career gets to be better, your social life gets to be smoother. You understand the IQ of how the mechanisms work better. But it also means it's our opportunity and responsibility to become more politically involved as the Asian community as well. Alright everybody, thank you so much for watching that video. In the comments down below, please let us know why you think the Asian voting turnout is so low across the board and also let us know what you think would actually change if Asians did get out to vote. You know, it's kind of fun to brainstorm. Alright everybody, thank you so much for watching that video and until next time, we out. Peace.