When she spoke, she harbored a familiar, thick accent, one that I had just a few years ago. She asked me where the “C” building was and she paused after every other word, trying hard to mask her accent. I started speaking in Tagalog and I saw her visibly sigh in relief.

As we walked to her class, she told me she was struggling to navigate through our school and she was placed in the English Learner program. She told me about her frustrations because she felt like she couldn’t express clearly what she wanted to say. She wasn’t accustomed…

We are almost through with 2020 and the world has been rocked with chaotic events that have challenged society both physically and mentally since the beginning of this year. The COVID-19 pandemic became public on the eve of 2020 and a lack of action from American leadership had left the country panicked and anxious as the spread of the virus continued.

As we continued to see both the COVID-19 case and death count rocket, we also saw another issue rising: anti-Asian hate. Asian Americans have been blamed for COVID-19 and President Trump’s use, including at his Tulsa campaign rally, of…

RBG’s passing has hit me hard.

She’s someone I admired for so many reasons. She was a women’s rights champion, an indefatigable litigator who radically changed the way women were treated in the workplace and society at large. She was the second woman to ever serve on the US Supreme Court, where she wrote the majority opinion that prevented women from being excluded from publicly-funded institutions (VMI). …

It’s been one month since I joined Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA) as its new CEO. What an honor, and challenge, it is to lead the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI).

I recall first learning about Advancing Justice-LA 20+ years ago as a USC undergrad, reading the LA Times front cover stories about Advancing Justice-LA (then Asian Pacific American Legal Center) defending the rights of 72 Thai sweatshop workers who had been held captive behind barbed wire for years in an El Monte compound. I…

Throughout history, Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have been community leaders for an array of causes and movements. As June is Pride month, we wanted to highlight and celebrate a few of the powerful AAPI voices that have been fighting for change for the greater LGBTQIA+ community. These courageous individuals have been tirelessly working to educate the public, change institutional policies and practices, and transform our communities into more inclusive and accepting spaces. We will continue to celebrate Pride and queer-identifying leaders and voices this month and throughout the year.

Chella Man

We’ve been here before…a horrendous act of police brutality against a black man is caught on video sparking rage, protest, violence, and curfews.

We were here in 1992, working at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, as we were known then, in downtown Los Angeles. The events of the last week and a half have brought a sad sense of deja vu…and a realization that, as a society, we have not done much to address the systemic racism and societal inequities that continue to fester in our communities and have again exploded around us.

In the aftermath of the 1992…

Dear Advancing Justice-LA Supporter,

As the end of the year approaches, we wanted to keep you apprised of happenings at Advancing Justice-LA, and to announce a leadership update.

Our contract with interim Executive Director Sylia Obagi ends this December 31, and she has accepted a position out-of-state starting in the new year. As you may also know, in 2020 we expect to welcome a new CEO. In the meantime, the Board announced at an all-employee meeting last week that Advancing Justice-LA Interim Vice Presidents Anthony Roh and Aileen Louie will serve as co-leads of the organization. This move will keep…

DVRO is short for Domestic Violence Restraining Order, and it is a type of restraining order that is granted in family court. It is generally to provide protection against an intimate partner or close family member. Domestic violence can be characterized as a cycle of abuse with a power and control dynamic. Below are some common myths/misconceptions about domestic violence in the Asian American & Pacific Islander Communities:

I cannot apply for a DVRO because I do not speak English.

FALSE! You have the right to ask for an interpreter. If the court’s self-help center is unable to provide language…