2023 MAY 9
Raising the voices of a community, and building our collective power.
Asian American Action Day 2023
Who: the Pave coalition
Where: Springfield, Illinois
When: May 9, 2023Language access is an issue that affects many families across Illinois. In 2023, the Pan-Asian Voter Empowerment (PAVE) Coalition launched their language access and equity campaign and chose this as the lead issue for 2023’s Asian American Action Day, an annual day of legislative advocacy and civic engagement.
As a community leader in Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago, a member of the PAVE Coalition, I was invited to document the historic journey to Springfield and capture fellow community leaders speaking to legislators about the challenges that language barriers present. Leaders shared powerful stories, some even losing loved ones when communicated needs were lost in translation.
Asian American Action Day is a long and challenging event. We begin our day at 4AM and return home as late as 10PM. As an Asian American myself, I set out to capture the pain, passion, and pride of all the members of my community that dedicated their day to advocate for equity.