January 20, 2021
With three simple words, Kamala Harris sent out her first official tweet as Vice President: “Ready to serve.”
Ready to serve. Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 20, 2021
With that, a new chapter in American history has begun. Asian American Congressional leaders offered their congratulations and hopes for the future.
“The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer,” said Rep Judy Chu (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
“The swearing-in of Kamala Harris as Vice President serves a large part in inspiring generations of young girls and AAPIs to pursue public office.” said the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in a statement. “It is our hope that this will continue to expand the AAPI political pipeline and increase representation of AAPIs at the highest levels of government.”
Everything happens too slowly for my liking.
The last times there were strong glimmers of hope of having a woman in the White House were in 1984 (when Geraldine Ferraro ran for vice president), 2008 and, most recently, in 2016 when Hillary Clinton made history as the first woman nominated for president on a major party ticket.
Many people were delighted, especially Italian American women like myself, when Ferraro ran. They held all kinds of parties for her. I had the pleasure of meeting her on more than one occasion. I once asked her, “What do you do with criticism?” As a Democrat and a woman, she was getting more than her share of verbal attacks, and this was before Twitter and other social media platforms.
Jan 11, 2021 6:02 PM EDT
As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, House Veterans Affairs Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., said he is “profoundly disappointed” with his failure to appoint a person of Asian American or Pacific Islander (AAPI) descent to serve in his Cabinet.
Takano made his critical remarks during an interview with the PBS NewsHour about his agenda for the Veterans Affairs Committee in the 117th Congress.
He said he is looking forward to the incoming Biden administration, but that his will be the first administration in 20 years not to have an AAPI leading an executive department.
“As much as I view myself as a friendly ally of this president, I think he’s erred in [that] he has chosen to exclude Asian Americans from his 15 Cabinet secretaries,” said Takano, who also has a leadership position in the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).
OBITUARY: Civil Rights Activist Georgette Imura, 77
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SACRAMENTO Georgette Imura, a long-time Sacramento activist, died on Dec. 17 after a three-year battle with non-small cell lung cancer. She was 77.
Georgette Imura
Born in the Manzanar concentration camp in 1943, she moved to Sacramento with her family when she was 4 years old and graduated from Sacramento High School.
Imura had a 28-year career with the State Legislature. She was a receptionist for Assemblymember Leroy Greene (1967-68), legislative secretary for Assemblymember Yvonne Brathwaite (1968-72), legislative assistant for Assemblymember Julian Dixon (1972-78), chief of staff for State Sen. Diane Watson (1978-81), staff director for the California State Senate Democratic Caucus (1981-85), and principal consultant for the California State Senate Elections Committee (1985-87).