​Washington, DC – The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) is outraged and saddened by the murder of Jordan Edwards, a Black teenager, at the hands of another police officer in April, and by this week’s announcement that the Justice Department (DOJ) would not file federal charges against the police officers responsible for the murder of Alton Sterling last July. APALA continues to condemn the deep-seeded racism and violence endemic in our criminal justice system, and remains committed to organizing alongside #BlackLivesMatter and the Movement for Black Lives.
 
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Jordan Edwards and Alton Sterling,” stated Johanna Puno Hester, APALA National President and Assistant Executive Director of the United Domestic Workers, AFSCME Local 3930. “There is no justice for Black lives. We cannot stop paying attention or forget to remember this pattern of state-sponsored violence against Black and Brown people.”
 
Gregory A. Cendana, APALA Executive Director, added: “The DOJ’s announcement is deeply disappointing and is indicative of the way Attorney General Jeff Sessions will continue to run the department. We live in a scary time where justice is swept under the carpet, where white supremacists have been emboldened to act with violence, where money is time and again put over the dignity and respect of real people.”
 
“From the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Edward Crawford, another Ferguson activist who was just found dead, this struggle for freedom – for our bodies, for our lives – is all connected,” concluded Hester. “Sandra Bland. Philando Castile. Eric Garner. Freddie Gray. Akai Gurley. Michael Brown. We carry their names every day because we work, live, breathe in a society that was not made for us. With an administration that devalues the diverse people we are and that continues to protect the white status quo, we need to resist, organize, and fight back more than ever.”

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​Washington, DC – Today, millions of people nationwide are protesting and coming together to demand dignity and justice for all working people. We rally to demand justice for immigrants, refugees, and Muslims; to protect the right to collectively bargain and organize a union; to fight against mass deportations, a Muslim ban, and the criminalization of people of color; and to defend the Earth and its resources. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA), National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), and National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) are gathering an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) contingent in Washington, DC to stand in solidarity with ours- and allied- communities under attack by the administration’s policies and rhetoric.
 
APALA Executive Director Gregory A. Cendana stated: “We are keeping true on our commitment to resisting, organizing, and fighting back. Just in the past 100 days of the administration, attacks on our communities have instilled fear and anxiety to new levels, and we refuse to make this racist and xenophobic agenda the new norm for our country. This fight is a shared struggle uniting our diverse AAPI community and people of color more broadly to the struggles of all working people and families in the United States and across the globe. Sustainable jobs with fair wages; access to healthcare; living and working in places with dignity and free from fear, discrimination, or criminalization – these are the basic tenets driving us together.”
 
“It's been 100 days since we mobilized AAPI women and gender non-conforming people across to the U.S. to march in resistance and resiliency in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. In the 100 days since, we have continued to build power for AAPI immigrant women and gender non-conforming workers across issues and movements,” added Sung Yeon Choimorrow, NAPAWF Interim Executive Director. “The movement for reproductive justice is stronger and more powerful when we acknowledge and elevate how our different identities shape the rights and agency of AAPIs and all workers. We are committed to a social and political transformation that ensures gender and racial equality each member of the AAPI community and other communities of color—and that means resisting anti-immigrant policies and economic inequity.”
 
NAKASEC Co-Director Dae Joong Yoon concluded: “Immigrant rights are human rights.  The agenda put forth by the administration undermines the very core of our country.  As our AAPI communities are no strangers to organizing and resisting, we will continue to elevate our voices and build power for AAPI families.  We are proud to rise up with our allies and partners who work to dismantle the systemic threats trying to oppress us.”

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