All Posts

  • 2021 Summer Organizer Program – Apply by March 1st!2021 Summer Organizer Program – Apply by March 1st!
    Do you want to work with trans, non-binary, and queer Asian and Pasifika people and communities? Do you have a commitment to social justice? Are you ready to transform, learn concrete community organizing skills, and work to build movements for ...
  • Jessica MitchellJessica Mitchell
    JAN 2021 | JESSICA MITCHELL Image description: Jessica stands outdoors and smiles next to tall sprouting sunflowers Jessica (she/her) is the newest member of APIENC’s Core Committee and has been a member of the Dragon Fruit Network since the summer of 2019. Jessica ...
  • Will we concede to fear, or will we choose interdependence?Will we concede to fear, or will we choose interdependence?
    Dear APIENC Community,  Throughout the past year, I have often come back to the question, “Will we concede to fear and individualism, or will we choose interdependence?”  This past week, as we celebrated historic Senate wins in Georgia and watched in horror ...
  • Leo HegdeLeo Hegde
    Dec 2020 | LEO HEGDE Image description: Leo is smiling outdoors along a gravely edge of a lake with hills behind him. Leo (he/him & they/them) has been involved with APIENC for a little over a year. He is a member of ...
  • Building a world of safety, dignity, and care is up to us.Building a world of safety, dignity, and care is up to us.
    The summer after I realized I was trans, I spent a lot of time online. I wanted to learn about other trans people and be seen in my experiences. The internet helped me do so discreetly, during a time when ...
  • Now, we do as we’ve always done.Now, we do as we’ve always done.
    The day after the 2016 election, I woke up, logged onto social media, and saw outcries of anger and fear from my friends. On that day, I wrote a commitment to myself, and an invitation to others: “We are the people ...
  • Writings from #QTAPIClimateStoriesWritings from #QTAPIClimateStories
    On Saturday Sept. 19th 2020, APIENC’s Ecological Justice League (fka TTAC) brought folks together for a fun and creative Writing and Haiku Party! Participants engaged and connected with each other in order to better articulate their connection with and the ...
  • Paige ChungPaige Chung
    Sept 2020 | PAIGE CHUNG Image description: Paige is indoors smiling at the camera. Paige (she/they) is a poet and a skater. In their own words, “My last writing project Nail Trap is juicier than your neighborhood gossip and my current project ...
  • You Matter: Video Reflection on LEX 2020You Matter: Video Reflection on LEX 2020
    LEX & the APIENC family brought so much… so many things, but what i’m most thankful for is the healing that it brought to me when i felt too overwhelmed to know where to start, & i want to share ...
  • The Main Ingredient to Interdependence is Relationship BuildingThe Main Ingredient to Interdependence is Relationship Building
    When we took on the role of coordinating APIENC’s Summer Mutual Aid Project, we were both fairly new to APIENC, just joining as a volunteer and Summer Organizer. Despite our newness, we understood the importance of mutual aid in this ...
  • Hello are you there? Reflections from our Dragon Fruit Phone TreeHello are you there? Reflections from our Dragon Fruit Phone Tree
    It all started with the Dragon Fruit Project (DFP) reunion, scheduled to happen on March 21, 2020. Since last December, a volunteer team had been planning for an in-person event to celebrate all those who had contributed to our intergenerational ...
  • We Are Worthy of Support: Reflections from the Summer Organizer Program (part 2)We Are Worthy of Support: Reflections from the Summer Organizer Program (part 2)
    I haven’t always felt comfortable asking for help. Previously, I thought asking for help meant I was not “good enough,” and I thought that struggling on my own was a reflection of true strength. I learned this mindset from my ...
  • Self-Determination & Queer Power: Reflections from the Summer Organizer Program (part 1!)Self-Determination & Queer Power: Reflections from the Summer Organizer Program (part 1!)
    To me, APIENC is love — love that the world desperately needs. As a chronically ill, Việt, queer, nonbinary person, I felt unheard, othered, and silenced for far too long, by nearly everyone in my life in some way. I don’t ...
  • Vulnerability is Power: Reflections from LEX 2020Vulnerability is Power: Reflections from LEX 2020
    There I was, on a zoom call with over 30 people who I had just met the weekend before, having a vulnerable one-on-one conversation with Sammie for everyone to watch. This was during the third session of APIENC’s annual Leadership Exchange, ...
  • #QTAPIClimateStories#QTAPIClimateStories
    APIENC’s Ecological Justice League (fka TTAC, Think and Take Action Cohort for Climate Justice) Presents: #QTAPIClimateStories Writing and Haiku Party for Queer and Trans Asian & Pacific Islander People A Climate Justice Storytelling Project Register here!👉 bit.ly/QTAPIClimateStories 👈 Co-sponsored by Asian Pacific Environmental Network ...
  • Gem DatuinGem Datuin
    Jul 2020 | Gem Datuin Image description: Gem stands outdoors amongst trees holding a fluffy gray dog in their arm while slyly smiling at the camera. Gem Datuin (they/them) identifies as a queer, non-binary, pilipinx feminist & abolitionist and has been a ...
  • We Are Trans Asian and Pasifika Leaders in Defense of Black LivesWe Are Trans Asian and Pasifika Leaders in Defense of Black Lives
    We are non-Black people of Asian and Pasifika (A&PI) descent, and we are trans, nonbinary, and many Indigenous cultural gender identities¹. We span many movements, many generations, and many organizations.  We affirm the value of Black lives, unconditionally. We are in ...
  • Black Lives Matter.Black Lives Matter.
    We, as trans and queer Asians and Pacific Islanders, believe that everybody has a role in dismantling anti-Blackness.
  • Zoe ChenZoe Chen
    May 2020 | Zoe Chen Zoe marched with us at 2019 Trans March and is now part of APIENC’s Trans Justice Committee! Her pronouns are she/her/hers and identifies as a transgender woman. Image description: Zoe is sitting and smiling outdoors on some ...
  • I attribute my survival to the healing that comes with community.I attribute my survival to the healing that comes with community.
    I don’t remember the year; I was 24, maybe 25, when I went to visit a friend in St. Vincent’s Hospital on 7th Ave in New York City. I never found him. The hospital was overrun with AIDS patients and ...