Albany, NY – Members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus released the fifth episode of the “Caucus Corner'' of the 2024 legislative session. The Caucus Corner is an audio series initiated by members to discuss and analyze major Caucus priorities from its annual People’s Budget with policy experts and community-based organizations from across the state. Additionally, Caucus members are able to increase support for various initiatives and campaigns.

With the Caucus Corner, members have the opportunity to talk directly to New Yorkers on the issues that matter most to them. This series creates a forum for media, government officials, and constituents to gather and explore the various affairs before the state. This week, the members discussed Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month and its transformation over the past four decades.

Listen to the program here on Spotify 

“There is a significant amount of poverty in the Asian Community and it’s important that we provide support for these individuals,” said Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus, Michaelle Solages. “I know Assemblymember Grace Lee and coalitions have been making great strides in state government for uplifting the AAPI community.”

“I want to see more Asian Americans engaged in government & view it as a path to empower communities,” said Assemblymember Grace Lee. “I’m the first Korean American woman here, and I do not want to be the last, and I hope that all of the work that we do lays the groundwork for a legacy of engagement and empowerment for our communities.”

“We're doing our best to educate and inspire conversation in dismantling our communities as being this monolith.” said the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), Felicia Singh, “We are such a huge diaspora of rich communities that live all across New York with really beautiful holidays, languages and food, but also important equity issues that we care so much about that need uplifting from education to budget equity to dismantling the model minority myth.”

“According to the 2020 Census, there are nearly 2.1 million New Yorkers of Asian descent, and that’s nearly 11% of the population and its highest growing racial group within the state from 2010 to 2020. What that means is the stories of our communities will not be flattened to a single experience on what it means to be Asian.” said Deputy Director of Research & Policy at Asian American Federation, Andrew Sta. Ana. “One of the things I’m excited about with this AAPI Heritage Month is to showcase the power of our community, the joy of our community, the ways under which we continue to struggle and how our needs are sometimes underrepresented.”