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👋 Welcome to AAPI Nation.
Your girl is looking forward to seeing Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase make history as the first Asian American to lead an WNBA team to victory. The championships kick off at Chase Center 12:30pm PT tomorrow. You bet I’ll be wearing my Kaitlyn Chen jersey.
Sheng Thao. Photo: Oakland mayor’s office
⚖️ Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial kicked off this week, more than two years after FBI agents raided her home over bribery, fraud, and corruption allegations, per NBC Bay Area.
Thao, the first Hmong American mayor of a major U.S. city, was recalled in November 2024 and faces up to 95 years in prison.
🚨 A 19-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly planning a mass shooting at the largest Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois, AP reports.
The defendant’s co-workers say he self-identified as a white supremacist and told them he couldn’t wait to kill Indian people, according to prosecutors.
📈 62% of reported anti-Asian hate acts now involve anti-immigrant sentiment, a sharp increase from 42% in 2023, according to new data from Stop AAPI Hate.
The share of these reports that included explicit threats of or actual physical harm also doubled from 13% in 2023 to 27% in the first half of 2026.
📊 The Sikh Coalition, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Hindus for Human Rights, and Jewish Council for Public Affairs are among three dozen organizations raising concern that potentially flawed methodologies and incomplete data led to an undercount in the FBI's 2026 Hate Crimes report, Religion News Service reports.
📖 The third installment of “Fighting to Belong!”, a graphic novel series chronicling key moments of AAPI history through the eyes of middle school students, is now available for sale. The latest volume—written by mother-son duo Amy Chu and Alexander Chang and illustrated by Louie Chin, starts with the Vietnam War and extends into the present day.
⏱️ An Indian person who applies to the EB-2 employment-based green card is projected to wait 179 years, according to figures from Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s (D-New Jersey) office. Gottheimer hosted a roundtable with AAPI community leaders this month to discuss challenges with immigration, public safety, and affordability, per WRNJ Radio.
📜 The Hawai‘i Legislature held a committee hearing this week to discuss recent legal challenges against Native Hawaiian programs and institutions.
🍎 Two New York City Council members are reviving calls to diversify specialized high schools like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech amid overrepresentation of Asian Americans and underrepresentation of Black and Latino students, per BK Reader.
⛏️ An upcoming exhibition presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center delves into the lives of Filipino migrant workers who were recruited to work on Hawai‘i sugar plantations. “Stories from the Field” will be available to the public Oct. 27 through Nov. 3 at the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu.
📖 A new novel from Kawai Strong Washburn follows a Marshallese and Japanese lawyer fighting the impact of climate change and striving to protect her ancestral homelands in the aftermath of a super storm, according to the International Examiner.
🩺 Alignment Health Plan is launching a new Medicare Advantage plan focused on providing culturally connected care to Asian American seniors in Los Angeles and Orange counties starting Jan. 1.
🏛️ The Sacramento History Museum will unveil next month an immersive exhibit examining the history of Sacramento’s Japantown, from its grassroots origins through wartime incarceration and eventual demolition, AsAmNews reports.
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Founded in 2018, The Yappie is an independent, nonprofit news organization reporting on Asian American + Pacific Islander power, politics, and influence. Learn more.
