CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — "Seeing that representation is really, really important," Nicolette Ardiente, the community engagement manager for Asian Texans for Justice said.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) make up a very small percentage of the Corpus Christi community. Because of this, it can go unnoticed how little the AAPI community is represented.
That’s not the case in other parts of Texas. Ardiente, with Asian Texans for Justice, said AAPI representation is growing.
“We’re really excited that this past legislative session we have more AAPI folks that are serving at the state legislature,” Ardiente said.
Asian Texans for Justice is a statewide non partisan nonprofit that connects Asian Texans to civic power. That could mean taking a role in politics, starting a business, getting involved in volunteer opportunities in their community.
It was founded in 2021 following the spa shootings in Atlanta. A group of Asian Texans came together to figure out how to give themselves a voice and prevent something like that from happening again.
Ardiente noted that the African-American and Latinx communities have found ways to stand up for themselves. But she said that hasn’t happened for the AAPI community yet.
“It’s that mobilizing aspect to the AAPI community that has never been done before. Because we’ve been left out for so long, we have to do this work even stronger and more thoughtful to represent our communities better,” she said.
Another point Ardiente maked is that of the 1.9 million AAPI Texans, some came from countries where they can’t get as involved in their government or community. So, cultural education is a big challenge.
Ardiente said representation is important because right now, very few are advocating for AAPI people, for what they care. She mentioned health care and accurate AAPI history taught in school as some priorities.
Ardiente believes it starts with breaking down the language barrier. For example, that could look like language accessibility while voting.
“Language accessibility, I feel is always going to be the first and foremost pillar to what comes next. Because how else will folks feel invested in the community that they’re in, if where English may not be their first language?” she said.
How are they building up AAPI Texans to be more involved?
Asian Texans for Justice stand on four pillars: traditional civic engagement, coalition building or connecting AAPI people to each other, state government and board of education advocacy and lastly youth leadership and development.
Coalition building can start at your local religious establishment or at a cultural event. Ardiente said starting a conversation with a fellow person of AAPI descent can lead to changes in representation.
Ardiente said their advocacy against Senate Bill 147 helped put it to rest. It was a bill that would have limited people from certain Asian countries from owning land in Texas.
Their advocacy at the state board of education helped them establishing an Asian American studies program in Round Rock Independent School District. They also started a fellowship program for 16 to 24-years-olds to be community leaders.
“What started as us advocating for Asian American studies has now blossomed these young folks to start doing advocacy work in their own capacities wherever the breeze takes them,” Ardiente said.
Hatred toward minorities has presented another challenge for Asian Texans for Justice. It's forced them to consider how to educate the public to stop the spread of misinformation.
Asian Texans for Justice haven’t had any outreach in Corpus Christi just yet, but there are plans to work with students at University of Texas Rio Grand Valley in the coming months.
