Approximately 15,000 people are expected to gather at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., later this month for a first multicultural march led by the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
The Unity March will be held June 25 and include more than 50 Asian American nonprofit organizations and other diverse groups. Advocates are pushing for more civic participation within the AAPI community and across other racial groups, as well as an emphasis on racial and economic justice.
"The Unity March is a historic moment because it’s the first march on Washington led by Asian Americans," Kevin K. Hirano, a spokesperson for the march, wrote in an email. He said the goals were to unite community groups and to "demonstrate our collective strength as Asian Americans and allies to make change."
The march will include Asian American advocacy groups, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC, Gold House, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) and Sikh American Legal Defense Fund (SALDEF). Organizations representing other historically marginalized communities, such as Voto Latino and the NAACP, will also take part.
The organizers also hope to use their platform to highlight other key issues impacting communities of color. This includes creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people, strengthening voting rights, and supporting state and local efforts for multicultural studies in K-12 and university systems.
“This is not just symbolic,” Tiffany Chang, a spokesperson for Unity March, previously told NBC Asian America. “We are actually trying to get folks to get plugged into the issues that they care about the most and by participating, show our political power.”
