AAPI FRONTLINE

Rep. Grace Meng finds support in Congress while fighting Asian American bias.

Rep. Grace Meng proposed a resolution in the House calling on it to condemn all forms of racism and scapegoating, and to demand that public officials denounce any anti-Asian sentiments.

Ekta Prakash is busy working to make sure immigrant communities in Minneapolis and its northern suburbs can access culturally specific food, such as basmati rice, vermicelli noodles and fish sauce.

David Ho’s 1990s research helped shed light on how HIV replicates. Now, his research aims to stem replication of the coronavirus.

grew up in Chinatown and has worked in hospitality and service for the past eight years. He spends the days handing our masks and making sure those without resources in the neighborhood are fed and other essential workers get a free beverage as they push through the pandemic.

For Erika Roño, there's no room for her to entertain thoughts about her monthly bills or what's going on at home. Once she walks through the doors at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she can't afford to focus on anything else except her duties as an ER nurse.

"Yuh-Line Niou, a Democratic member of the New York state Assembly, says she's not thinking about her campaign even though it is an election year. She splits her time between quelling fears from constituents about the rising number of hate attacks directed at Asian Americans and obtaining PPE."

Amid the coronavirus, Luck Sarabhayavanija closed one restaurant but opened another. The owner of a line of New Jersey eateries called Ani Ramen, Sarabhayavanija wanted to help first responders and health care workers. So after he temporarily closed his business, he launched a nonprofit pop-up.

"Nidha Azam is a physician assistant on Long Island, New York. She had been working at a family medicine practice, where she provided some care to patients showing COVID-19 symptoms, but when she saw the need for more health care workers in New York City hospitals, she knew she wanted to do more."

Sumitpal Singh is the Southern California coordinator for humanitarian nonprofit United Sikhs. He said his drive to help others comes from his religious beliefs, including the idea of selfless service — or "seva." His faith is now inspiring him to provide relief amid the pandemic.

Calvin Sun, an attending physician in emergency medicine, chose to begin most days in the past months on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting critically ill patients in a city that has been devastated by the coronavirus.

"Jose Antonio Vargas, who founded Define American, a group that aims to shift perceptions of immigrants, said there are aspects of the situation, like "social distancing" from loved ones in their home countries, that are reminiscent of experiences undocumented people regularly confront.

"Before the pandemic, medical specialist Jordan Lee, who was born and raised in Hawaii, had a variety of methods from Western and traditional medicine to comfort patients in the ICU. Most of them are rooted in physical proximity. Now, he said, all those practices are gone."