Moving It Forward

Since 2020, an unprecedented number of Asian American candidates have run for local office in New York City, from community education councils and city council to the state legislature. Moving It Forward provides a key lens into how these Asian American electoral and civic firsts came to be, through the voices and stories of vital actors who transformed the city’s political landscape. Vivian S. Louie charts the emergence of new local organizations and mobilization around issues such as citywide education, the inclusion of Asian Pacific American curriculum across states, food insecurity, neighborhood safety, and violence and aggression against Asian Americans. These actors were far from a monolith—and in some cases even endorsed policy positions opposing established Democratic and progressive stances. Yet they shared a common understanding that Asian Americans need to be fully heard and seen, and their journeys continue to reverberate through the continued rise of Asian American civic activism across the United States.