AFT Maryland is happy to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The term encapsulates a wide array of different cultures, ethnicities, and regional dialects. Each bubbling with unique customs and traditions that offer valuable ways of knowing that contribute to the larger American community. The Asian/Pacific diaspora stretches across vast territories giving us Americans with ancestral roots from Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands, to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines just to name a few.
Our national federation has demonstrated an attentiveness to the particular needs of various constituency groups as exemplified by the AAPI Task Force. We are pleased to say AFT Maryland board member Rogie Legaspi is on this task force. This group advocates for and makes sure that AFT supported policy includes the needs and demands of the AAPI community. This is in addition to the work of the AFL-CIO and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. These groups and others similarly situated help the labor movement fight for all working people at all times. We lift up those who have not historically had a voice to give to make sure one group’s benefit is not another group’s harm.
Our AAPI family has a long labor history in the United States. The community has experienced exploitation and been tasked with doing unenviable work without the deserved compensation and spoils of their labor. That is why our 21st century labor movement includes the voices of all workers because only through unity and solidarity can any of us achieve prosperity. The commitment to solidarity and belief in advancing by leaving no one behind is the message echoed by the Moore-Miller administration that proudly features our state’s first Asian-American Lieutenant Governor.
Our federation is made up of many people, from many different walks of life but one thing that remains consistent is our solidarity and commitment to high quality public service. Whether corrections officers in Baltimore county, K-12 education professionals in Baltimore city, public health professionals in Wicomico county or civil servants in Hagerstown, all of our members from every background cleave to the solidarity and unity necessary to build a labor union that can welcome all and attend to the needs of each member. In that vein, we celebrate our AAPI family and are excited to dive deeply into learning and experiencing AAPI heritage during this month.
Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!