2020 Special Session Letter

June 16, 2020

Speaker Melissa Hortman
Minnesota House of Representatives
436 State Office Building
St. Paul, MN 55155

Dear Speaker Hortman:

We are writing to you in regards to the current special session packages to address public safety in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the economic package to rebuild neighborhoods and businesses damaged due to COVID-19 and civil unrest. We deeply appreciate the efforts of the legislature, in particular the members of the POCI Caucus, who are working hard to address these deep-rooted issues. These are issues that have lasted for generations in Minnesota, and it is time we acted to address them.

As you work on the issue of rebuilding neighborhoods and businesses, we want to work with you to ensure our Asian community, who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, are included as proposals are developed. Many members of our community also live in the neighborhoods that were damaged by the civil unrest. So we urge you to ensure their inclusion as you work to pass funding to begin the rebuilding process. That’s why we fully support a bold, courageous and inclusive approach, and call on you to ensure that you engage your 259,195 Asian American constituents in the Twin Cities so that communities are not further excluded and divided.

We know that the fight for change is long and difficult. So, we are with you in remembering that the world we are fighting for is not one in which we simply reform our current unjust systems. The world we are fighting for is about freedom and liberation. The freedom to walk, the freedom to breathe, the freedom to live without fear, harassment, or discrimination, and having equal access, opportunities, and support to achieve our full potential. This is a moment when we must ensure that all BIPOC communities are seen and heard through inclusive processes. We must lean in on each other for solutions.

We must remember that generations of exclusion led us to the moments of civil unrest in the Twin Cities. We are ready to work with you and are asking you to be bolder, more courageous, and more thoughtful so that we are not just reforming unjust systems, but create new and transformative ones that truly recognize the dignity and humanity in all of us.

We look forward to working with you. Please let us know if you have any questions by contacting nick@caalmn.org.

Sincerely,

Bo Thao-Urabe
Executive & Network Director
Coalition of Asian American Leaders

Nick Kor
Senior Manager of Movement Building
Coalition of Asian American Leaders