Harris headlines unity summit for AAPI community
CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris will serve as the keynote speaker for a virtual unity summit for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders this week, her latest outreach to a community that has faced a wave of racially motivated crimes during the pandemic and is growing as a voting bloc.
Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president, will address the AAPI Victory Alliance and AAPI Victory Fund's first ever unity summit on Wednesday, the group told CNN. The virtual event, titled "From Victory to Unity," will feature celebrities like Tan France and Simu Liu as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Cory Booker of New Jersey. "It's time we call our communities together to discuss strategies for engaging and mobilizing in the future," Varun Nikore, executive director of the AAPI Victory Alliance and president of AAPI Victory Fund, said. "Vice President Harris is an inspiration for all of our AAPI children who now know that the sky's the limit and you can be anything in this country that they strive for."Elected officials, Jewish advocacy groups and civil rights leaders are vowing to “push back” against the message of a White nationalist group that staged a march last week near downtown Columbus, Ohio, calling the demonstration an act of hate unwelcome in their community – and the United States more broadly.
Senate Democrats have confirmed some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench this week in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a total GOP blockade of judicial nominations – in part because several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes.