Dear Friends of CAPA21:
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you personally for your support of CAPA21—moral, intellectual, and financial—and for your faith in our ability to make a difference. Thanks to your warm support, we were able to contribute to the fabulous success of winning back control of the White House and Senate and keeping our majority in the House of Representatives.
When Dale and I established CAPA21 in 2013, Barack Obama had just been re-elected president, and we were feeling optimistic about the overall direction of our country. We felt, however, that we needed to make special efforts to identify, nurture, and support progressive AAPI candidates running for political office, hence, CAPA21. But the election of 2016 was a shocking regression that gave us the worst president in our lifetime and a Republican majority in the Senate and House that enabled Donald Trump to encourage and energize the worst elements of our country: bigots, racists, fascists, homophobes, and xenophobes.
With your support, we were able to help end “our long national nightmare” on January 20, 2021. Although Joe Biden won the electoral college by a comfortable margin (306 vs. 232) and won the popular vote by over 7 million (81,283,485, or 51.4%, vs. 74,223,744, or 46.9%), we face the uncomfortable truth that over 74 million Americans voted to give Trump a second term. What this means is that we must remain eternally vigilant and continue our efforts to support progressive candidates who can ensure that we protect, preserve, and expand our freedom, our liberty, and our democracy. I look forward to working with all of you on our quest to ensure that AAPIs fully participate to make our beloved America a “more perfect union.”
In solidarity,
Glen S. Fukushima
Co-Founder and Chairman
CAPA21
Dear Supporters of CAPA21, Friends and Colleagues:
I just wanted to say “Thank You” to all the folks who supported our efforts to save our country, through your donations, encouraging folks to donate, organizing, voter engagement and protection, sharing our posts, writing letters, and making phone calls, and just voting. From those who gave $100,000 to those who contributed $5 or more, from Hawai’i to Maine, we appreciated the donations, but just as important, we valued your emotional support and inspiration for all of us at CAPA21 to keep on and do more. This was a slog, a trek, a marathon, and undamped fight for the soul of a country we love. You kept us going.
And what inspired me was the fierce determination to combat voter suppressions, lies, manipulation, degradations of the Rule of Law, intimidating voters, violence against People of Color who came out and mailed votes during the time of CV19. Seeing the lines to vote in the heat, rain, and inclement conditions reminded me of the unshakeable resolve and courage of the African Americans who endured immeasurable hardship so they could exercise a fundamental right denied them for decades, just like their sit-ins at lunch counters just to get a bite to eat. We stand in their worn and tired shoes and we are the heirs to their legacy.
I have been active in electoral politics since 1987 when we formed CAPA (Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans), which evolved into CAPA21. I have never been so moved by our friends (and strangers) who donated, nor prouder of our American voters who walked this perilous path with us to help restore the United States I respect.
So, thank you all. My appreciation is bottomless.
Dale Minami
Co-Founder and President
CAPA21
CAPA21 