Grassroots Asians Rising (GAR) is a national network of grassroots organizations rooted in Asian and Pacific Islander communities. They assist communities that live in the most precarious margins of power: refugees, low-wage workers, youth, undocumented immigrants, queer and trans people, and low-income tenants.

Impact Highlights

  • GAR hired Roksana Mun, formerly of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), to join Cathy Dang, formerly of CAAAV, as full-time co-directors. Before this expansion, GAR didn’t have capacity to recruit members. Under their new leadership, GAR has expanded their national membership base from seven core organizations to 28 and counting.
  • New recruitment added organizations based in the rural California Central Valley and U.S. South, Southwest, and Midwest regions that are often overlooked for their Asian American organizing.
  • GAR’s programs combat white supremacy, racism, and right-wing violence against Asian Americans. Examples include their member webinar on Reimagining Safety, encouraging sharing and dialogue on members’ strategies for combating housing insecurity, anti-Black racism, and gender-based violence. GAR held a webinar and discussion for member organizations on lessons learned from post-9/11 vigilante and state violence against Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities to address the rise in violence against East and Southeast Asians in the context of COVID scapegoating.

What’s Next
GAR intends to grow their cross-racial solidarity efforts by translating their racial justice toolkit into at least 12 languages for groups that work with immigrants and refugees.

GAR guides their member organizations to work on more policy advocacy. The organization also engages the working-class immigrants and refugees they serve with campaigns focused on building power in their communities. GAR is considering recession planning with members and giving grassroots organizations the tools and resources to weather economic unpredictability. They seek investment and support for these game-changing efforts.