On December 9 th, Assembly member Mike Eng honored South Asian Network (SAN) for its “exceptional leadership in building coalitions and uniting diverse communities.”
“The ‘Day of Inclusion’ celebration was an inspirational event, and SAN was humbled to receive such an award acknowledging efforts on behalf of the South Asian American communities in Southern California on issues of health access, violence prevention, and civil rights. SAN is honored to participate in marking a legacy of justice for immigrants and Asian American communities led by the visionary Mike Eng,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, Executive Director of SAN.
Eng spoke at SAN’s “Ten Years After 9/11: A Community Hearing,” on August 20 th, 2011 and asked the nearly two hundred community members in the audience to speak out against the decade-long post-9/11 experiences of racial profiling, surveillance, hate crimes, bullying, and discrimination in South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh communities.
Eng started the first “Day of Inclusion” in 2009 with the passage of Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 76 to recall the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which restricted Chinese migration to the US and denied Chinese immigrants US citizenship, was repealed by the Magnuson Act on December 17, 1943.
Eng’s “Day of Inclusion” seeks to recognize the contributions and sacrifices immigrants make in the US and the work that people do to eradicate intolerance and discrimination against immigrants.
Eng also honored six other community-based organizations, including Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC), Khmer Girls in Action (KGA), Islander Vote (I-VOTE), Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), Tongan Community Service Center (TCSC), and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Alliance (NHPI Alliance).
Founded in 1990, SAN is a community-based organization dedicated to advancing the health, empowerment, and solidarity of persons of South Asian origin in Southern California.
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