Asian American Political Alliance
Ichioka and Gee had noticed that most of the Asian Americans who were taking part in student protests were only participating as individuals rather than as a coalition.
Because of this, they wanted to create an organization to unite all Asian Americans under one group to fight for social and political change.
To do this, they looked through the roster of the Peace and Freedom Party and invited everyone with Asian surnames to discuss the idea for a potential group at a meeting.
[3] The first meeting was held in Ichioka and Gee's apartment, where they decided to form the Asian American Political Alliance.
[3] Floyd Huen, a member of the Berkeley AAPA, wrote that the AAPA "raised the political and social level of the debate; it consciously considered the formation of a 'yellow caucus' within the nascent Peace and Freedom Party...[it] represented the earnings of a racially common group of American youth were who tired of being labeled 'oriental and 'meek and passive' and who wanted self-define like other groups.
"[7] The AAPA sought to build a multi-ethnic Asian American political movement and create alliances with other people of color.
[3] In fact, members often met to read political writings, including Mao Zedong, Franz Fanon, and the Black Panther Party Newspaper, in order to provide context for the activism they were involved in.
We believe that the American society is historically racist and one which has systematically employed social discrimination and economic imperialism, both domestically and internationally, exploiting all non-white people in the process of building up their affluent society...The goal of AAPA is political education and advancement of the movement among Asian people, so that they may make all decisions that affect their own lives.
Floyd Huen, a member of the Berkeley AAPA, wrote that Yuji Ichioka "educated all of us about the trauma and danger of the internment of his community during the war, first raising the campaign to repeal the McCarran Act.
[1] According to scholar Karen Umemoto, this strike "marked a 'shedding of silence' and an affirmation of identity" for Asian American students.
This symposium brought together college students from all over California, who came together to write a resolution to fully support the SF State strike and express Asian American solidarity with other people of color.
AAPA used posters with "Free Huey" written in multiple languages, including English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Tagalog.
[8] In 1969, the AAPA stated that it opposed the Vietnam War not because American soldiers were being killed, but because it recognized that the Vietnamese people were struggling for self-determination and independence against U.S.
[2] The AAPA made their opposition to the Vietnam War an integral tenet of its ideology, and declared that it opposed the imperialistic policies of the U.S. and instead supported the demands of the Vietnamese National Liberation Front.
[1] On November 10, 2018, past and present members of AAPA at UC Berkeley commemorated the 50th anniversary of its founding at 2005 Hearst Ave., its former meeting place.
[13] The AAPA was a major influence in inspiring both its own members and other Asian Americans across the United States to participate in political organizing and fight for social change.
