失败了也要庆祝胜利

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State legislators recognize data disaggregation as an important issue, not only in the Asian American communities, but across all race and ethnicities. Joint Committee establishes an inclusive commission to expand disaggregated data to all groups.

BOSTON – Following a long hearing last Tuesday, the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight has voted to move House Bill 3361 forward by establishing an inclusive commission tasked with updating the initial placeholder bill, to expand statewide racial and ethnic data collection through disaggregation to all racial and ethnic groups.

This is a significant victory for advocates of  improved data collection, who have been critical voices in moving the issue forward at the State House. For decades, data disaggregation has been an important civil rights issue for Asian American advocates, who view a monolithic racial identity as an impediment to recognizing the underserved and underrepresented.

The initial placeholder bill, H.3361, included data collection for major subgroups in the Asian American communities and was supported by broad coalition of over fifty community-based organizations in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. As support from Latino and Black organizations poured in, the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus offered its full support to expand and improve data collection for all races and will lead the Committee to establish a commission to craft a more comprehensive bill.

Community advocates and social service agencies are thrilled to see this movement and will work constructively with the newly established commission to fight for recognition of marginalized communities and equity in our Commonwealth.

Lisette Le, Director of Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, explained, “Vietnamese Americans are more likely to have Hepatitis B than other populations. These data points, along with others, are what guide us to determine the services we provide and partnerships we make in order to help mitigate issues around mental health, housing, economic development and education/youth services that our community needs. For many of the families that we serve, our ability to know the conditions that affect them saves their lives.”

“I’m thrilled that Chairman Timilty and Chairwoman Benson have agreed to move our legislation forward,” stated State Representative Tackey Chan (D-Quincy), the sponsor of H.3361. “I’m also grateful for the support and inclusion of the Black and Latino communities in our endeavor. They realize that data disaggregation will be an immensely beneficial tool for all our communities, and I look forward to working with Commission members as we craft a broad and inclusive way to bring data disaggregation to Massachusetts.”

The Special Commission will include House and Senate Members appointed by the Speaker of the House, Senate President and House and Senate Minority Leaders; appointees of the Black Advisory Commission and the Latino Advisory Commission; an appointee of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services; an appointee of the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division; and an appointee of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.  Recommendations and proposed legislation to the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate have to be submitted by December 31, 2018.

Coalition members and supporters

• AAPI Data
• AAPI Progressive Action
• Addressing Disparities in Asian Populations through Translational Research
• Amherst College Asian Students Association
• Amherst College South Asian Students’ Association
• Asian American Civic Association
• Asian American Commission
• Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts
• Asian American Policy Review – Harvard Kennedy School
• Asian American Resource Workshop
• Asian Community Development Corporation
• Asian Pacific American Law Students Association – Harvard Law School
• Asian Pacific American Network of the American College Personnel Association
• Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health
• Asian Pacific Islander Civic Action Network
• Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council
• Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence
• Asian Women for Health
• Association of Harvard Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff
• Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
• Boston College Asian American Studies Program
• Boston Teachers Union
• Brazilian Women’s Group
• Brookline Asian American Family Network
• Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell
• Chelsea Collaborative
• Chinatown Community Land Trust
• Chinese Progressive Association
• The City School
• Clean Water Action
• Coalition for Social Justice
• Community Labor United
• Critical Race Studies in Education Association
• Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
• Essex County Community Organization
• Greater Boston Legal Services, Asian Outreach Unit
• Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition
• GreenRoots Chelsea
• Harry H. Dow Memorial Legal Assistance Fund
• Immigrant Service Providers Group/Health
• Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative
• Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center
• Japanese American Citizens League, New England chapter
• Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
• Jewish Voice for Peace Boston
• Korean-American Citizens League of New England
• Massachusetts Asian American Educators Association
• Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus
• Massachusetts Coalition For Occupational Safety And Health
• Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition
• Massachusetts Voter Table
• Metrowest Worker Center
• Moishe Kavod – Jewish Social Justice House
• National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse
• National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Boston Chapter
• New England United for Justice
• Pan-Asian Coalition for Education – Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance
• Quincy Asian Resources, Inc.
• Saheli – Support and Friendship For South Asian Women and Families
• South Cove Community Health Center
• Southeast Asian Resource Action Center
• Tufts Asian Student Coalition – Tufts University
• UMass Boston Institute for Asian American Studies
• UMass Lowell Center for Asian American Studies
• Unitarian Universalist Association
• Vietnamese-American Community of Massachusetts (Cộng Đồng Việt Nam tại Massachusetts)
• Vietnamese American Initiative for Development

Individuals

• Amy Mah Sangiolo – Former Newton City Councilor-at-Large
• Anh Vu Sawyer — Director, Southeast Asian Coalition of Massachusetts
• Anjali Vats — Assistant Professor of Communications and African Diasporic Studies, Boston College
• Anthony Tran — Assistant Professor of Communications, Boston College
• Arissa H. Oh — Associate Professor of History, Boston College
• Charles H.F. Davis III, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor of Clinical Education, USC Rossier School of Education
• C.N. Le, Ph.D. — Sociology Faculty and Director of Asian & Asian American Studies, UMass Amherst
• Delia Cheung Hom, Ed.D. — Director, Asian American Center, Northeastern University
• Ed Flynn — Boston City Councilor, District Two
• Hurnan Vongsachang — Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, MPH Candidate
• Janelle Wong — AAPI Data Senior Researcher and Professor of Asian American Studies
• Jennifer Lee — Professor of Sociology, Columbia University
• Kari Kokka, Ed.D. — Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh
• Karthick Ramakrishnan — AAPI Data Director and Professor of Public Policy
• Keon M. McGuire — Assistant Professor, Higher & Postsecondary Education, School of Social
• Transformation, Arizona State University
• Kimberly A. Truong, Ph.D. — Director of Inclusion Programs, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Michelle Wu — Boston City Councilor At-Large
• Min Hyoung Song — Professor of English and Director of the Asian American Studies Program, Boston College
• Oh Myo Kim — Assistant Professor of the Practice, Counseling, Developmental, & Educational Psychology, Boston College
• OiYan A. Poon, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Higher Education Leadership, Colorado State University
• Ramsay Liem — Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Boston College
• Rosann Tung, Ph.D. — Director of Policy, Research, and Evaluation; New York University, Metropolitan
• Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
• Steven R. Ultrino, Ed.D — State Representative for the 33rd Middlesex District
• Sumun L. Pendakur, Ed.D. — Chief Learning Officer and Director, USC Equity Institutes, Race and Equity Center
• Tryan L. McMickens, Ed.D — Assistant Professor of Higher Education; Director, Administration of Higher Education Program, Suffolk University
• Usha Tummula-Narra — Associate Professor of Counseling, Development, and Educational Psychology, Boston College
• Vanessa S. Na, M.A. — PhD Student, Higher Education – Indiana University Bloomington; Co-Founder/Board of Directors – Project Ava