EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PIVOT––the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization––was formed to be a collective voice for progressive Vietnamese Americans who seek a just and diverse America. In 2017, PIVOT was established in direct response to a political landscape and physical environment that threatened the human rights and safety of millions of Americans, particularly disenfranchised populations. (These include communities composed of those who are low-income, immigrants, refugees, people of color, LGBTQ+, and women.) Across the U.S., Vietnamese Americans with progressive values united to empower and engage fellow Vietnamese Americans to work together towards a better future.
What continues to be key to these efforts is our ability to advocate for policies that align with our values regarding: 1) promoting civil and human rights (including for immigrant, refugee, and LGBTQ+ communities), 2) increasing cultural, linguistic, and financial access to quality education, health care, and economic opportunities, 3) protecting the environment, 4) combating misinformation and disinformation, and 5) building inclusive coalitions and intergenerational community.
To that end, we are focusing on six key priorities: immigration, health, civil rights, environmental justice, economic justice, and LGBTQ+ rights. Our goals for these priorities are outlined below:
Immigration
Protect immigrants’ and asylum seekers’ rights.
Support a pathway to citizenship for non-citizens.
End abusive enforcement and detention.
Demand and advocate for due process and humane policies in deportation proceedings.
Promote and advocate for immigration issues specific to Vietnamese American communities.
Health
Preserve and expand affordable health coverage.
Ensure that everyone has a right to quality health care, regardless of immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and language or other cultural barriers.
Promote awareness and protect the use of mental health services.
Advance reproductive justice to promote health and well-being.
Eliminate and address the root causes of health disparities (disproportionate burdens of health issues in select populations) for Vietnamese Americans.
Civil Rights
Advocate for equal access to justice, health care, and other vital systems and services.
Preserve and expand access to voting rights for Vietnamese Americans and other marginalized populations.
Support all efforts to count Vietnamese Americans comprehensively and fully in key datasets, such as those administered by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Stand in solidarity with other marginalized communities on pressing civil rights issues.
Ensure equal access to economic prosperity by promoting fair protections for all workers.
Environmental Justice
Inform Vietnamese Americans of the urgency of climate change.
Mobilize to take immediate action to combat climate change.
Elevate key climate issues that impact Vietnamese American communities to a broader audience, including mainstream environmental justice organizations.
Support research efforts to better understand the impact of climate change and environmental factors that impact the quality of life for Vietnamese Americans.
Economic Justice
Protect social safety net programs and equitable access to them for all Americans, including immigrants and refugees.
Advocate for people’s rights to living wages, housing, education, health care, a clean environment, food, and safety.
Fight for pay equality through an intersectional lens (i.e. by considering how different facets of our identities such as race, class, gender, disability, and immigration may affect our experiences and needs), especially for gender justice.
Advocate for fair and equitable access to funding and resources for small businesses, including the availability of services in Vietnamese.
Promote legislation that invests public resources into communities of color, breaks down barriers for marginalized communities to build wealth, passes progressive taxes to pay for reparations, and creates policies with an anti-racist lens.
LGBTQ+ Rights
Raise public awareness of policies that affect the accessibility of health care, gender-affirming care, and mental health care for the LGBTQ+ community, their family members, and allies.
Support policies that foster LGBTQ+ communities’ health, well-being, and rights so that they may thrive in a just society.
Advocate for educational efforts and research studies on the disproportionately higher rate of suicide and mental health crises in the Vietnamese American LGBTQ+ community.
Stand in solidarity with other LGBTQ+ partner organizations and collaborators to provide a safe space to exchange ideas, build trust, support intergenerational resources for families, have representation, and advocate for policy changes.
Visit these priorities’ individual pages to learn more in-depth information about how PIVOT seeks to address these challenges.