Media Advisory | For Immediate Release - Thursday, March 25, 2021
Contact | Bill Wong, 916-708-2828 | bill@billwongllc.com
National Group of Expert AAPI Political Professionals
Form Group In Response To Epidemic of Anti-AAPI
Hate Crimes and Racist Rhetoric
CA - In response to the current unchecked epidemic of anti-Asian hate crimes, a group of professional AAPI political consultants announced a brazen and unprecedented effort to build the political power and influence necessary for the AAPI community to effectively address the current crisis and prevent future attacks on AAPIs.
The group’s goal is simple: inspire stronger AAPI political participation and execute strategies that exact a high political or economic price from politicians or organizations that choose to weaponize anti-Asian rhetoric and anti-Asian sentiment for political or economic purposes.
The founding members of the RONIN PROJECT include (in alphabetical order):
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Gene Benevides, Principal of Blue Rock Strategies
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Cheryl Hori, Founder of Pacific Campaign House
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Larry Huynh, Founder of Trilogy Interactive
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Andrew Jiang, Principal of AJ Campaigns
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Carol Kim, Business Manager, San Diego Building & Construction Trades Council
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Nam Le, Vice Pres. of UFCW, Local 770 & Vice Pres. Los Angeles Labor Federation
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Richard Lowden, Founder / CEO of RTBiQ
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Roshni Nedungadi, Founding Partner of HIT Strategies
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Linh Nguyen, Executive Director of RUN AAPI
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Michael Nguyen, Founder of Left Coast Strategies
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James Santa Maria, President of the Santa Maria Group
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Stacey J. Shin, Attorney, Shin Law Corporation
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Bill Wong, Principal of Bill Wong LLC
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Ron Wong, President & CEO of Imprenta Communications
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George Yin, Attorney, Kaufman Legal Group
Attacks on AAPIs in America have been cyclical and predictable. Generation after generation of AAPIs faced violence and discrimination. Whether it was Chinatown lynchings or the illegal incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans during WWII, AAPI's have been scapegoated, physically attacked or murdered, and institutionally discriminated against for political or economic gain. Today’s wave of violent hate crimes have been directly linked to rhetoric weaponized by Donald Trump, Republican politicians, and right-wing organizations.
Generations of AAPIs weathered abuse hoping to protect their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren through good citizenship, educational attainment, and economic success. It's clear today that this strategy has failed to provide the protections AAPIs expect or deserve.
What other communities have adopted and the AAPI has lacked is sustainable political infrastructure, strategic political coordination, and influence. With this in mind, this group of battle-tested AAPI political professionals, each with a notable list of accomplishments, are lending their professional reputations, formidable strategic skills, and extensive political relationships to this unconventional response to the current crisis.
RONIN refers to masterless honor-bound warriors in feudal Japan that sometimes served as sojourner protection for hire.
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CASE STUDY: RONIN PROJECT BILLBOARD PROJECT
THE RONIN PROJECT
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