Stop AAPI Hate

I'm very pleased to introduce Manju Shah Kulkarni.

Manju is the executive director of API Equity Alliance and the co-director of Stop API Hate.

In 2026, Manju was appointed by Governor Newsom to the California Commission for on Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs.

Manju holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law.

Um, I am.

So, um, just to introduce myself, I'm, you know, Manju Golgarni.

I'm with API Equity Alliance and Stop API Hate.

And as Stop API Hate Action, we have been canvassing for in the Houston area around Sugar Land and surrounding areas on behalf of Asians for Tallarico, just making sure that folks plan to get out and vote and hoping that they pull the lever for Tallarico.

Just last week, a man was charged with planning a mass shooting at a Hindu temple outside Chicago.

And groups like Stop AAPI Hate have found an uptick in online hate and slurs targeted at South Asians.

Amid the political turmoil, the revamped Apu is a welcome gesture for people like Kandabalu, whose documentary spurred the initial reckoning with the character.

In a statement, Kandabalu said, quote, I'm happy that The Simpsons found a clever solution to all of this, and that two South Asian Americans were hired to do voice acting work.

We should not have to wait until our temples become massacre sites before this country takes anti-Hindu hatred, anti-Indian racism, and s- and white supremacist violence seriously.

A survey by the group Stop AAPI Hate shows in 2025, nearly half of South Asian adults in the US experienced a hateful act because of their race, including violence, harassment, and discrimination.

53% of them had negative mental or physical health effects.

When hate crimes are, uh, labeled as vandalism or property crimes or low-level misdemeanors, we are not accounting to the intensity of hate crimes that's happening in our country.

He's been diagnosed with lung cancer.

The Vatican saying today he resumed his work activities and that a chest X-ray also shows he is making a good recovery.

60 years ago, a small group of young Black organizers founded the Black Panther Party on the West Coast.

But it was right here in Chicago that the movement found some of its most enduring work and voices.

And that's why they're now asking the FBI and the Justice Department to go back through the evidence themselves.

Nolan was Black and Filipino American, and the family was also joined by Cynthia Choi of Stop AAPI Hate.

And the Congressional Black Caucus has previously called on the Justice Department to conduct an independent review.

Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson is also asking the National Park Service to investigate because Horn Island is part of the Gulf Island National Seashore.

Please give them a round of applause and give them [applauding] some love that they so desperately deserve.

Also, we are blessed to have present with us Ms. Cynthia Chay, who is the co-director of Stop AAPI Hate, and give her a round of applause for standing in [applauding] solidarity with Nolan Wells' family.

Dr. Molina, many people have asked why are we here in Los Angeles.

Well, we came to Los Angeles because the National Asian/Pacific American Women's Forum had their thirtieth anniversary gala, and they honored Christine Wells Wanslee with the Award of Courage for standing in the gap and fighting for the truth of Nolan Wells.

[applause]

Signed Frederica Wilson, US member of Congress.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna hear from Miss Cynthia Shea, um, the co-director of Stop AAPI Hate, and then you're gonna hear from the people most affected by this tragedy.

And then we'll take some questions from the media and ask that everybody stay vigilant, everybody continue to press, everybody continue to say his name, Nolan Wells.

Late last night, Benjamin Crump posted this on his social media channels.

Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Benjamin Crump will join the parents of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Stop AAPI Hate Executive Director Cynthia Chow at a news conference Monday.

They will renew the call for a federal investigation into Nolan Xavier Wells.

All right.