AJSOCAL, formerly known as Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), is founded in Los Angeles by President Emeritus Stewart Kwoh who worked closely with Vincent Chin’s mother, Lily. This high-profile hate crime case marked a pivotal moment in Asian American civil rights history and the creation of AJSOCAL.
Begins its citizenship assistance program and hires its first full-time staff attorney and expands legal and pro bono services.
Founder Stewart Kwoh co-authored the first hate crimes reporting act requiring the Attorney General to begin collecting and reporting bias-motivated crime information. LA became the first major west coast city to have a tracking and reporting system for hate crimes. Having this through the years paved the 2020 passage of the historic State Equity Fund established to fight anti-Asian hatred.
Organizes AAPIs to fully participate in the 1990 Census. Begins training AAPI leaders to address racial conflict. Provides the first Asian demographic profiles.
- Offered legal assistance, food, water and necessities to those impacted by the civil unrest and violence.
- Founded a loan fund to help AAPI small businesses that awarded $5M in loans through 2008.
- Poll monitoring during major elections in LA and OC, as well as local cities, to ensure the proper implementation of the Voting Rights Act.
- Filed 1400 formal complaints against LAPD for abandoning AAPI neighborhoods.
- 30 Years After the LA Uprising
- LA Uprising / Saigu Reflections: Race Relations Then and Now (April 14th Virtual Panel)
- LA Uprising | Saigu Peace Gathering Community Event
- Freed 72 Thai nationals held captive as garment laborers
- Established laws against sweatshop conditions
- Bureerong v. Uvawas in El Monte, California, the case is widely considered a wakeup call to human trafficking and modern-day slavery in the United States, leading to the reformation of garment industry labor regulations and establishment of human trafficking immigration remedies.
- Then-staff attorney Julie Su leads this case. Julie Su goes on to become the acting U.S. Secretary of Labor.
- Connie endorsement of Julie Su for Secretary of Labor
AJSOCAL advocates heavily for education equity programs in K-12 and diversity programs in colleges. In 1996, California passed a state ballot initiative, Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in the state.
AJSOCAL’s Executive Director Stewart Kwoh is named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, becoming the first Asian American attorney and human rights activist to receive this highly prestigious recognition, often referred to as the “genius grant.”
