More than half of states ended unemployment benefits programs early, hoping it would motivate more people to return to the job market. But for some populations, this tactic increased the financial burdens of unemployed people.

“Thinking about the effects of racial trauma on our community is sobering,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “The fact that it affects our daily routines and our mental health — the denial of your basic sense of safety is really inhumane.”

The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) is setting up a nationwide effort including Stop AAPI Hate for national and local advocacy groups to work together as violence and hate crimes against Asians and Pacific Islanders persist.

A pair of Asian American lawmakers are pressing the Justice Department to speed up implementation of provisions in a new federal law combating hate crimes, citing a recent FBI report showing the highest number of bias attacks in the United States in two decades.

With much turbulence in these past two years -- with the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge of racist and anti-Asian attacks -- three Korean figures being named in TIME's 100 most influential people of 2021 has brought much meaning. This year, Cynthia Choi, Youn Yuh Jung, and Steven Yeun were able to be named as some of the most influential people.

The pandemic focused a bright light on San Francisco school board meetings as parents, staff and students clamored for information or urgency on campus closures.

San Francisco is providing $26.5 million in funding towards building a new arts and media center in Chinatown, organizers announced today.

The way lawmakers have framed the importance of checking the Chinese government has raised concerns from activists and foreign policy experts who worry that the rhetoric and tone of such efforts will further stoke already high anti-Asian sentiment.

"For California's 7 million non-English speaking residents, EDD continues to provide a critical economic lifeline amid the coronavirus pandemic," said Chinese for Affirmative Action economic justice manager Sally Chen.

CHICAGO – Amid a dramatic rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor of Illinois signed a law Friday requiring public schools to teach a unit of Asian American history – a move education experts said is the first of its kind nationwide.