To honor AAPI Heritage Month, Amazon signs on to the Asian American Pacific Islander Giving Challenge with a donation of $10 million, and joins The Asian American Foundation as a corporate partner.
There has been a lot of news lately about the problems facing people of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent; most notably, that hate crimes against Asian Americans rose 149% this year, and nearly 90% of Asian American businesses lost revenue during the pandemic.
Amazon has not been immune to these racial issues. Five current and former Amazon employees have recently filed discrimination and retaliation lawsuits against the company, and it doesn’t look awesome that 70.7% of senior leadership are white, compared to the 20% that are of Asian descent.
Considering that Asian American and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial group in the US, AND there are more than 555,200 Asian American-owned businesses in the US (many of whom sell online), Amazon decided to get it together and do something.
They donated $10 million to the AAPI Giving Challenge and joined the Asian American Foundation, which works against racism and promotes success for the AAPI community.
In addition, to celebrate AAPI Heritage month, Amazon Music is releasing a weekly series featuring Pacific Islander and Asian artists, and Prime Video has a page featuring a curated list of titles celebrating the AAPI community. Amazon Handmade is featuring AAPI artists and makers; even Alexa is getting in on the action: if you ask “Who inspires you?” she will talk about the AAPI community.
That’s pretty great, but what more can you be doing as an Amazon seller to be a part of the solution?
- Shop at minority owned businesses on Amazon.
- If you are a minority owned business, click here to register your business and give Amazon the opportunity to feature you!
- AAPI small business owners who have experienced hardship during the pandemic should consider applying for the Emergency Small Business Relief Fund.
- Get inspired by stories of AAPI entrepreneurs like Janine Do, who overcame obstacles and found incredible success.
