June 21, 2021
New York, NY
UNITED SIKHS and the Sikh Culture Center Gurdwara invited NYC Democratic Mayoral Candidate Art Chang to meet members of the Sikh community on Sunday, June 13, 2021 where he shared langar.  UNITED SIKHS previously held events with NYC Democratic Mayoral Candidate Andrew Yang on May 30, 2021 and Maya Wiley on June 6, 2021. 
It’s crucial that NYC Mayoral Candidates become familiar with the Sikh communities and the issues we face and that our community feel connected and empowered to engage with the political candidates.
“It’s crucial that NYC Mayoral Candidates become familiar with the Sikh communities and the issues we face and that our community feel connected and empowered to engage with the political candidates.” stated Gurpreet Singh, CEO of UNITED SIKHS.  “These Meet and Greet events provided both with an opportunity to connect in a meaningful way.” 
UNITED SIKHS Community Relations Officer, Inderjeet Singh asked Mr. Chang how he as mayor would support the nonprofit sector to ensure that under-resourced AAPI organizations can build capacity to adequately support their communities.  Mr. Chang replied, “We know that all Asians in NYC represent 15% of the population, but we only get 1.5% of the non-profit funding.  This injustice has to end right away.  We need to proportionally distribute funding to the communities, especially communities most in need.  We have to think about equity in how we deliver this funding.”
Mr. Chang added that wage disparities between government employees and non-profit employees needed to be addressed as did the reimbursement of non-profits for the work they do.  “Non-profits only typically get paid 80 or 90 cents on the dollar that they bill for.  Sometimes they wait as long as a year to get paid.  That’s also injustice.  We have to fix these problems as quickly as possible.  We need a Mayor who really focuses on the mechanics on how money flows in our government.”
We’ve seen this hate come back decade after decade in different forms.  We have to think about how we create more empathy for immigrants across the board. 
Asked about what he would do to stop the violence against American Asians, Mr. Chang stated that there needs to be an increase in community policing, but the increase is really a temporary solution.  Education and community engagement and connection are also critical. 
UNITED SIKHS applauds candidate Chang’s perspectives on addressing Hate crimes.  “We’ve seen this hate come back decade after decade in different forms, he stated.  “We have to think about how we create more empathy across the board.  We have to teach the histories of all groups in our City to all people.  We have to start in schools but we also have to invite the communities to participate as well.”  Mr. Chang added that connections between different communities must also be created.  “Only through togetherness will we be able to address this.”   
Mr. Chang also spoke about how community policing needed to change.  “We need police officers who are trained in community outreach, de-escalation, in being sensitive to stressors in the community, to be connectors with other services throughout the City.”  He stressed that community policing doesn’t have to be officers with guns — having people who represent the government who are not trained in violence are much more likely to have a better relationship with the community.
UNITED SIKHS thanks Mr. Chang for his visit and urges everyone to get out and VOTE! in the Primary Elections on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. 
Please register and VOTE! in upcoming General Election on 
Tuesday, November 2, 2021!  
Your VOTE! Counts!
See UNITED SIKHS Voter Information here. 
If you need assistance to register to VOTE, please contact us at contact@unitedsikhs.org. 
UNITED SIKHS,
By: Eva Landeo, Media and Development Coordinator