Welcome to a new season of Southern Fried Asian! We're kicking off 2021 with storyteller, writer, activist, and Georgian Kavi Vu to talk about how the AAPI community helped turn the state blue in 2020 and elect two Democratic senators in an historic runoff election.

Kavi talks about her political awakening in 2016 and the hard work of organizing the AAPI community in Georgia (2:00), especially  in the shadow of the state's history of voter suppression (6:00). She also talks about working for Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese American Georgia state house representative -- who serves in the seat originally held by Stacey Abrams, and her partnership with Bee's sister Phi on an internet show designed to educate AAPI voters (11:00). Later, she touches on what it was like growing up in a rural part of southern Georgia (16:30), why conservatives in the AAPI community are drawn to Trumpism (19:00), how to ensure Georgia remains a blue state in future elections (25:45), and the importance of storytelling in politics (31:45). Finally, Kavi shares a memory of her father's fish sauce fried chicken (33:45).

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Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. Podcast logo by Jef Castro.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.