October 2019

October 31, 2019  by

19th Surgeon General of the United States and Wellness Advocate Dr. Vivek H. Murthy Teams Up With Actor and Activist Maulik Pancholy to Fight Bullying in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community

Dr. Murthy Joins Advisory Council of Asian American and Pacific Islander Anti-Bullying Nonprofit Act To Change

Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, 19th Surgeon General of the United States

During National Bullying Prevention Month, anti-bullying nonprofit Act To Change is pleased to announce that Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, 19th Surgeon General of the United States, joins its inaugural Advisory Council. Act To Change, which became a nonprofit in 2018, aims to stop and prevent bullying in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. It is co-founded by actor, activist, and children’s book author (The Best At It) Maulik Pancholy.

“We are so thrilled to have Dr. Murthy join Act To Change’s Advisory Council. Since the very beginning, Dr. Murthy has been an avid supporter of our mission to end bullying in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community,” says Pancholy. “With a rise in bullying and hate crimes across the country, our work is more important now than ever. With Dr. Murthy’s exceptional background and passion for emotional wellness and public health, he will be an invaluable partner in our movement to ensure that all youth feel proud of who they are, supported in the development of their identity, and empowered to share their stories.”

Says Dr. Murthy, “I’ve seen firsthand how bullying can have harsh consequences for the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of children and adults. Bullying is a significant public health challenge facing our country. We need to advocate for and support the victims of bullying while also seeking to understand and address the perpetrators who are often struggling themselves.  I look forward to working with Act To Change to build more inclusive spaces for youth and communities.”

Act To Change initially launched in 2015 as a public awareness campaign under President Obama’s White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in which Dr. Murthy served as co-chair and Pancholy served as a Commissioner. “On a personal note, I am excited to partner with Dr. Murthy to continue the work we started during our time together in the Obama Administration,” says Pancholy.

Since its launch, the nonprofit has organized nationwide events — including a Los Angeles-based Strength in Solidarity Youth Conference this month; led the first-ever national AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate with participation from major cities and organizations throughout the country; and collaborated with celebrities, research groups, and leaders across all sectors to grow awareness of the need for bullying prevention. 

During his tenure as Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy launched the TurnTheTide campaign, catalyzing a movement among health professionals to address the nation’s opioid crisis. He also issued the first Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, calling for expanded access to prevention and treatment and for recognizing addiction as a chronic illness, not a character flaw. Dr. Murthy continued his office’s legacy on preventing tobacco-related disease, releasing a historic Surgeon General’s Report on e-cigarettes and youth. In 2017, Dr. Murthy focused his attention on focused loneliness and chronic stress  as prevalent problems that have profound implications for health, productivity, and happiness. An internal medicine physician and entrepreneur, he has co-founded a number of organizations: VISIONS, an HIV/AIDS education program in India; Swasthya, a community health partnership in rural India training women as health providers and educators; software company TrialNetworks; and Doctors for America. 

Dr. Murthy received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard and his MD and MBA degrees from Yale. He completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later joined Harvard Medical School as faculty in internal medicine. His research focused on vaccine development and later on the participation of women and minorities in clinical trials. Dr. Murthy’s book Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, will be published by HarperCollins in April 2020. Dr. Murthy resides in Washington DC with his wife Dr. Alice Chen and their two young children.

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October 10, 2019  by

Divisions Inside the United : A Story of Bullying

The year after I went on my first visit to India, I started school. In 2008, kids in New Jersey of AAPI descent had been raised to integrate into society, and barely any visited their home country. As we teens call it, I was practically “fresh off the boat”. 

I remember the first day of kindergarten so clearly. I had 5 different tables I could choose to sit at. Some days, I look back and wonder what would have happened had I sat at the table near the door. But I instinctively chose the one with an Indian girl sitting at it. I thought we would click right away. Wrong. 

Every day, I went to school and forgot who I was. I followed orders from a girl who told me I couldn’t draw. I blindly continued to want to please her. I was innocent and thought this would help us become better friends. Eventually, I realized she was doing this so she could gain attention from the popular girls and show them she had her own “clique” too.

By the time I finally escaped the endless cycle of torture, which took a very long 3 years, more Asians started moving into my town. I started to have two types of friends: my friends outside of school who were in-tune to their Indian roots, and my friends in school who were very Americanized. 

I couldn’t fit into either of these categories, and it made me feel more isolated than ever. I didn’t know how to balance being a typical American kid in school, versus being as cultured amongst my friends outside of it. 

 

I had two lives when I was younger: one which embraced my Indian culture, and one which tried to fit into the norms of school because of my experience with bullying.

I’ve learned to embrace both sides of me equally by talking about it and learning a lot of people go through the same experience. I’m happier than I ever could have been.

 

For most, this cycle of self-doubt never ends. Once you start becoming too much like your American counterparts, the friends from the temple start thinking you aren’t like them, and vice versa. It’s like treading eggshells. 

The worst part was, I didn’t know who to talk to about it. I didn’t know if my friends would understand, because they were part of the problem. My parents defined struggle as moving an entire family into a whole new place, not social issues. So I ended up chained to a dark place inside of me, feeling like there was no way out. Even when I tried to call for help, my voice seemed to echo off of empty walls. Who would believe that I was getting bullied by another Indian girl? I couldn’t believe it myself. 

I’ve noticed there’s a stereotype for bullying. People think of a white person making fun of someone from this community for how they look or their culture. It goes off the radar when members of the same community. It can even be scarier talking about bullies inside your own ethnic community because it’s so unorthodox. So as October’s Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, try to talk to someone if you’ve gone through something like this. You’re not alone.

Esha Peer is a fellow of the New Jersey Leadership Program, a non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to promoting South Asian American youth participation and education at the local level of government in the State of New Jersey, and a junior at the South Brunswick High School. She is the president of her class, editor-in-training of her school newspaper, and an active member of a cultural club in her school, the Asian Cultural Club. Esha loves to travel and travel vlog, write, dance, and watch movies. Esha also loves politics. She hopes to study international relations or business in the future. 

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October 1, 2019  by

Meet Act To Change’s Maulik Pancholy at your local bookstore

Act To Change Co-Founder and Chairman Maulik Pancholy will be releasing his debut middle grade novel, THE BEST AT IT, on October 8. Published by HarperCollins Publishers/Balzer + Bray, the book recounts the story of Rahul Kapoor, a gay Indian American middle school boy coming into his own in a small town in the Midwest.

Come meet Maulik in person as he tours nationally this fall. Locations and dates include:

  • New York, NY – October 7 at 6pm, Books of Wonder / 18th Street
  • Doylestown, PA – October 8 at 6pm, Doylestown Bookshop
  • Dayton, OH – October 11 at 7pm, Books & Co
  • Denver, CO – October 14 at 6pm, Book Bar
  • Los Angeles, CA – October 16 at 6:30pm, Vroman’s Bookstore
  • Washington, DC – October 29 at 7pm, Politics and Prose

Click here for more information.

Maulik Pancholy is an award-winning actor whose television credits include “30 Rock,” “Whitney,” “Elementary,” “The Good Wife,” “The Comeback,” “The Sopranos,” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” among others. He is also the voice of Baljeet on the Emmy Award–winning animated series, “Phineas and Ferb,” and of Sanjay on “Sanjay and Craig.”

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