A moment to honor

 

We take this moment to honor the lives of

Daoyou Feng
Xiaojie Tan
Soon Chung Park
Hyun Jung Grant
Suncha Kim
Young Ae Yue

We hold their families and friends up as they process the tragic grief and loss of their loved ones who were victims of a senseless racist attack

We also take this time to commemorate the other victims killed and critically injured that day:

Delaina Ashley Yaun
Paul Andre Michels
Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz

We hold space for other APIs who are recent victims of police brutality and hate crimes fueled by racist propaganda, pandemic fears and ignorance. Angelo Quinto, Xiao Zhen Zie, Noel Quintana, Vichar Ratanapakdee and the approximately 3800 individuals who are reported victims of violence and verbal abuse this past year

We hold up our brothers and sisters in Myanmar and across the diaspora who are fighting for social justice and their basic human rights

We hold space for our Filipino brothers and sisters who are frontline workers around the globe and dying at alarming rates. Their stories will not remain unheard.

This is a call out to my fellow APIs – whether you’re in America or around the world – do not suffer in silence. Here’s what we can do:

  • We need to protect and embrace our elders, our sisters, partners, aunties, and mothers who are overrepresented in the current hate crimes data. Amplify the voices and cries for help of the API elderly and women and take action.
  • We need to keep reporting incidents of hate to law enforcement and trusted organizations. The data fuels recognition and acceptance that change has to happen.
  • We need to shed the mask of the model minority and the perpetual Other to make sure our voices are not only heard…but listened to.
  • We need to acknowledge our complicated relationship with white supremacy – how it’s hurt us and helped us get ahead at the expense of hurting Black and brown communities. Let us not forget that March 16, 2021 marks the tragic deaths of 8 people in Atlanta and it is also the 30th death anniversary of Latasha Harlins in LA…shot and killed by Soon Ja Du over some convenience store apple juice.
  • For those outside of our community – whether you’re a co-conspirator and/or in a position of power – we need you to understand that we’re not a monolith. Each individual group has unique experiences and stories that make up the Asian and Pacific Islander umbrella.
  • We need to support our students and faculty in processing feelings and emotions that may come up as they hear about these incidents around them.
  • We need to push for faculty, admin and curriculum that serve as windows and mirrors of our diverse experiences

For those who stand with us – thank you. For those who have been hurt by us – there is nothing that we can say or do to roll that back or take away the pain. Know that there are those of us who are shouldering the burden of working with our own to help our communities understand the impact the model minority myth and white supremacy has had on us. That work is on us and not for anybody else to bear.

Jessica Huang and I are co-facilitating a group for AIELOC API educators. We invite those who identify as API educators to sign up by emailing AIELOC and we’ll get the details out to you.

There are also a variety of resources on how to support the API community:

Stop AAPI Hate: https://stopaapihate.org/
European Network Against Racism: https://www.enar-eu.org/
Learning for Justice: https://www.learningforjustice.org/the-moment/march-15-2021-addressing-antiasian-bias
Combatting Anti-Asian Bias: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/20/11/combatting-anti-asian-racism
Kanlungan honoring and collecting data of Filipino frontline workers: https://www.kanlungan.net/
UK End the Virus of Racism: https://www.endthevirusofracism.com/