Tomorrow is a national day of action to #StopAsianHate. Feeling helpless and wondering how you can support your Asian American friends and family?
Check on them. The vicarious trauma of seeing these violent headlines and news stories. The erasure of our humanity when a killer is treated with more empathy than his victims. Denial of the racism we face every day. The isolation of living through a pandemic compounded with the fear of targeted anti-Asian attacks outside the safety of our homes. It’s a lot.
SAY SOMETHING.
You may think it goes without saying, but we need to hear it. We need to know you’re willing to be our ally not just privately behind closed doors, but in every space we exist together – which, these days, is primarily online. Influencers, this goes for you, too. If you need help figuring out how to express your solidarity, please reach out- I am happy to help you use your platforms for good.
Educate yourselves (and don’t always put the burden on AAPI folks to teach you). There are so many resources available to learn about the history and personal lived experiences.
Our National Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Emergency Town Hall could help give an overview.
PBS made their “Asian Americans” documentary series free to stream.
If financially able, donate. The AAPI community receives less than 1% of all philanthropic dollars.
DFW folks, Orchid Giving Circle has been supporting Asian Americans locally for years. I will be donating 100% of profits from the sales of this new VISIBLE Magazine collection to them.
Or any of the GoFundMe accounts supporting the families of the Atlanta victims.
Also, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC.
Perhaps most importantly, contact your representatives and encourage them to pass legislation that protects the AAPI community.
There is a proposed national COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act which “seeks to address the ongoing hate and violence targeted toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) by providing greater assistance with law enforcement response to COVID-19 hate crimes and creating a position at the Department of Justice to facilitate expedited review of such cases.”
On March 15, Texas House Rep. Gene Wu filed HCR 66 in the 87th Texas Legislative session. The bill condemns racism against AAPIs, calling on state law enforcement officials to “investigate and prosecute all credible reports of hate crimes and incidents and threats against AAPIs in Texas” and “express its support for public and private efforts to eradicate anti-AAPI racism in all its forms.”
And please…
Do not look away when the spotlight fades on this issue. This was not an isolated incident and will not be resolved when the media coverage wanes.
Spoken word artist Guante says in one of my favorite poems, “Remember: white supremacy is not a shark; it is the water.”
What happened in Atlanta was a horrific shark attack. But we are drowning.