[Content Warning: anti-Asian hate, gun violence, Atlanta murders]
Hi Friends,
I don’t really have the words to describe the depths and complexities of how I’ve been feeling since the Atlanta murders last week. I cycle between rage and grief.
Each day feels like 1000 days in one, as a lifetime of memories being fetishized, exoticized, objectified, and othered, re-surface and crash down, wave after wave.
I’m exhausted tending to old wounds made new again. Mostly, I just want to lie down, but I also feel an urgency to arm myself, plan how to respond if someone throws a slur my way, gaslights my lived experience, physically attacks me. I have weighed different options on how to best protect myself... pepper spray, baton, knife… taser?
This week, I’m not going to try and make sense of wounds too fresh and tender. Instead, I’m sharing work that has comforted me, informed me, and articulates lived experiences I resonate with but cannot find the words for yet. In the meantime, I am going to tend to myself and my community.
Stop AAPI Hate. Stop Asian Hate. Dismantle White Supremacy.
Marsha
Take Action
(h/t Seeking Justice Amidst Grief & Mourning by Symphony Chau)
Donate directly to victims’ families here (verified by GoFundMe)
Donate to the Asian Americans Advancing Justice – ATL fund set up for victims & their families
TIME Magazine: Donating, Volunteering, Reporting Hate Incidents: Here’s How to Help Combat Anti-Asian Violence
Attend
Bystander Intervention Training to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harrassment by Hollaback! and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Anti-Asian Violence in the U.S.: Holy Week Teach-In And Call to Solidarity Through Action
Join Resurrection City DC Wednesday, March 31 for a teach-in and discussion on the history and current reality of Anti-Asian violence. Mira Sawlani Joyner, Sarah Ngu, Erna Kim Hackett, and Tonetta Landis-Aina will guide our time and will particularly help frame the tensions and possibilities which exist regarding Asian and Black solidarity. In light of the tragedy that unfolded in Atlanta last week, we all must find our voices and commit to take action for the flourishing of all.
Space for Solace
Chanel Miller sums up how I feel in this carousel.
Dear Asian Kin and Supporters by Melody Li of @inclusivetherapists
A Letter to My Fellow Asian Women Whose Hearts Are Still Breaking by R.O. Kwon
“How Are You Doing?” in the Wake of Atlanta by Liz Lin
Educate Yourself
I’m a Scholar of Religion. Here’s What I See in the Atlanta Shootings. By Mihee Kim-Kort
Being Asian American means living in a country that treats you as a perpetual foreigner. That has to change by Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz
After Atlanta Shooting, Local Asian Activists Rally Against D.C. Police And Call For Solidarity by Debbie Truong and Ruth Tam
PBS is re-streaming their 5-episode series Asian Americans, which explores, “the impact of Asian Americans, the fastest-growing population in the United States, on the country’s past, present and future, told through individual lives and personal histories.”
What Mr. Miyagi Taught Me About Anti-Asian Racism in America by Beth Nguyen
The Dehumanizing Logic of All the ‘Happy Ending’ Jokes by Anne Anlin Cheng
Talking with Kids
Parenting in a Climate of Anti-Asian Racism by Iris Chen (@untigering)
How Do I Talk to My Asian American Kids About the Violence Against Our Community? By Nicole Chung
My White Adoptive Parents Struggled to See Me as Korean. Would They Have Understood My Anger at the Rise in Anti-Asian Violence? By Nicole Chung
Talking to our Asian American Kids About Race by Jenny Wang, PhD (IG Video)
Talking with Asian Elders
(translations by volunteers, coordinated by @asiansformentalhealth)
Korean
Mandarin Chinese (traditional)
Mandarin Chinese (simplified)
Vietnamese
Japanese
Thai
Cambodian
Hmong
Tagalog
Cantonese (video)
Sending you some love