how can we find power amidst enforced oppression? we can grow between the cracks, force things apart with our growing. grow wide and tall, cracking apart that which binds, blinds, brings us to our knees.
our expanse will stop them.
hatred cannot stand before our twisting, growing roots sinuous and deep, love-strong, defiant, and true.
Yong A. Yue Suncha Kim Julie Park Hyun Jung Grant Xiaojie Tan Daoyou Feng Delaina Yaun Paul Andre Michels
These are the names of the victims of the horrific shootings in Atlanta this week. Say their names. Remember them. They deserved better than murder fueled by racism and misogyny. They deserved to live.
Today my heart hurts. My mind is aghast. I am one of the lucky ones, apparently. I have a mixed-enough heritage that I am technically considered “white,” even though my father was denied entry to the United States for years due to his Chinese blood. I can walk down the street and *only* worry about being harassed because I am a woman, and not because of the color of my skin, even though Asian people, food, and heritage are part of the fabric of my life. Today I will bake a birthday cake for my friend who is part Chinese, and greet my husband who is Filipino at the door, and eat fried rice we made for dinner, and I will grieve for the eight people who were senselessly gunned down. And I will grieve for the country that claims to stand for “liberty and justice for all,” but in fact, often delivers it only to a select few.
Here are several ways you can help:
The Center for Pan Asian Community Services works to provide comprehensive health and social services, capacity building, and advocacy for Asian communities.
This week has been hard. Another man is dead for the crime of being black. George Floyd was killed by a police officer, and Minneapolis is reeling, seething, hurting. A CNN crew was arrested and detained last night by Minneapolis police as they reported on the protests, despite their every effort to cooperate and do the right thing. How can we be the home of the free? It is not freedom if all of us cannot walk safely. It is not freedom for our press to be locked up without cause. It is not freedom to be killed for the color of one’s skin.
This is so beautiful and so heartbreaking. Thank you, Keedron Bryant, for sharing your song.
Here is a guide to white privilege by courtneyahndesign, with some small ways to be a good ally.
And here is a statement by Barack Obama, who said so eloquently what we all need to hear: