Southeast Asian woman graces cover of Time Magazine

TIME magazine's March 29 cover is a beautiful piece of art by New York-based artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.

The cover is a painted portrait of a Southeastern Asian woman surrounded by beautiful, colorful flowers, under the headline "We Are Not Silent: Confronting America's Legacy of Anti-Asian Violence." with a underplayed, super-imposed transparent "TIME."

The beautiful image “reflects the immeasurable strength of Asian American women who are the connective tissue of our communities, yet too often overlooked, fetishized, dehumanized and underestimated.” Phingbodhipakkiya tells TIME. “My hope is to see the beauty of our people reflected in the colors of our communities in a dignified and respectful way.”

Even the choice of flowers used to frame the portrait was intentional, says the artist. “The peony symbolizes solidarity and friendship, the chrysanthemum signifies resilience—it’s one of the few flowers that blooms when it’s cold—and the hawthorn berry represents longevity and protection.”

Inside the magazine are two articles: 

The cover story, "The Atlanta Shootings Fit Into a Long Legacy of Anti-Asian Violence in America," by a TIME team of reporters; and a personal essay, "We Are Always Waiting Our Turn to Be Important.’ A Love Letter to Asian Americans" by Japanese American Lucy Feldman, a senior editor for TIME.

TIME's photo editor Sangsuk Sylvia Kang, who pitched the artist for consideration. “It’s obviously a topic that means a lot to me personally and professionally,” said Kang.

The magazine cover is a reinterpretation of an earlier work of Phingbodhipakkiya commissioned by New York City's Human Rights Commission's campaign “I Still Believe in Our City.”

Phingbodhipakkiya adds, “I really wanted to find a way to say, despite everything we have faced as Asian Americans and New Yorkers, that I still believe in New York.”

NEW YORK CITY

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya's art is being displayed at subway stations
 and bus stops in New York City. 

The anti-racism posters are spread throughout the city's transportation system, at bus stops, subway stations and inside the subway trains themselves.

If you have taken part in some of the rallies and demonstrations in the New York City region against the anti-Asian violence sweeping across the country, you might have seen a version of the TIME cover on protest signs carried by participants.

TWITTER

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya artwork has a message of protest by exposing the hidden racism.

Karma has a way of popping up at the most unexpected times. 

Phingbodhipakkiya grew up in Georgia, where the shootings took place and where her family experienced anti-Asian experiences. Through her art, she wanted to share those experiences and the experiences of so many other Asian Americans which have gone unnoticed and unheralded by the mainstream.

“My art has always been about making the invisible visible,” the Thai-Indonesian American artist told the New York Times. “I’ve explored everything from microscopic universes to outer space and things that just can’t be seen with the naked eye. And I think struggles of communities of color are often invisible.”

Suspect arrested in the stomping attack of the elderly Asian American woman in NYC

A parolee convicted of stabbing his mother to death is a suspect in the assault of an elderly Filipino American woman in New York City.

The suspect, Brandon Elliot, 38, who has spent most of his life behind bars for killing his mother, was arrested early this morning around midnight at a homeless shelter where he had been staying.

Police say people identified Elliot as the suspect through his photo released on social media by the authorities. Besides the assault charges, Elliot will face a hate crime enhancement. He could face up to another 25 years in prison if convicted.

Authorities also released the name of the 65-year old victim, Vilma Kari, who immigrated from the Philippines decades ago. Kari was on her way to church Monday morning when she was victimized by an unprovoked attack in midtown Manhattan near Central Park.

The neighborhood where the attack occurred, Hell’s Kitchen, is predominantly white, with an Asian population of less than 20%, according to demographic data.
  

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called the attack a “completely unprovoked violent attack on an innocent, defenseless woman.”

A surveillance camera inside the lobby of the apartment building captured the violent assault outside it's glass doors.

The video showed the suspect kicking Kari in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. The attacker continued to stomp on her head several times shouting racial slurs, including, "You don't belong here," before calmly walking away out of the camera's view.

What the camera also recorded was the reaction of security guards in the lobby of the apartment building. While the attack was taking place, one guard glanced towards the assault and then turned away. After the suspect left the scene, instead of going to the victim's assistance, another guard closed the glass door. 

Residents of the apartment building claim their guards called for medical assistance and reported the attack to the police. However, police say no 911 calls were received for the incident. Police came upon the aftermath of the attack as they were driving by.

Another camera captured the attack from the street, showed Kari strugging to get up on her feet but remained on her knees outside the apartment entrance. It took a minute before any passerby stopped, apparently to ask if she needed assistance. The passerby then walked away, Kari still on her knees. No one was seen coming out from the apartment to check on Kari's condition.

The managers of the apartment building say the guards who appeared to do nothing to assist the victim were suspended from their jobs pending an investigation.

Kari was released from the hospital Tuesday after suffering "serious" injuries, according to the New York Times interview of Kari's daughter, who wanted to remain nameless.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the incident “absolutely disgusting and outrageous.” He said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that witnesses did not intervene.

“I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you’ve got to help your fellow New Yorker,” de Blasio said Tuesday during a news conference. “This is something where we all have to be part of the solution. We can’t just stand back and watch a heinous act happening.”

“This brave woman belongs here,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.. “Asian American New Yorkers belong here. Everyone belongs here.”

Nathan Chen wins his third straight men's World's Figure Skating Championship

Nathan Chen lands one of his five quads at the Worlds Figure Skating Championship.

American Nathan Chen won his third straight men's title at the World Figure Skating Championship in Stockholm, Sweden.

Chen was favored to win and he didn't disappoint demonstrating why he earned the title, Quad King, executing five quads in the freestyle portion of the figure skating competition.

The 21-year old Chen's victory makes him the man to beat in the 2022 Olympics in chenzu, China. He has not lost a competition since the 2018 Olympics, when he earned a Bronze medal after a performing a short program short of his expectations.

His next goal is to qualify for the Olympics in Beijing, China next year. "I am looking forward to next season and what everyone else brings to the table," Chen said, "and challenging myself to be as good as I can be."

"I wouldn't say this is my best free program ever," Chen said. "But it's one I will definitely remember forever and cherish, being able to skate like that and skate this piece here at worlds."

In the women's competition, Russia dominated, sweeping all three medals on the podium. American Karen Chen fourth place finish was a surprise after U.S. champion Bradie Tennell finished a disappointing ninth. 

America's Karen Chen feels she is as getting better heading towards the Olympic year 2022.

Karen Chen and men's champion Nathan Chen are not related.

Since Chen was crowned as the 2017 U.S. champion, before finishing 11th in the 2018 Olympics. In 2019, she had an injury followed by break caused by Covid-19. In the U.S. chmpionship, she placed third.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

Chas had a very bumpy path the past three seasons, losing one to a foot injury, beginning the next in college at Cornell before taking a leave, dealing with the pandemic. She finished third at January’s U.S. Championships but earned the second world team spot in a selection procedure that weighs more than one season’s results.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

In the figure skating dance category, the American team of Hawaii-born Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates finished fourth but feel their routines will get stronger as the Olympics draw closer. Their practices were placed off-track after Chock suffered a concussion last summer in an off-ice fall.

“We are in the best possible shape of our lives, honestly,” Chock said. “We feel really strong and really confident in the work we’ve done leading up to this event.”

Their pair's performance bodes well for the U.S. skating team in 2022. The other American team featuring Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the Silver medal.

“We came here for a gold medal, and there is definitely disappointment around that … We also know that we are progressing, that we are building, we are gaining the qualities we want as a team,” Donohue said. “We look at this as momentum, creating a hunger.”

Biden announces additional actions to respond to anti-Asian violence, xenophobia and bias

Dozens of demonstrations condemning attacks against AAPI took place over the weekend.

After a weekend of demonstrations across the nation denouncing the hateful attacks against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the White House on Tuesday announced new initiatives in response to the mounting attacks and harassment that AAPI communities are facing over the past year.

"Across our nation, an outpouring of grief and outrage continues at the horrific violence and xenophobia perpetrated against Asian American communities, especially Asian American women and girls," the White House said in a statement Tuesday.

When the White House made the announcement, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-HI, tweeted: "Racism is never far below the surface in America, which is all too evident as the AAPI community has experienced escalating attacks and targeted violence during the pandemic.

"We must confront the systems that allowed this hatred to fester and spread—exactly what @POTUS is doing," the tweet added.

The new initiatives are responding  to the increase in acts of anti-Asian violence, and to advance safety, inclusion, and belonging for all Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. These actions build on the President’s Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, issued his first week in office. 

Today’s announcements include:

Reinstating and reinvigorating the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with initial focus on anti-Asian bias and violence: The President will re-establish and expand the initiative’s initial mandate to coordinate across federal agencies to combat anti-Asian bias and violence, especially anti-Asian violence at the intersection of gender-based violence. The initiative will have an expanded mandate to promote inclusion, belonging, and opportunity for all Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Over the coming weeks, the Administration will meet with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander leaders and organizations to hear their recommendations for the initiative’s mission, structure, and community engagement. And, the President will appoint a permanent Director to lead the Initiative in the coordination of policies across the federal government impacting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Funding for AAPI survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault: The Department of Health and Human Services is allocating $49.5 million from the American Rescue Plan to a new grant program for community based, culturally specific services and programs for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault who face additional barriers to services and safety, such as language access barriers. This program will expand services to domestic violence survivors from Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Establishing a COVID-19 Equity Task Force committee on addressing and ending xenophobia against Asian Americans: President Biden established a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force through his Executive Order on Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery on Jan, 21, 2021. The Task Force is charged with making recommendations to the President to eliminate health and social disparities that result in disproportionately higher rates of exposure, illness, hospitalization and death related to COVID-19, and for preventing such inequities in the future.

To carry out this work, HHS is announcing Tuesday that the Task Force has established a subcommittee on Structural Drivers of Health Inequity and Xenophobia. This subcommittee will provide recommendations to ensure the Federal Government’s response to COVID-19 mitigates anti-Asian xenophobia and bias, as established by the President's initial memorandum.

In addition to addressing bias and xenophobia against Asian American communities, the subcommittee will advance health equity for specific Asian American communities, including Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian communities who have disproportionately been infected by and died from COVID-19. The subcommittee will lead policy sprints to develop actionable recommendations for advancing cultural competency, language access, and inclusion towards AAPI as the U.S. ends and recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Establishment of a Department of Justice cross-agency initiative to address anti-Asian violence: To implement the President’s week-one Memorandum combatting AAPI xenophobia, DOJ has established a whole agency initiative to respond to anti-Asian violence. 

Actions to date include:

• Leadership and coordination: The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division re-convened the Department’s Hate Crimes Enforcement and Prevention Initiative and is focused on the rise of hate crimes against the AAPI community. The initiative is re-initiating community outreach and engagement programs and addressing gaps in hate crimes reporting.

• Data and transparency: To ensure transparency in the nation’s hate crimes data, and to support community-led efforts to shine a spotlight on acts of anti-Asian violence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will publish a new interactive hate crime page on its Crime Data Explorer website, which will spotlight reports of anti-Asian hate crimes. This online tool will help communities, researchers, and advocates study and measure national hate crimes statistics. And, to promote accurate reporting of hate crimes against Asian Americans, the FBI is also adding scenario-based training on anti-Asian bias crimes to its data collection training manual that is provided to state and local partners. In January 2021, the FBI Criminal Justice Information System transitioned to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which improves upon the prior reporting system by adding more than 50 additional categories of crimes and demographic data, and supports state and local law enforcement agencies in reporting hate crimes, including crimes related to anti-Asian bias.

• Removing language access barriers to hate crimes information: DOJ has updated its hate crimes website, which provides a centralized portal of hate crime-related resources for law enforcement, researchers, victims, and advocacy groups. Information on the site has been made accessible in four of the most frequently spoken AAPI languages: Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

• Community resources and outreach: DOJ is partnering with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) on a panel discussion for its 50,000 members focused on improving efforts to combat anti-Asian hate incidents. DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Community Relations Service, and the FBI will participate in the discussion and share resources. DOJ is also partnering with community-based organizations to expand public education and awareness about hate crimes reporting, prevention, and response.

• Law enforcement training: The FBI will begin holding nationwide civil rights training events to promote state and local law enforcement reporting of hate crimes. These new civil rights trainings will feature modules on recognizing and reporting anti-Asian bias. The Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is field testing a new hate crimes curriculum focused on law enforcement response, investigation, and reporting of hate crimes. The course focuses on increasing capacity and competency to investigate and accurately report all hate crimes, including those motivated by anti-Asian bias.

• Launching a new virtual bookshelf of federally-funded projects that explore and celebrate Asian Americans’ contributions to the United States: The National Endowment for the Humanities is launching a virtual library including resources for educators, civic leaders, arts and humanities institutions, and families to explore Asian American history, and address the history and ongoing challenge of anti-Asian discrimination and racism in the United States.

• Funding critical research to prevent and address bias and xenophobia against Asian American communities. The National Science Foundation is taking a comprehensive approach to investing in research to understand, address, and end bias, discrimination and xenophobia, including against AAPI communities. NSF is currently supporting more than 100 grants across the country totaling more than $33 million dollars of investment. These diverse researchers are advancing innovative studies to reveal new and more effective strategies for reducing the frequency and severity of discrimination experienced by historically underrepresented groups, and reduce targeting of, and violence towards, historically underrepresented communities and individuals, including Asian American communities. This work continues NSF’s history of commitment to supporting fundamental research in these vital areas.

Tuesday’s announcements are additional steps in the Biden Administration’s work to advance equity for AAPI communities throughout the federal government.

In the Tuesday Press Briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the White House will follow through with a promise made to Senators Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, and Mazie Hirono, D-HI, the only AAPI senators, to  appoint a high-level liaison after consultation with AAPI leaders.

"In the coming weeks, the administration will meet with AAPI leaders to hear their input in how we can play the most constructive role possible in the community. And the President raised — because he felt it was imperative to elevate — the continuing threats, the hate speech, and the violence against the Asian American community in his speech he gave during a primetime address a week ago," said Psaki.

On his first day in office, Biden signed an Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. As part of this Order, the President charged federal agencies with taking a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for AAPI communities. 

In his first 65 days, the President announced that it is the official policy of this Administration to condemn anti-Asian bias and violence; visited AAPI leaders in Atlanta to denounce anti-Asian violence and gender-based violence with the Vice President; called on Congress to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act introduced by Senator Hirono and Congresswoman Meng; and promised to create a White House Liaison to the AAPI communities to ensure that AAPI concerns are being heard.

After a weekend of rallies against hate, attacks against AAPI continue

SCREEN CAPTURE

Security cameras captured the attack. The security guard, right, ignored the incident.
Video of the incident is below.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Updated 10:15, April 2 to include name of the victim.

A 65-year old Asian woman on her way to church was viciously attacked Monday morning in New York City.

The attack was shown on a store's security camera. The victim was shoved to the ground as the attacker shouted, "F*** You. You don't belong here."

The man kicked her while she was down and stomped on her head and kicked her again before leaving the scene.

The attack got the attention of security guards inside the establishment where the camera was located. The video shows one guard looking up at the attack and then returning to the task he was doing. Another guard came into view and shut the glass door as the attacker left the scene.

The woman, Filipino American Vilma Kari, was taken to NYU Langone Hospital with swelling and pain. She suffered a fractured pelvis in the attack, but is in stable condition, according to police. She was released from the hospital on Tuesday.

“We’ve gone from being invisible to being seen as sub-human. We just want to be seen as American like everyone else,” tweeted Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y. after viewing the video.

The attack comes after a weekend of rallies and marches to protest the growing violence against Asian Americans. Thousands of people took part in the rallies that took place in cities throughout the nation.

The demonstrations on Saturday were part of a continuation of a planned National Day of Action on Friday, organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, known as ANSWER. The national organization was founded after 9/11.

The demonstrations were sparked by a year-long growth in anti-Asian attacks because they are being blamed for bringing the coronavirus pandemic to the U.S.'s shores. They were a way to bring attention to the plight facing AAPI today.

The shooting spree in Atlanta that killed eight people, including six Asian women was the impetus for the most recent demonstrations and a statement from President Biden condemning the hate and violence targeting AAPI. "It's un-American. It must stop!" said the President. 

However, the attacks continue. In New York City, there has reportedly been a 1,300 percent increase in hate attacks against AAPI. 

There have been 33 hate crimes committed against AAPI victims in New York City  since the start of the year. The NYPD said that officers will now walk the streets undercover to capture suspect attackers.

In the last two weeks, alone: 

• Three days after the tragedy in Atlanta, a 68-year old Sri Lankan man was punched in the head while riding the subway in New York City. The attacker yelled racial slurs at him.
• On March 20, a 66-year-old Asian man was also punched, this time in the face, on the Lower East Side.
• Tthree more attacks were reported on March 21: a Chinese-American mother was hit twice in the face after she finished attending an anti-Asian hate protest in Union Square with her 7-year-old daughter; a 41-year-old Asian woman was thrown to the ground in Midtown, and a 54-year-old Asian woman was hit in the face with a metal pipe by a stranger while walking on the Lower East Side.
• A suspect used anti-Asian slurs at a woman on a train in Queens on March 23. He smashed her phone when she started recording him. 
• On March 26, in Midtown, a man shouted anti-Asian slurs at a 65-year-old Asian woman and waved an unknown object toward her. 
• The next day, an Asian woman was struck by a man who made anti-Asian statements in a Midtown subway station.

The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating all these incidents.

#StopAAPIhate, a website collecting anti-Asian reports says over 3800 attacks against AAPI have occurred in the year since the coronavirus forced health guidelines of social distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing.

The same agency reports that in January and February of this year, there have been 500 incidents of hate reported nationwide.

Opinion: The answer to anti-Asian racism is not more policingSCREE

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

A second weekend of rallies against anti-Asian violence attracted thousands of demonstrators.

By Kayla Hui
PRISM

This past year of the pandemic has seen a horrifying uptick in anti-Asian violence and hate crimes in the U.S., many targeting the elderly. 

From Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year old Thai man who was knocked to the ground, to Noel Quintana, a 61-year old Filipino man who was slashed in the face, many Asian elders have been assaulted and attacked since the pandemic’s onset. Asian people, especially Chinese folks have been subjected to verbal and physical violence—much of which has been fueled by Trump’s anti-Asian rhetoric pertaining to COVID-19’s origins. Racial epithets such as “kung flu” and “Chinese virus” have only exacerbated the situation. 

While some people have donated or raised awareness, others have expressed their grief by calling on more policing as a means for justice. The problem is that more policing rarely results in justice for anyone, and only puts Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color (BIPOC), including Asian people, at risk for more violence.

From 1977 to 2017, state and local spending on policing increased from $42 billion to $115 billion. Policing is not only problematic, but would further negatively impact the health, well-being, safety, and livelihood of BIPOC and other marginalized people. Research has shown that police brutality has ramifications on Black health, underscoring the importance of reallocating police funds to community-based interventions. It’s linked to death and excess morbidity including fatal injuries, adverse physiological responses, racist reactions that exacerbate stress, arrests and incarceration, and systematic disempowerment.

Policing is a system deeply rooted in upholding white supremacy and anti-Blackness, while enabling racist systems to inflict harm on communities of color. The origins of policing have been linked to slave patrols that date back to the 1700s who chased down runaway slaves and prevented rebellions from occurring. We see the legacy of this policing today in the mass killing of unarmed and innocent Black people from Trayvon Martin to Eric Garner.

Additionally, more policing only catalyzes racial tensions between Asian and Black communities—a racial divide that has persisted in large part due to the model minority myth. The stereotype ahistorically and dangerously portrays Asian people as “successful” and able to pull themselves up by the bootstraps even in the face of racism and systemic oppression. It’s used as a weapon to pit Asian people against Black communities by implying that anti-Blackness and white supremacist systems—like policing—benefit Asian people.

This is a lie. Far from protecting us, policing has also harmed and taken the lives of Asian Americans, such as Angelo Quinto, a 30-year old Filipino American man who was knelt on and killed by Antioch Police, and Fong Lee, a 19-year old Hmong man who was killed in 2006 by the Minneapolis police—the same institution and system that would kill George Floyd, a 46-year old Black man, 15 years later. Policing is a harmful and inequitable system of justice and advocating for more policing in our communities does not mean we will see more justice or less crime. It would only call for more violence against BIPOC communities, especially police brutality and unfair treatment on Black and brown lives, violence that Asian Americans have taken part in as police officers themselves.

Instead of calling on more policing, we need Asian solidarity with Black and brown communities as a catalyst for tackling white supremacy and the systems that continuously uphold and enable racism. Dismantling these divides requires unlearning the “scarcity mindset,” a belief that tells us that there are not enough resources for everyone’s needs. In Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider , Lorde highlights “the false notion that there is only a limited and particular amount of freedom that must be divided up between us … So instead of joining together to fight for more, we quarrel between ourselves for a larger slice of the one pie.”

Scarcity mindset underpins the lie that we should fight solely for Asian liberation at the expense of others, and ignores an existing history of alliance and successful collaboration between Asian Americans and Black and brown communities. For example, Jesse Jackson, a Black political activist, called for justice for the murder of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American draftsman who was beaten to death by two white men. Yuri Kochiyama, a Japanese American civil rights activist and Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese American social activist advocated alongside the civil rights and social justice movements for Black liberation–which served as inspiration that was used to advance Asian American liberation. So much of Asian American rights that we see today are in large thanks to Black activists and their fight and struggle for freedom. Further, the Delano Grape Strike, one of the most important economic movements in U.S. history, resulted from the collaboration of Filipino and Mexican farmworkers, led by Larry Itliong, César Chávez, and Dolores Huerta. Sadly, much of this history is erased and ignored while conflicts between Asian American communities and other BIPOC, particularly Black communities, are amplified to the benefit of the white supremacist systems that oppress us all.

While the fight for racial justice is a collective effort, working in solidarity does not mean that we should expect Black communities to do or lead the work. Asian Americans must talk directly with family and friends who believe that “police keep us safe,” giving family members the opportunity to share how they feel before speaking, because family members are more likely to listen when you hear them out first. 

We must remind our communities of the many examples of America’s racist history toward Asians, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the colonization and denigration of Filipinos, and Executive Order 9066–which incarcerated a disproportionate amount of Japanese people who were “under suspicion as enemies” during WWII, and how this was a prelude to more recent hate crimes such as the murder of Vincent Chin, the targeting of South Asians since 9/11, and prominent Asian Americans like Jeremy Lin speaking about the racist harassment he’s experienced on the NBA courts. 

You can learn more about having these conversations by following organizations such as AAPI Women Lead and South Asians for Black Lives, both of which have created and shared informative content about speaking with elders or loved ones who might not speak English about breaking anti-Black stereotypes in the household.

Another way to engage is by learning how to stop xenophobia and harassment targeting Asians in America through bystander training. In collaboration with Hollaback, Asian Americans Advancing Justice offers free bystander and de-escalation training to learn how to intervene when anti-Asian hate and harassment occurs.

White supremacist systems like policing thrive on the dissonance between BIPOC communities. Asian lives cannot afford to have hate and racism win. Instead of looking to more policing as a solution, we must redirect our grief toward positive healing in the form of solidarity. We must organize together, mobilize together, and stand alongside one another in all spaces, and not just in performative ways. 

There is a long history of Asian American communities working in collaboration with Black and other communities of color that offers far richer and more beneficial pathways to justice than more police, and as we’ve seen time and again, we’re stronger and safer when we work together for our mutual liberation.

Reprinted by permission. Prism is a BIPOC-led nonprofit news outlet that centers the people, places and issues currently underreported by national media. For more information link to: www.prismreports.org).

California's attorney general nominee will target hate attacks against AAPI

SCREEN CAPTURE / KPIX

Assemblymember Rob Bonta speaks at the Manilatown Center in San Francisco's old Manilatown.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's pick for the California's vacated Attorney General spot is ready to hit the ground running once he's confirmed by the legislature. Among Assemblymember Rob Bonta's first tasks is to confront the year-long wave of attacks and confrontations against Asian Americans.

"We’re reeling," Bonta said Friday after Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced Bonta as his pick for AG. "People are hurting, scared, anxious, angry and it’s a full-on state of emergency, state of crisis and important."

"The Asian American community, and I know this from lived experience, from personal experience, as a member of the API community, is in a state of crisis right now, it’s a full-on state of emergency," Bonta said, noting how the types of crimes targeting Asian Americans have escalated from spitting and vulgarities to murder.

"It is really important for the people’s attorney, the chief law officer of the state of California, to see and value our API community, and to care, and also to take action," Bonta continued.

As Attorney General, he'll have the full support of Gov. Newsom, who said Friday that the surge of anti-Asian violence "infuriates" him since he grew up in San Francisco with many Asian American friends.

“What the hell is wrong with us?” Newsom asked.

Newsom noted in his emotional statement that although California is known for the diversity of its people, the states also has a long history of xenophobia-driven actions against Asians.

“We have to be vigilant, this is something that’s been with us for 150 years in this state and the country,” Newsom said.

Newsom's instant history lesson recalled the California Legislature's bias against Chinese immigrants in the 1800s, passed several measures aimed at Chinese people, including requiring special licenses, labor rules and preventing naturalization. In 1882, the federal Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law.

Laws against Asians were driven by powerful Californians including Denis Kearney, a political leader and opponent of Chinese immigration, was active in San Francisco. Ironically Kearney Street, was the main street of the former Manilatown and the street where the historic International Hotel was located.

According to #StopAAPIHate, in the year the pandemic has gripped the nation, that is March 2020 to March 2021, over 3800 incidents of hate has been directed against the AAPI communities, from vandalism, verbal assaults to physical attacks.

In the first two months of 2021 alone, #StopAAPIHate reports it has already gathered 500 reports of hate incidents. If this rate continues, 2021 will outdo 2020's record number of hate-driven attacks.

Some of the actions Bonta hopes to undertake when he assumes his new is to ensure that an anti-hate hotline is up-and-running and that the criminal justice system provide more training for law enforcement and work with victims and communities to better understand and address hate.

A peek at Bonta's legislative efforts could give us a better idea of Bonta's aims. In the month prior to his nomination as Attorney General, Bonta introduced AB 886 which would provide support for victims and avenues of restorative justice.

“The recent rise in racist and xenophobic attacks on members of the API community and the larger increase in hate crimes must be addressed with decisive action,” said Bonta. “The embers of hate have always been present, but they have recently been fanned into a fire of violence by no less than the previous occupant of the White House.”

AB 886 will fund community-based organizations that provide culturally competent mental health services for victims of hate violence and restorative justice programs. AB 886 would also expand the eligibility for victims of hate violence to access victim compensation funds and not be denied solely because the victim did not file a police report.

“All communities deserve to be seen, valued, and protected,” said Bonta. “AB 886 would assure that consultation with the victim becomes a primary focus along with community healing. AB 886 would address prevention by providing additional restorative justice tools to proactively increase the likelihood that an individual who caused the harm would not do additional harm.”

An Asian American woman warrior donates almost $1M to fight racism against AAPI

SCREEN CAPTURE / CBS

Xiao Zhen Xie, right, explains to a police officer how she fought back against her attacker.

OPINION

I found a new badass Asian American hero. She comes in the form of Xiao Zhen Xie, the 75-year-old woman who was sucker-punched by a white man in San Francisco – and then fought back by smacking him with a wooden board. He had to be carried away on a stretcher.

The suspect, Steven Jenkins, a 36-year old white man, punched Xie minutes after he assaulted an 83-year-old Asian man. The suspect was being chased by a security guard when he decided to punch Xie.

Although shocked and injured, Xie instinctively grabbed a board and struck back.

I'm not an advocate of violence. I'd much rather anticipate and avoid a violent incident than wade into confrontation that would inevitably end up in a fight and one of us, perhaps both of us, would wind up injured.

But I can't help but cheer when I heard the news story of Xie fighting back on March 17 on Market Street, one of San Francisco's main streets, and delivering instant justice to a bully who made the grave error in assuming Xie would be an easy mark.

The security guard corralled the attacker until police arrived.

But fighting back is not what makes Xie a hero -- although, there was a bit of me that felt a sense of instant justice had occurred. It is what happened afterwards.

Her grandson, John Chen, started a GoFundMe page with a goal of $50,000 to help pay for his grandmother's medical expenses from the unprovoked attack. As of Sunday, March 28, the page has raised $985,000+ -- almost $1 million.

In an update post, Chen wrote that his grandmother is recovering well from the emotional trauma as well as the physical injuries that she suffered..

"She said we must not summit to racism and we must fight to the death if necessary, wrote Chen. 

"She also stated multiple times to donate all the funds generated in this GoFundMe back to the Asian American community to combat racism. She insists on making this decision saying this issue is bigger than her. This is my grandma, grandpa, and our family’s decision. We hope everyone can understand our decision."

Asian American elderly have been the victims of several violent, unprovoked attacks resulting in at least two deaths and countless injuries that required hospitalization.

The death of 84-year old Vichar Ratanapakdee, a Thai American grandfather who was on his morning walk in San Francisco when an attacker ran across the street and knocking the elder to the ground sparked a nationwide media campaign against the hate attacks against AAPI.

Word of Caution: The post is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to read multiple accounts to form their own opinion.

Day of Action: WarnerMedia and AT&T commits $7 million to fight anti-AAPI assaults, bullying and harassment

On the Day of Action, a national day of mourning and remembrance of the lives lost and impacted by racism and hatred, AT&T and WarnerMedia announced a $7 million pledge to help combat for social justice.

“Hate and discrimination don’t have any place in our society. I’m saddened by the current incidents and my coronary heart goes out to the AAPI neighborhood,” Corey Anthony, AT&T senior vice chairman and chief range and improvement officer, mentioned whereas saying the dedication. “AT&T has a duty to handle equality points that affect our workers and the communities we serve. We are going to proceed to work on assembly the wants of these affected.”

The financial commitment includes a multi-platform campaign to raise awareness around the escalating violence towards the AAPI community and to give the public an opportunity to show their support and stand in solidarity. This campaign continues the company's ongoing commitment in response to racial and social injustice.

As a part of the multi-platform marketing campaign, AT&T and WarnerMedia have produced 4 public service bulletins, that includes expertise and executives from throughout WarnerMedia and AT&T, together with CNN host Lisa Ling and correspondent Amara Walker; Within the Heights and Loopy Wealthy Asians director Jon M. Chu; Mortal Kombat star Ludi Lin; Warrior actor Olivia Cheng; Kung Fu stars Olivia Liang and Tzi Ma; AT&T Enterprise CEO Anne Chow; and DC Comics chief inventive officer and writer Jim Lee.

The commitment from AT&T and WarnerMedia comes days after Kaiser Permanente, the nation's larges nonprofit health care provider, announce it's commitment of $5.4 million to fight the hate and violence directed at Asian Americans.

"As a company, WarnerMedia unequivocally stands with the AAPI community and all marginalized communities. We acknowledge that racism and sexism often provide the foundation for hatred, inequality and violence—and these are systemic issues we must all fight," said Christy Haubegger, WarnerMedia's EVP Communications and Chief Inclusion Officer.

"We are creators and thinkers, and we understand our responsibility to help foster greater understanding and awareness, in both the content we create, and through our words and actions."

For more information on ways to support, visit the AT&T AAPI Stand for Equality website att.com/StopAsianHate.

#StopAsianHate Voices from Asian America: Journalists talk about effects of hate on their hob

Minnesota Public Radio / Twitter

AAPI journalists find themselves between a rock and a hard place when covering the recent wave of hate crimes against Asians. 

Journalists are taught to remain objective when covering a story. However, Asian American journalists are finding it hard to do when the attacks against Asians increase and grow more violent, occurring almost daily and the victims look like our parents or grandparents.

A major part of Bay Area's KGO reporter/anchor Dion Lim's beat is talking to victims and their families after the crimes have been committed. “As a journalist, you want people to trust you and share and believe in you enough to tell their story that it’s a privilege,” she told The Wrap. “But then, on the other hand, it’s almost like a burden to bear.”

"I feel fortunate to be in a role where I can help continue to bring these stories to a wider audience, and I feel inspired by this new generation of young activists who are using their voices to lead important discussions while organizing in their cities," said NBC's Vicky Nguyen in an interview with People. "I also feel energized by longtime activists like Amanda Nguyen, who has helped sphere head this movement to combat COVID racism, which is still being wildly underreported."

"AAJA commends journalists who have championed coverage of our communities by pitching and advocating for the stories of our community to be told," said a statement from the Asian American Journalists Association. ... "We are thankful that their journalism brings context and nuance to a topic that can be difficult to discuss."

Below, AAPI journalists from CBS  talk about how the anti-Asian sentiment has affected them personally and how they do their job.

Despite the number of AAPI journalists, mainstream media has generally not recognized the rise of Asian hate violence. "We have been miserably late," journalist Connie Chung told CNN. "We are insignificant, and it's so apparent to all of us who are Asian."

The veteran journalist told CNN that "anti-Asian hate started the moment it came out of President Trump's mouth," adding that it started picking up the moment Trump called Covid-19 The China Virus or the Kung Flu.

Below, CNN's Amara Walker describes three back-to-back racist encounters she experienced at New Orleans International Airport.

"I'm shaking right now," she said.

Lisa Ling (below), host of "This Is Live," is interviewed by CNN's Erin Burnett.

The Asian American Journalists Association has put out guidelines for media encouraging them to let their AAPI staff cover these stories because oftentimes, they can get the witnesses or victims open up to them because they are also Asian.

"Meet the Press" with Chuck Todd apparently get the AAJA memo. Last Sunday, the MSNBC host's topic was the anti-Asian attacks afflicting the AAPI community with the Georgia mass shooting where six of the eight victims were Asian women as its centerpiece. For some unexplainable reason, not one of his guests was an AAPI.

For the information of readers for this blog, "Views From the Edge," is not compelled to remain objective. We allow our feelings and opinions seep into our coverage. After three decades of community and mainstream journalism, the compunction to show both sides of a story sometimes dilutes the true meaning and impact of the issue at hand, especially when the "other side" has no merit.

Towards the end of my career, as a columnist and editorial writer, I was allowed and paid to express these "opinions," which I continue to do with this personal blog.

That's why at the end of most of our opinions on the news, we often leave this message and warning:

Word of Caution: This posting is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news outlets to form their own opinion.

#StopAsianHate Voices From Asian America: Some of the recent victims of the violence against Asians

(Graphics by Christine Chen of APIAvote.)

I wrote about four incidents of violence against AAPI elderly in the same posting last Feb. 6. Each incident was terrible but putting them all together it was shocking: the slashing of an elder's face in the New York subway, the violent shove of an elder in Oakland, the robbery of an elder in San Jose and the death of an 84-year old grandfather in San Francisco. 

However, it wasn't until the video by Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen's video went viral, showing the violence of the unprovoked attacks on the elderly, who could have been our own grandparents that anger turned into action.

In the video, Nguyen complained that mainstream media hadn't been reporting the incidents and she was right. But seeing the elderly men falling, a woman fighting to hold onto her purse and the subway victim's scar got the media's attention.

After viewing the video, actors Daniel Wu and Daniel Dae Kim offered a $25,000 award that would lead to an arrest for the the attacker who pushed a 91-year old violently to the Oakland sidewalk.

“I decided, ’You know what?" Nguyen tells CNBC. "If we are getting locked out of mainstream media, I’m going to turn to social media, and I’m going to have a call to action for mainstream media outlets to uplift Asian stories'” 

The video racked up millions of views on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.

Soon, the networks were. interviewing Wu, Kim and Nguyen. AAPI journalists advocated for coverage of the incidents and produced and reported special extended segments on news shows.

However, despite the media attention, the attacks continued. Most of the victims were the helpless elderly. Then the rallies, opeds, other celebrities and politicians began speaking out.

The following are not all of them. It seems like we hear of a new incident of hate directed at AAPI every day.

Then a lone white gunman walked into a spa in Georgia. 

#StopAAPIHate reports that from March 2020 to March 2021, about 3800 incidents have been collected on their website. Experts believe that many more attacks, insults or harassment have not been reported.

In the first two months of this year, over 500 incidents of violence and hate have already been recorded, says @StopAAPIHate.