PBS special on the Atlanta spa shootings and the rise in anti-Asian hate linked to AANHPI political activism

RISING AGAINST ASIAN HATE

Robert Peterson, son of Atlanta shooting victim Yong Ae Yue, is featured in the documentary.

In March 2021, a man murdered eight people, including six women of Asian descent, at three spas in Atlanta, Georgia. In a year of increasing violence against Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, the shooting was a watershed event.

For many, the tragic events became a galvanizing moment, reigniting a sense of collective identity and political engagement within AAPI communities. Now, as violence against AAPI people continues to surge nationwide, Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March, a documentary chronicles the troubling escalation of hate and spotlights the movement to turn grief and anger into action. 

"The Asian American community are not victims in this story. I didn't want to show a community that's victimized, even though what's been happening is horrific. But the Asian American community [has] been here fighting for their civil rights for a very, very long time,” said Titi Yu, director of the hour-long documentary. 

WATCH: Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March premieres on Monday, October 17 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/RisingAgainstAsianHate, the PBS Video App and on the PBS

 Narrated by Emmy nominated actress Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy, Killing Eve) with music by Academy and Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste and Grammy nominated musician Cory Wong, Rising Against Asian Hate pays tribute to the lives lost, examines the rise of anti-Asian racism and documents a growing movement to fight back and stop the hate.

Rising Against Asian Hate features interviews with Robert Peterson, son of the late Yong Ae Yue, who was killed in the Atlanta spa shootings; community leaders and organizers and politicians including Stacey Abrams (former Georgia State Representative, founder of Fair Fight and Democratic gubernatorial candidate), Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, Georgia State Sen. Michelle Au, Georgia State Rep. Bee Nguyen, Georgia State Rep. Samuel Park and Byung J. "BJay" Pak (former Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney and legislator); among others.

"The tragedy of the Atlanta shootings and the events of the past two years have compelled a deep reflection within the community about our place in the American polity. It has galvanized the Asian American community to speak up and speak out," said Yu.

"We watched in horror and shock as vicious attacks on Asian Americans were caught on camera, and we saw how this violence escalated to the killing of six women of Asian descent in the Atlanta shooting," said Gina Kim, executive producer of Rising Against Asian Hate. "With this documentary we hope to examine this troubling escalation of racism against the AAPI community, pay respect to the lives lost and impacted by the violence, and champion those coming together to fight against the hate."

"The rise in anti-Asian hate incidents over the past few years has been unlike anything we've seen in the 42 years that CAAM has been supporting Asian American stories," says Center for Asian American Media Director of Programs Donald Young. "With so much attention focused on the accused shooter in Atlanta, this film is a necessary, in-depth look at the stories behind the victims and the effects on the community."

"The shocking events that took place in Atlanta, and the acts of violence that continue to take place in communities across the country, are tragic and unthinkable," said Margaret Ebrahim, senior director, General Audience Programming at PBS. "Rising Against Asian Hate epitomizes PBS's mission to produce trusted, thought-provoking content that goes beyond the surface level; to provide a platform for discussion, and to foster a culture of understanding about issues that ultimately impact us all."

The film is part of The WNET Group's Exploring Hate: Antisemitism, Racism and Extremism, a public media reporting initiative examining the roots and rise of hate in America and across the globe. 

To complement Rising Against Asian Hate, the Exploring Hate digital series be/longing: Asian Americans Now profiles Asian American trailblazers from across the country in five stories of belonging and exclusion; resilience and hope; and solidarity in the face of hate. Rising Against Asian Hate filmmakers Gina Kim and Titi Yu are the subjects of episode five of be/longing and shed light on what they discovered about the AAPI community in the face of anti-Asian violence.

Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March is produced by Repartee Films, LLC in association with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and The WNET Group for PBS.

With director Yu is Gina Kim as executive producer. For CAAM, Stephen Gong and Donald Young are executive producers and James Ott is executive-in-charge. For Exploring Hate, Eugenia Harvey is executive producer and Judy Greenspan is series producer. For The WNET Group, Lesley Norman is executive producer and Stephen Segaller is executive-in-charge. Margaret Ebrahim is the Executive in Charge for PBS.

Yu believes that the 2022 Midterm election is a critical moment for Asian Americans' growing political influence. She explains how by drawing a line between the hate crime legislation and political participation further emphasizes the kind of work that the Asian American community has been doing throughout history.

“Whenever this kind of violence happens, we hear about the families and the victims,” Yu continues, “but we don’t really know that behind the story of how the community can actually come together to really help the victims and the families, and particularly with immigrant communities that’s also close knit. I just got a sense that a tragedy like this can really hit at the heart of the community members. So that’s why we wanted to reach out to those people.”

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