artwork by Jess X. Snow
Dear Friends,
The news spread fast through the AAPI community, home to home, text to text. I found out from an Asian American sister. Eight killed at three massage spas in Georgia on Tuesday night. Six were Asian, seven were women.
The violation is deep, primal. They were our sisters, and they were killed by a white man in a time when anti-Asian hate incidents are terrifyingly high. 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate in the last year. Most targeted women.
The investigation is ongoing. Local police have not classified this mass shooting as a hate crime. There have been no efforts by officials to name the unequivocal roles of racism, sexism and classism in this tragedy. Racialized misogyny is the term that comes to mind. But we don’t need to know all the particulars of intention in order to respond to impact.
To all my AAPI family: You are grieving, but you do not grieve alone. We are with you. We see you. We have been here before. How many times have we been scapegoated, banned, interned, raped, killed, forgotten? We will not forget these women and we are not alone or apart anymore.
If your grief is laced with rage, that is exactly as it should be. Your rage carries information and power. So feel the surge in your veins, let your fists clench, then move or scream or write. Your rage is telling you that YOU have a role to play to end this hate — and how our country responds to it.
And if you are tired— from the mass shootings, the double standards, the “he was having a bad day,” the “thoughts and prayers,” the pain— you are not alone. Breathe, my love. The labor is long. The losses incalculable. You are part of a movement. We need you to last. Care for your body. Breathe before you push.
To accomplices: Reach out to your Asian American friends, family, teachers, neighbors, etc. Call, text, DM. You don’t need a confirmed motive to know they are hurting. Tell them you love them. We birth the beloved community by becoming it — right here and now.
Yours,
Valarie
#1 Learn the names and stories of those we lost. Six names have been released so far. Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Julie Park, 70’s; Hyun-jeong Park Grant, 50’s.
#2 RSVP here to attend the virtual vigil tonight, March 18th, 5pm PST. Hosted by Red Canary Song, a grassroots collective of Asian & migrant sex workers organizing transnationally.
#3 Fill out the form here if you would like to direct resources to victims’ families and organizers on the ground. This includes funds as well as mental health, interpretation, and legal services.
#4 Follow @Advancing_Justice_Atl on Instagram to stay updated on response efforts and action items.
#5 Go to StopAAPIHate.org to volunteer, donate, and access resources on how to support the APPI community. Follow on Instagram @StopAAPIHate.
Words on header image art by Jess X. Snow: “In the future, our Asian community is safe. We no longer need to be memorialized, because white supremacy is of the past. We are the stars, seeds & motherland all at once. A force so expansive, no one can hurt us.”