It has been difficult to escape the rising sense of horror and hopelessness as we have watched the increase in violence and hate crimes inflicted on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over the past few months. We’ve witnessed a 150% increase in xenophobic violence in the past year alone. It is intolerable and we are committed to standing with the AAPI community in outrage and in hope that we can contribute to positive change and drive out racism where and when we see it.
This week’s tragic and horrifying attack once again shone a spotlight on the threats facing the AAPI community. But these events don’t happen in isolation. The violence and discrimination we’re all seeing now is tragically not new, and we are very aware that change will only come when we all stand together and speak up.
We have made a donation to Welcome to Chinatown, a NYC-based organization that works to amplify community leaders and support local businesses. It has been particularly vocal in response to the recent racist attacks and supporting the community during COVID. In the spirit of ‘change starting at home’ this felt like a good starting point. If you have any other recommendations please share with us. We are keen to explore new ways for us to be a better ally to the AAPI community.
Please see the resources below to learn more about ways to support the community as well as additional options to make donations:
- STOPAAPIHate
- NYC Stop Asian Hate Toolkit
- Anti-Asian Violence resources
- How to be an Ally
- NYC-specific ways to support grass roots organizations
And some additional reading and streaming content:
- Self-evident
- PBS’ Asian Americans
- #AsianAmCovidStories
- 25 amazing books by Asian American and Pacific Islander authors
We can all effect change if we do it together.