On Twitter I’ve been boosting what I can, when I see it. This means linking to articles about the hate crime shooting spree in Atlanta (and the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, violence, racism, etc)  across the past year and change alone. I also shared donation links from foundations specifically to benefit and uplift Asian American communities and help the victims of the latest attacks to hit the news. I neglected to do that here as I was focused on using that bigger platform to boost and be helpful that way.

However, it’s important to make things clear here as well: I stand in solidarity with Atlanta’s Asian American community as well as with Asians and other people of color who are subject to the horrors and hatefulness of white supremacy everywhere. White supremacy is a rot that must be rooted out of society and solidarity is a community building/reinforcing tool that will help us do so.

Rather than center myself at any point, I’m sharing some of the links I shared on Twitter so that folks who read this site can see how they can help and what they may have been missing. This will include donation links to GoFundMes and foundations.

Articles

If You’re Surprised by the Anti-Asian Violence in Atlanta, You Haven’t Been Listening. It’s Time to Hear Our Voices by Eric Nam

On March 16, a domestic terrorist tragically killed eight people—six of them Asian women. While prosecutors and law enforcement still debate whether to designate the murders as hate crimes, millions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), including myself, are left feeling abandoned and overwhelmed with memories of our past, the realities of our present and fears for our collective future in a country we love.

The news quite literally hit home for me—I was born and raised in Atlanta and some of the murders took place near my old stomping grounds. I was filled with shock, grief, frustration and then anger. As attacks on AAPIs have spiked over the last 12 months, the calls for help and the warning signs from our community have felt ignored—as if the stories were about people living on the other side of the world, not about your neighbors in America.

Anti-Asian Violence Must Be a Bigger Part of America’s Racial Discourse by Alexander Chee and Cathy Park Hong

I think trying to explain what’s happening is like trying to explain 4D chess. And not just to other people, but to myself, because there’s so many different intersectional layers to what’s happening with the violence. First off, I will say that it’s not necessarily a backlash or a backlash against the popularity of K-pop for instance.

Anti-Asian racism has always been constant in this country because it’s always been a part of this country from the mid-1800s, when Chinese laborers were brought in to use as cheap laborers to replace slaves. They weren’t meant to stay in this country. White people brought them in to kick them out.

Donating, Volunteering, Reporting Hate Incidents: Here’s How to Help Combat Anti-Asian Violence by Kat Moon

A suspect in the shootings, Robert Aaron Long, has been charged with eight counts of murder after being taken into custody. While police say Long has denied the killings were racially motivated, the incident has sparked outcry for an end to anti-Asian violence. Since the shootings, the hashtag #StopAsianHate has trended on Twitter as individuals expressed solidarity with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).

Here are some ways to support the AAPI community, from helping to report hate incidents to donating to nonprofits to volunteering.

This Is What Anti-Asian Hate Looks Like in the UK by Angela Hui (please note that this article opens with potentially triggering photographs of injuries in the header)

Even before the pandemic, the UK had a long and ignoble history of racism towards ESEA people. Many have said that prejudice is simply “ignored”, and the lack of mainstream representation has normalised everyday prejudice that has been downplayed to an unbelievable level.

Despite Chinese people alone being the fourth largest minority-ethnic group, according to the most recent 2011 UK census, people of ESEA heritage are rarely seen in many public spheres, including politics, sports and the media. The lack of visibility means that we are a blank canvas to project any and all bias on to – and then COVID came along and did just that.

For Asians Living in the Shadow of the Atlanta Killings, Anger and ‘Just This Constant Fear’ by Janell Ross

In Atlanta, a massive metroplex where little beyond the traffic report draws the attention of everyone, there is fear, frustration and anger about a white gunman’s decision to enter three Asian-owned spas and open fire. The alleged gunman is in custody, but the sense that the danger remains and that the public and even the law enforcement response to it has been less than robust is not hard to find. Instead, what Asian Americans living in the area described in the immediate aftermath of the murders is a sense that the growing anti-Asian hate crime around the country has not suddenly visited Atlanta but has become so violent and come so close as to be personal, and terrifying. There’s a sense among many that it’s hunting season, and they are the prey.

A 75-year-old Asian woman says she fought back after being attacked in San Francisco by Cheri Mossburg, Stella Chan and David Williams, CNN

A 75-year-old Asian woman says she fought back after being punched in the eye Wednesday morning in what police believe was an unprovoked assault.

“He bullies old people,” Xiao Zhen Xie said in a video taken after the attack by CNN affiliate KPIX. “So I gave a punch.”

GoFundMes/Foundations and Their Donation Links

Not just Atlanta Orgs as violence against Asian Americans is hitting coast to coast. Please let me know if you have links I can add here especially if they’re not in Kat’s coverage and go to local/small organizations.

The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum – The Georgia Chapter’s page + Their IG

Asian Women’s Shelter

Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Atlanta Branch) – Twitter

Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants  

A GoFundMe created for Xiao Zhen Xie by her grandson

A GoFundMe created for Ngoc Pham (who was attacked by the same man who attacked Xiao Zhen Xie)

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Solidarity will only make us stronger, and I’ll always work to be in solidarity with other people affected by white supremacy and racist violence. If there’s any way that the platform of this site or its/my Twitter can be better used to show support and solidarity with my Asian American siblings in this horrible time, please ping me and I’ll get on it.

Thoughts and prayers often feel inadequate, but mine are with the friends and family members of the poor women and men killed in Atlanta as well as with Xiao Zhen Xie and Ngoc Pham in San Francisco. My heart is also hurting for the people who have reported anti-Asian violence across the past year or more, the people who couldn’t bring themselves to report anti-Asian crimes or racism (or who were encouraged not to), and Asian people suffering in fear that their loved ones and communities are at risk because of racists feeling entitled to harm them/their people.

They all deserved better than what this country has allowed to happen as a result of white supremacy’s rot all the way through.