Asian Americans for Black Lives

It has been hard to find the right words to say the last few days, trying to untangle the feelings we feel and put them into coherent words. We don’t intend to be silent on this, so please forgive us for the delays as we reflected on all the events of this week (and beyond). We recognize too that our words matter with the platform we possess, and we vow to use it to stand for what we believe is right.

We recognize that for Welcome to Chinatown, most of our volunteers are first-generation Asian Americans who have been afforded the privilege to work toward the American dream. In many ways, our privilege is what led us to be equipped with the very resources and opportunities we offer through our initiative, and we recognize not all Americans have the equal opportunity to these same resources that our privilege afforded us. This especially comes to light with the heartbreaking events that took place in our country this week (and countless times before that). This week is a reminder that our privilege devastatingly blinds us from the realities of the world that our Black communities face, and it is also a reminder of the responsibility we must hold ourselves to, to DO 100000000x BETTER and support and advocate for Black communities who have not been able to benefit from the same, basic human rights because of the deep rooted racism in our country. We have not done everything we can to uplift Black communities, and this needs to change now. 

It requires education that we will commit ourselves to, to learn more about the history of Black oppression and also learn from our own mistakes as an Asian American community. It is going to be uncomfortable facing the racism that may lie within us because of the rhetoric White supremacy has placed on Asians as the model minority, which has caused a lot of pain and separation between Asian and Black communities. It is also going to be a deep reflection of our culture and our privilege, and applying it to our fight for justice for Black communities. Yes, we are siblings of color, but no, we will never know what it feels like knowing that just the color of our skin is a life or death matter the second we step outside our doors.

To our Black brothers and sisters, we are here for you. We love you. We stand by you. We won’t be complacent. We will not be silent.

To our Asian American community, we need to wake the fuck up, y’all. This is no time to sleep. Our existence, our PRIVILEGE, would not exist without all that Black Americans have endured. While some destruction occurred in Chinatown last night, it is important to remember it is not representative of the largely peaceful protests. It is not the time to be distracted from the focus of solidarity and support for our brothers and sisters.

To start, we will be posting and sharing additional information via our IG stories, as we continue to learn, read, donate, support and vocalize our solidarity for the black community. We are continuously learning. We will make mistakes. We will learn from them. We will do better.

In the pursuit of equality for all,
Vic and Jen