03/21/2021
Please read these words from ’s childhood best friend
Resource links tagged above. Read. Educate. Look. Listen. Speak up for our APPI community!
From Christina:
During these challenging days after the Atlanta mass murders and AAPI Hate Crimes spotlighted, I have missed my dear friend Lea and wanted to share another reason we all need to
Lea was not only a dear friend she was an ally. She was my tall, blond, blue eyed friend that had my back. Always. She knew I was teased, called Ching - Chong, G**k and that boys treated me differently and she stood by me and made sure it didn’t happened. She took the time to learn my father’s immigration story, she listened. She noticed how differently we were treated in school, in places we would go. When we would go out in Boston and travel together she wasn’t afraid to address micro aggressions that she observed, speak up, point it out and have my back. There are so many times that Lea picked up on a racist vibe and deflected that nonsense in her protective way. Probably more times than she ever let me realize. Lea embodied what being an ally looked like and I can tell you that it felt amazing. To know that I had a friend who would stand up for me was priceless. As Lea and I got older, Lea educated herself on Chinese American history and we talked extensively about the gaps in our education and how our school curriculum ignored so many parts of history. We both became educators and shared the passion of teaching to all students and meeting their needs.
In the last few days friends have asked what can I do to support you? The simple answer is
Support your friends of color unconditionally
Speak up on their behalf
Read, read, read
Educate yourself
Listen, observe and watch- you will notice how AAPI are treated differently when you pause and observe
Find ways to bringing up AAPI hate in everyday conversations with white friends and ask them what they are going to do to bring change. @ Mill Valley, California
