Wake em’ Up: Black and API Solidarity in the Black Lives Matter Movement
Originally published at Hyphen Magazine
In April, USF in conjunction with Hyphen magazine held a Black Lives Matter/Asian-Americans panel to discuss ways the Asian American community can get involved in the movement. Many young people were in attendance, excited and bristling with energy and ideas. Students fielded questions about the place of the Asian/Pacific Islander in the fight for racial equality and shared stories of different perspectives. As a speaker that was invited to participate in the panel and as a Black man who is at ground zero in the conflict of whether “Black lives matter,” I was delighted in the conversation of how Asian/Pacific Islander students viewed not only the shootings of unarmed Black men, but historic systematic racism that has affected all people of color. Students posed questions such as “how can Asian/Pacific Islanders be great allies to African Americans?”, “should Asian/Pacific Islanders organize their own groups around the issue?”, and finally “how can Asian Pacific Islander’s history of oppression in America relate to the historic discrimination of African Americans?” This discussion prompted the questions of the history of activism between African Americans and Asians, why there is wedge between the communities, and how we can move forward.
As we know, the AAPI community has faced many manifestations of racism. To name a few: the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited Chinese and other Asian communities from immigrating and working in the United States; the incarceration camps that imprisoned many Japanese immigrants during World War II decimated thriving Asian communities; the denial of basic rights such as land ownership, the ability to testify in court, and attaining citizenship; the ongoing criminalization and deportations of Southeast Asians and undocumented AAPIs.
Showing resilience, the AAPI community has also fought as part of the civil rights movement. One prominent Asian American activist was the great Yuri Kochiyama, the Japanese American community organizer who became close friends with Malcolm X. An activist and ally, Kochiyama organized a campaign for the imprisoned journalist Mumia Abdul Jamal, a former Black Panther that was accused of killing a Philadelphia police officer. Another was Richard Masto Aoki, a San Leandro, CA born man and original member of the Black Panther Party. Bobby Seale, one of the founders of the organization said Aoki was “one consistent, principled person, who stood up and understood the international necessity for human and community unity in opposition to oppressors and exploiters.”
Today some may argue that the alliance between the two communities has faded away. While pop culture, hip hop and sports may be similar interests shared between African American and Asian American communities, the one time camaraderie has given way to fear, apathy, and stereotypes. Issues such as Affirmative Action and the police shootings of unarmed Black men are a divisive issue for many Asian Americans trying to navigate the model minority myth. Bernadette Candy, a Filipino Bay Area native who is a Case Manager at the famed Glide Church in San Francisco, calls the silence “disheartening. As someone who identifies as Asian, we must show up for our Black allies. Some people see it as a Black issue, but it is not. We are all a part of the same community, and we have a responsibility in owning our voice.” The Model Minority Myth is another possible strain on the alliance between African Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders, and is often used by conservative organizations such as the Project for Fair Representation, a group ran by activist Edward Blum, whose sole purpose was to dismantle Affirmative Action under the guise of universities under-admitting Asians. Angela Chan, policy director and senior staff attorney at Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, believes that Asians should stand in solidarity with African Americans. “We should reject the label of the Model Minority because it is a token privilege and is used to hurt other minorities.” She also encourages members of the AAPI community to speak out strongly against police shootings of unarmed Black men. “We should not only care about us, but for all. It makes a just society for all people.”
At Oxford University Malcolm X famously said, “You’re living in a time of extremism, a time for revolution, a time where there has got to be change… I for one will join in with anyone. I don’t care what color you are. Just as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth.” I thought of that speech as the Black Lives Matter/Asian Solidarity panel came to a close. Many students came together in groups and brainstormed on how they could make an impact on this important social issue. Many young Asian/Pacific Islanders are organizing via social media, creating hashtags such as #NotYourWedge, to combat the divisive use of Asian students in the Affirmative Action fight. They are also taking action to the streets by marching in protests and recently many Asian/Pacific Islanders were a part of a 25 member group that chained themselves to the doors of a downtown Oakland Police department to protest the shooting of Mike Brown, an unarmed African American that was killed in Ferguson, MO. Chan feels that another way Asians can help out is to start calling out racism and bigotry in its micro and macro aggressions. “Sometimes people say things about Black people in front of Asian students, and think it’s just fine because they are not Black. If you don’t say anything, you are accepting it and you buy into that. Candy echoes similar thoughts. “People have said anti-Black things around me and thought it was okay because I’m Asian, but in my reality it is not okay.” Candy also stresses solidarity between the communities. “Right is right, wrong is wrong and what is happening is wrong. Are you willing to stand up when it is needed?”
After the discussion ended, there was a sense of urgency in the air. AAPI students had mini discussions amongst themselves about how they could step out of the shadows, out from under the privilege that is commonly afforded to AAPI students, and help their African American brothers and sisters in the fight against police terrorism. I myself felt inspired that many students saw this issue as an “us” matter, instead of “them.” There had been talks of social media exchanges, protests on campus, and community building with other African American student groups at USF. As I was leaving, one of the wonderful poets at the event approached me and asked how he could participate in the movement. I looked at him with a smile and said, “Caring about your fellow man and woman and coming to events like these. At this point, we need all the solidarity that we can get.”
Sources –
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/us/yuri-kochiyama-civil-rights-activist-dies-at-93.html?_r=0
