By Mimi Chen, AsAmNews Staff Writer
A Rally at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles attracted hundreds of people from multiple organizations in a show of support for the Asian community against recent incidents of violence against Asians.
AsAmNews spoke with Patrick Chen, a member of Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, an all volunteer, multiracial, intergenerational grassroots organization based in Los Angeles’ Chinatown that fights for community empowerment and against displacement.
Chen is on the planning committees for the event and notes that the CCED is only one of the organizations in the coalition organizing this event, which is being called “Love Our Communities – Build Collective Power”.
Q:We all think we know what’s going on, we understand there are incidents of violence against Asians, can you give us any insight on the situation in Los Angeles and why the need for a rally?
Chen: We are responding to various needs of our communities. One of these is to hold space to process the trauma and grief many are feeling. We wanted to create a grounding, healing space in the wake of anti-Asian violence. We also know that many want to do something but are not sure where to start. We want to uplift and highlight the many grassroot organizations that have been doing the difficult and often unseen direct work in Los Angeles Asian American communities. A rally is just a starting point to engage our communities in the community organizing work that is what will truly keep us safe.
Q: Heard there was a situation in Koreatown, any insight on that?
Chen:Our organizations are aware of an incident where a Koreatown resident was physically attacked several weeks ago.
Q:What do you think can be done?
Chen: We know that change does not occur overnight, even though we need it to. We seek to both do something that can help our community process our grief as well as build our community towards the collective power we need to affect the changes that will truly keep us safe. We know that increased policing or vigilantism is not the answer and not the long term solution. In fact, many of the most vulnerable in our communities themselves are the victims of the police or private security.
Q: With so many organizations joining the rally, I heard someone say that true victims’ voices are being buried, do you agree this is happening?
Chen: We do not agree that this is happening. In our program, we are having survivors of violence speak, including Tanny Jiraprapasuke and Theo Henderson. We also will be sharing the voices of community members and elders. Additionally, we want to expand the frame of what a victim of violence is. We do not believe it diminishes the trauma and pain of victims of physical violence when we say that victims of economic violence, displacement, deportation, imprisonment, intimate partner violence, are also victims of this country’s foundational white supremacist capitalist system.
Q: Are there more Marches/Events being planned?
Chen: We currently do not have more marches or events planned at the moment. However, our coalition of grassroots LA based organizations will continue to stay connected to support each other’s work and think about further opportunities, perhaps of different styles, in the future.
Q: There was a question as to whether the Asian community can count on police assistance, some feel they aren’t safe because they don’t feel they can count on the police- is this true or not?
Chen: There is some truth to that but I want to expand on how we see the situation. Yes, it’s true that the Asian American community can’t count on the police – but the reason is because the police have no real interest in actually protecting communities of color. Rather, they suck up resources and lock up people instead, when those resources can go towards actually improving the community and mitigating causes of random street violence. The police are also perpetrators of violence against the vulnerable in our Asian American communities, such as the murders of Angelo Quinto and Christian Hall. They are unequipped and uninterested in helping those going through mental health crises or the unhoused trying to survive.
Q: Please add any other urgent information to the AAPI community you think we should know
Chen: CCED is encouraging the Asian American community to support our Vietnamese community in fighting against deportations. VietRise is hosting a car caravan rally on Sunday March 14th in Westminster.
Some of the organizations include the following: (See Graphic for full list)
3rd World Power
AHRI for Justice
Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team
Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement
Asian Pacific American Artists for Change
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Los Angeles
Black and API Solidarity
Black Lives Matter LA
California Star CLUW
Center for the Pacific Asian Family
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities
Hate is a Virus
Progressive Asian Network for Action
The rally began at 3:30 Pacific Time. Watch for updates