Amplify Black and Asian Solidarity — today, and everyday.
Black communities, Asian communities, and Blasian (Black and Asian) communities have coexisted, intersected, celebrated, resisted, and protected each other throughout history. Solidarity in our communities is historical, present, and futuristic as we continue working individually and collectively in dismantling white supremacy.
Know that the societal narrative of “tensions between Black and Asian folx” is written by white folx for white folx to intentionally oppress Black, Asian, and Blasian communities. We must hold and create space for our complex, unique experiences as Black, Asian, and Blasian individuals. We must listen to each other’s truths in navigating our livelihoods to radically resist the inequities our systems perpetuate.
Read and learn about Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama, Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs, among many present day community builders within and across Black, Asian, and Blasian communities. Recognize the importance of intersectional activism and community building for Black, Asian, and Blasian folx.
Be radically truthful with yourself in your own understanding and/or reckoning of Black and Asian solidarity.
BLACK AND ASIAN SOLIDARITY IS A WARM, GLOWING EMBRACE, A COMMUNAL SPACE, A RESTING PLACE, WHERE OUR COLLECTIVE STRENGTH IS INUPPER CASE ALONG A YIN-YANG PENCIL TRACE, FILLED WITH HARMONY AND GRACE.
We are golden. We shine bright with our golden light. Our community shines bright with your light. You shine bright, Michelle Alyssa Go, as you rest in Golden Power.
For my entire life I have taken the subway, Turning my head this way, then that way Who will help if I call out hey, Who will help if someone wants me gone today?
I stand here now as my heart burns with fury, I cannot simply say “do not worry”. Our community is enraged, we grieve and say again Another name, another life, gone and then…
Then what? To be an Asian American woman in New York City, Is to feel major and minor feelings woefully Is to stay alert hoping we don’t get hurt as we wait for our trains Is to be filled with sorrow, and our families, with pain
To be Asian American with my eyes above my mask Is to look all around me, each day that’s a fact Some may say that this was not racially motivated But to come together and make a change, for that we are morally obligated
I can feel my body shake as I speak I am tired of the Asian American woman characterized as “weak” I urge us all to care for each other Lend not just one but many helping hands to our sisters and brothers
Let us change how we care for homeless folks Let’s take action beyond the words that are deemed woke Let us cherish the lives and celebrate and thrive So we all may coexist with joy while we are still alive
Let us look around to each other not out of fear But for solidarity, hope, and love from and with our peers Without calling for incarceration We cannot harm more Black bodies in our 美国 “beautiful country” severed nation
For the Black and Asian communities We can heal together, and listen to each other’s stories We can address the mental health crises And interrupt the racism that kills our souls, minds, and bodies
Broken systems wrangle our humanity with stakes Two lives have been failed in a system meant to win and to break Us, We the oppressed, stressed and under duress Through the daily atrocities – but are still expected to perform at our best
Feel all the feelings this moment may bring You can cry, you have permission to do more than just languishing Care for yourself and remember we can care for our community Our liberation is intertwined together, our love and truths will set us free
Our voices matter, Hear our voices In life, we are always faced with so many choices Let us join, not only in moments of racial reckoning Not only when someone is lost or when hate is beckoning
Solidarity is not a rarity, it is a daily commitment we make In the actions we take to create change, with our youth, and to innovate our fate For I know, we matter more than just in Black History Month and Lunar New Year For I know, we are stronger together even as we shed our tears
For we shall not “divide and conquer” our communities in society Instead we will rise from unjust hypocrisy Despite injustice that continues to wear a cape of what’s “fair” Let us abolish what does not work, dismantle the inequitable air
Stronger together, our communities unite May our inner strength carry us through this night We, the people, will rise tall as the skyscraper heights And together, We shine bright with our golden light.
我们是金的。 我们是金的。
We are golden. We shine bright with our golden light. Our community shines bright with your light. You shine bright, Michelle Alyssa Go, as you rest in Golden Power.
ALICE TSUI 