Building Solidarity with the Black Community: A Guide for API Allies by Fei Mok â10 (@alifeofgreen) and Shelly Anand â08 (@shellypolitik)
In honor of Black History Month, Fei and Shelly put together a list of things folks can do in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community to build solidarity with the Black Community. Of course, these things should and can be worked on beyond February!
Protests to free Huey Newton, leader of Black Panthers after he was arrested for alleging killing a cop in Oakland, CA 1969. Photo via Angry Asian Man.
1. Learn about oppression and racism within your own community, recognize your privilege with respect to caste/shadeism/socioeconomic class, and start challenging it.
Successful members of the API community not only benefit in American society due to the model minority myth (see #2), but also because of their positions of privilege within their respective community. Think about how you benefit from certain privileges and hierarchies that exist in your community. For instance, if you know that you come from a family of a higher caste, take time to educate yourself about the Dalit rights movement and the history of oppression against individuals historically designated into lower castes or social-strata. Use your community gatherings as an opportunity to diversify who has a place at the table. With respect to shadeism, if you are not subject to hurtful comments for having darker skin, take the time to educate yourself about the history of shadeism within not only the API community but also other communities of color. Next time you are sitting with your aunties watching Zee TV, Â speak out against fairness cream ads endorsed by internationally celebrated celebrities (lookinâ at you Shah Rukh)!
2. Recognize API complicity and use as wedge in anti-Blackness and white supremacy through the model minority myth and other issues.
Ever heard folks in the API community say things like: âWe are able to have a successful life here because we work hardâ? âWe are able to succeed in America because we care about our childrenâs education?â Welcome to the model minority myth. API folks enjoy this status in between the white majority and the Black community as a tool to perpetuate myths and stereotypes used against the latter. Â API communities in America have historically distanced themselves from the Black community so that they were not subject to the same forms of discrimination through methods such as accepting aspects of white privilege, taking economic advantage of laws during Jim Crow in the South, suing to go to white schools, and accepting the global mediaâs perpetuation of anti-Blackness. What many API folks fail to realize is that in distancing themselves from the Black community, they are only reinforcing racial hierarchies and segregation, which in the end, only serves to perpetuate superior status for white folks. This is not to say that API have suddenly reached a point where they themselves do not experience racism. As activist Mikael Chuks Owunna wrote, the complicity of API and other non-Black people of color (POC) in anti-Blackness does not erase APIâs experiences of racism with white people. Â Fortunately, there are some amazing API organizations focusing on building solidarity with the Black community and speaking out against anti-Black racism that we can all learn about, join, and support.
Asian-American Protesters for #BlackLivesMatter. Photo via @TheJennyLam and @OH_MASTER.
3. Recognize that the term POC is useful for building solidarity, but has its limitations.
While POC is useful for political solidarity, it masks the more specific racial situations of non-Black POC, especially in how we benefit from anti-Blackness and the nuances of imperialism. Check out articles at Black Girl Dangerous here and here for more details. It is also important to learn about where the terms POC and women of color (WOC) came from. Activist Loretta Ross explains the origin of the phrase in the video below; a transcript of further commentary is also found here.
4. For those fluent in other languages, speak to others, especially elders, in the community about racism and anti-Blackness.
Language barrier is a challenge for people to get access to alternative sources of information aside from the major non-English news channels or newspapers. These news channels likely arenât talking about systemic racism or anti-Blackness; if anything, theyâre probably perpetuating the same type of myths and stereotypes as English-language news. But if we counter that by providing more information, particularly in our native languages, people may be more likely to listen with an open mind. We can also de-academicize the language we use to talk about racism and anti-Blackness to make the concepts more accessible.
5. Recognize that POC can also culturally appropriate other POC cultures.
Cultural appropriation is not something that only white people do. People of color can appropriate as well and their racial/ethnic identity is not an excuse to make this non-problematic. There are many examples of API culturally appropriating hip hop, the âthugâ look, and African American slang. As with other forms of cultural appropriation, this is about privilege, power, and history: API can take the âgoodâ parts without experiencing the âbadâ of discrimination and stereotypes associated with the culture. We need to recognize that our race/ethnicity does not mean we are free of exerting this power over other marginalized communities. For more information on cultural appropriation, check out articles here, here, and here.
DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving) March in Jackson Heights in December 2014 as a part of  âSpeakout & Takinâ the Streets for Eric Garner & All Stolen Lives.â Photo from DRUMâs photo album here.  Â
6. Donât engage in Oppression Olympics.
We are definitely not saying API communities have not suffered. They have. Colonization. The Vietnam War. Partition. Japanese Internment Camps. Post-9/11 Islamophobia. Oak Creek Sikh Temple Shooting. Itâs a lot. But we cannot compare the ways our respective communities have been hurt, disadvantaged, and oppressed with one another nor can we compare our histories with the history of African-Americans in this country. Racism, in the context of discrimination and oppression against Black Americans is its own unique and painful beast that must be distinguished and recognized. The history of slavery, Jim Crow, the modern day prison-industrial complex, and the social and political disenfranchisement of the Black community are all part of the very fabric for which this country was built. Without learning about the oppression of the Black community have created our current racial hierarchy, APIs will not know how and where we belong within it.
7. Amplifying Black voices (and not speaking over them).
It is essential as an ally that API folks do not take center stage and lead over Black activists. While it is important that API and other non-Black POC show solidarity with the Black community, continually centering our own needs/issues and derailing changes the narrative from Black voices to API/non-Black POCâs feelings about Black voices. This co-opts Black spaces and takes energy and time away from the real work. It can be incredibly painful for Black people not to be heard or that their ideas/emotions can only be heard by the mainstream audience if said by allies. This is a time to build trust and community. Â
Grace Lee Boggs and James Boggs. Photo via the American Revolutionary documentary film.
Yuri Kochiyama in meeting with Black activists (Muhammad Ahmad on left) in 1970s. Photo via Discover Nikkei
8. Create and share political art.
Political art, music, poetry, and stories are a really powerful way to spread the message about systemic racism, police violence, solidarity, and social justice. There is some amazing artwork at Artists Against Police Violence and RLM Art Studio. âDear Young Man of Colorâ is a great spoken word piece by Fong Tran and thereâs many more social justice-oriented poems at Button Poetry and YOUTHSPEAKS (Brave New Voices). Share the work of Black artists and other POC!
9. Be the pre and post-protest support.
If youâre involved with protests, rallies, or marches, there are a lot of spaces before and after those events to offer support. This could look like helping cook meals, being the emergency contact, coordinating or providing childcare, and being a self-care buddy. Tikkun has a great list of ideas for supporting activists in their publication, 26 Ways To Be in the Struggle Beyond the Streets. Â
#3rdWorld4BlackPower protest at Oakland, CA in Jan 2015. Photo by @DaveId
Suggested Reading, Listening, and Watching:
The Annihilation of Caste by B.R. Ambedkar
The Karma of Brown Folk by Vijay Prasad.
W.E.B. Du Bois on Asia: Crossing the World Color Line
Mississippi Masala (1991), directed by Mira Nair
When You Become the Oppressive âAllyâ: Asians, Anti-Blackness, and Accountability by Alex-Quan Pham
Proximity to Whiteness: How & Why Non-Black POC exploit anti-Blackness by Micael Chuks Owunna
Hyphenated Podcast #42: Is POC Solidarity Even Possible?
What Does the Model Minority Mutiny Demand? by Soya Jung
Seeding Change: Asian American Solidarity Statements and Articles in Support of #BlackLivesMatter
Hey Non Black Folks by WOC in Solidarity
NPR: How Turbans Helped Some Blacks Go Incognito In The Jim Crow Era
N+1 Magazine: White Indians
