In the ecosystem of white supremacy, we all suffer.
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino/a, and other AAPI people were here during the American Civil War; they struggled under the long shadow of Jim Crow; during the world wars, Asian servicewomen and men, like their Black contemporaries, wondered if they should fight for "their country" when that same country continued to segregate and subjugate their families and communities. Would serving as an example truly liberate their people?
When they returned home from the frontlines, the liberation work continued. They were there for the Long Civil Rights Movement; they were there for the anti-war movement, they ARE here with us now for Black Lives Matter. But where are we when our Asian sisters, brothers, and siblings were crying out? How can we hope to dismantle the ecosystem of white supremacy if we can't even acknowledge that the fog of racism infects and affects all of us?
Black, brown, and beige solidarity against white supremacy now and forever.
I can't tell you how many times (in the midst of COVID) that a Black or brown co-conspirator off-handedly said to me "that's not my fight" when referring to violence against Asians and other targeted groups. As a decolonizer, as an antiracist practitioner, as a citizen of the world, it is ALWAYS OUR FIGHT. Decolonization means solidarity against any and all forms of verbal, emotional, economic, political, and physical violence that seek to erase, endanger, and eradicate BIPOC & AAPI existence. Full stop.
