This week Asian-American women leaders at American University in Washington, D.C., released a video of local Asian Pacific Islanders reading a letter of solidarity in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The collaborative letter was drafted online last month as Asian Americans across the country responded to the shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, black men killed recently by police officers.
According to NBC:
The result of the crowdsourced letter is a powerful appeal to an older, mostly immigrant generation about Black Lives Matter, and why the movement matters to Asian Americans. It reads: "In fighting for their own rights, Black activists have led the movement for opportunities not just for themselves, but for us as well. Many of our friends and relatives are only able to be in this country because Black activists fought to open up immigration for Asians in the 1960s. Black people have been beaten, jailed, even killed fighting for many of the rights that Asian Americans enjoy today. We owe them so much in return. We are all fighting against the same unfair system that prefers we compete against each other.
The video features Jessie Choi, a former Sojourners’ intern, and Elaina Ramsey, Sojourners Women & Girls Director, among the readers of the letter.
Watch the full video here.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!