PERSPECTIVES
Speaking Up in Solidarity: Uncovering and Understanding Privilege By JASMIN NALIM CHOI (‘17, SPH‘18)
What Does Black Lives Matter Mean for the Asian American Community? Letters for Black Lives
began as a way for younger Asian Americans to engage in an intergenerational conversation around anti-black racism within our own communities. The letters ask the Asian American community to stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter because, “Black lives matter to us, too.” Since its inception, the letter has been translated into dozens of other languages, including Korean, Chinese, Bengali, and Urdu. I first heard of the Letters for Black Lives movement through my friend Eunice Kwon (’17, SPH’18). Being fluent in both Korean and English, I wanted to utilize my skills to support this movement in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The Letters for Black Lives began at 3 a.m. on a Sunday, looking over our revisions, wondering how our letter would be received by the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community as a whole. Will they listen? Will they be upset? Will they care? Throughout my own life, I’ve Jasmin Nalim Choi (‘17, SPH‘18) struggled with a myriad of cultural identities. As a first-generation immigrant, I admit that I am often frustrated working within a system that is structurally unwelcoming toward newcomers. Coming from a working class background in central Los Angeles, I struggled to minimize the disparities of community resources. As a person of color, I face casual racism on a daily basis and became an expert at “dealing with it.” As a person with a nontraditional family, I felt helpless against restrictions in policies that weren’t accommodating to my situation.
08
currents fall 2016
“HANDS UP — DON’T SHOOT!” AND “STOP KILLING US”
These powerful words on signs and posters at Black Lives Matter rallies first raised my heartbeat and awareness. When the police wrongfully shot Charly Keunang in February on the same L.A. street I walked by every day, I knew that the movement was about more than the binary issue at hand. In many ways, Black Lives Matter has inspired other groups of color to consider their own colorism, anti-black racism, privileges, and biases. It didn’t take long to realize that talking about anti-black racism is challenging for some in the AAPI community. Together with other volunteers, we acknowledged the
“ When the police wrongfully shot Charly Keunang in February on the same L.A. street I walked by every day, I knew that the movement was about more than the binary issue at hand. ”