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And please remember, Black is good is a radical concept, but radical concepts are what create change. Keep fighting.
[Image ID: Ten squares with text credited to Marie Beecham @MarieBeech. Some of it is in standard typed font, and some of it is hand written. For the purposes of this transcript, written text is indicated by asterisks at the beginning and end.
Image 1: Should we say Black? *African-American? people of color…* (The words “Black” and “people of color” are crossed out, and the whole thing looks like a paper where someone is trying to figure out whether they should replace the word “Black” with something else.)
Image 2: You can say Black. Black, Black, Blackity, Black, Black! You’re German, they’re French, I’m Black. No hesitation or remorse necessary.
Discomfort with saying Black–like reluctance to acknowledge race, privilege, and oppression–reveals internalized anti-Blackness. Regardless of intention, side-stepping Black communicates that it’s taboo.
(Then there’s a list of three terms, next to a symbol indicating whether they’re ok to use or not. “Black” is OK, “Black people” is OK, but “Blacks” is not OK.)
Image 3:“It seems rude to say Black.”
Black is an insult if Black is a bad thing. Do you think being Black is bad?
Image 4: Anti-Blackness is pervasive. Often times, it takes the covert form of disassociating or “removing” someone’s Blackness.
Here are common examples:
“I don’t think of you as Black”
“You’re white on the inside”
“How Black are you? What percentage?”
“You don’t act Black”
“You don’t talk like you’re Black”
“You’re not like other Black people”
And you think that’s a compliment? What does that say about what you think of my race?
Image 5: We love being Black. We hate being oppressed. See the difference?
Image 6: Black is good. (This is repeated ten times in various colors; the word “Black” is the color black in all of them.)
Image 7: Black is good is a radical concept. Today’s most common racial stereotypes about Black people date all the way back to slavery. The narrative that Black people are dangerous, immoral, and unintelligent was a tactic used for oppression then, and it’s still common today. *Yikes!*
To east the cognitive dissonance that comes with being an oppressor, white people uphold the idea that Black people are lesser in character. That way, oppressing Black people [Slavery, segregation, and today, mass incarceration and systemic racism] is more defensible. This “difference of character” belief wrongfully justifies racial disparities while lessening culpability for discrimination.
It takes deliberate unlearning of intergenerational unconscious prejudice to buy into the radical, countercultural concept that Black is good.
Image 8: Context and usage–Do not reduce Black people to our race. I love having Black as part of my identity. I don’t like when Black is made to be my entire identity. For example:
“She’s Black, so she must want to talk about my Black friends, [insert racial stereotype], etc…” *Psst…I’d rather not*
“So I have this coworker–he’s Black–and anyway…” *Is that all he is? Does he have a name?*
Doing this leads to wrongful assumptions, harmful racial stereotyping, othering, and erasure of individuality. Black people are not a monolith.
Image 9: Black or African American? Some people may identify with their African roots and prefer “African American.” Most Black people prefer “Black” over “African America,” because we can’t trace our lineage, or we don’t identify as African. “African American” isn’t more proper than “Black.” They are different, and Black is its own (legitimate) culture.
Keep in mind, language is and always will be dynamic. Terminology that was standard in the past is no longer acceptable. Continually learn and adapt out of respect for people’s identities. A person’s identity is theirs, so use whatever language they want you to use. Ask them in an appropriate setting if you’re unsure. *”Please let me know if I mistakenly…” NOT “So what are you?”*
Image 10: Black is not a dirty word. (This is repeated ten times in various colors; the word “Black” is the color black in all of them.) /End ID]
On March 9, 1960, the All-University Student Leadership Group published “An Appeal for Human Rights” in local newspapers, including the Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Journal, and the Daily World. Making it plain, the authors criticized the “snail-like speed” by which this country ameliorates the existing conditions of Jim Crow segregation. Denouncing the innumerable inequalities in education, employment, housing, voting, hospital, law enforcement, they called out those in authority for assistance in the complete and unequivocal abolition of these injustices.
On November 20, 2015, Concerned Students, in conjunction with minority groups, released “Demands of Black Voices,” a comprehensive list ranging from racial bias, to mental health, to representation, to wages, institutional inequalities, among others.
But despite the grandiloquent language of these tireless activists, both demands fall of deaf ears. To quote Sister Ashley Benn, “Demands have been made since the 1960s, and although we just give you a list of demands, and yes I know they are a lot, and yes I know that it just doesn’t take a day…I know it takes some amount of time, it doesn’t take 50 years.” Praise is long overdue to la mujer de color.
The current generation must learn from our forbearers’ struggles. We can be as clear as day, but still, nothing will happen.
There will be those that ask, but why won’t anything happen? Because in the spirit of Brother Gil Scott Heron, the movement will not be on the starting five of the Atlantic Coastal Conference. The movement will not be on the front page for winning the Nobel Prize. The movement will not have a 20 minute harangue at commencement. The movement will not illumine in brisk evenings some obscure marketing firm in the middle of the Bryan Center Plaza. The movement especially will not dissolve in its token 15 minutes of fame, within the white noise of complacency. The movement is not a Duke conversation, sino que it is a demand.
Never mind the paternalist condescension of President Brodhead, “In a university, you have to actually think through and work them out what can be done…” Never mind the premier talking head of this university performing a micro-aggression that ridiculed all our efforts before the fact. As if we absentmindedly outcry our pain. As if our screams are impulsive. As if we never lived under the koan of white supremacy, that “If a person of color falls, does it make a sound?” If dark bodies litter the streets, does this country give a damn? The answer: no not until the sewage of our flesh clot their pocketbooks.
Hence the Mizzou Activists naked assertion, “We’re gonna be loud as fuck.”
A month prior, on February 1960, the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR) co-spearheaded, along with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the desegregation of local restaurants and hotels in Atlanta, as the city hailed as supuestamente“too busy to hate.” The pragmatic mayor, William B. Hartsfield, thanked the students for “letting the white community know what others are thinking,” but took no immediate steps to address grievances.
On March 15, after a series of carefully orchestrated sit-ins at ten lunch counters and cafeterias throughout the city, students suspended the sit-ins for upcoming negotiations with representatives of the business community. The representatives showed little interest in compromise.
After a month of planning, students campaigned a new set of sit-ins targeting a number of businesses, including the Magnolia Room restaurant at Rich’s Department Store, the city’s largest retailer. After vociferous tensions, including counterdemonstrations by the Ku Klux Klan, COAHR expanded the boycott to “bankrupt the economy of segregation.” They added an additional tactic: demonstrators arrested would refuse bail, in order to crowd jails. The result: sales figures decline 13%, downtown businesses lost $10 million. And suddenly, to the stroke of the almighty dollar, white business leaders met privately for a settlement.
Students deviated from a politics of recognition, to that of siphoning, figuratively bleeding the power structure to death. The historical lesson is simple, “Hit them not in their hearts, but in their wallets.”
Ahora preguntarás, what about Duke? That same restless spirit is evident, upon historical excavation.
April 1968, in the week following Dr. King’s assassination, as the racial fabric of Amerikkka ripped itself apart, a series of events transpired on Duke’s campus known as the Silent Vigil. A cadre of students, after lengthy discussions amongst themselves and advice from some faculty and administrators, marched to Duke President Douglass M. Knight’s home. They presented a list of demands including: Knight’s endorsement of a newspaper ad stating “we are all implicated” in King’s assassination, his resignation from the segregated Hope Valley Country Club, increased pay for non-academic employees, a collective bargaining committee for workers, among other concerns.
But note Knight’s words of legacy. Given the power of the board of trustees, he proved incapable to make binding administrative decisions. He “often had no authority but no power.”Es decir, Brodhead can and will not assist in these demands, if not due to private apathy, but due to top-down puppetry. In the words of underground rapper, Immortal Technique, “my issue isn’t with the white man I see, but with the white man I don’t see.” Namely, that committed social actors, from Knight to Dean Ashby, must fight against reactionary opinions among senior administrators. “There was a great many members of the Duke constituency who didn’t care whether Martin Luther King lived or died; they felt he was disruptive.” Such is our position. We are addressing a talking wall that invests millions of dollars to see us, if not destroyed, subdued.
Conversation is damage control at best, and slow death, forestalling the movement until leaders graduate or tire themselves. President Brodhead, as Duke’s talking head, anticipates the sweeping tides calling for his resignation. Mizzou then is not so much a school, but an epicenter, a historical conjecture of the Ferguson protests–and more broadly, the BlackLivesMatter movement—catalyzed ostensibly because the Football team indefinitely boycotted playing time. For the overseers of this ivory plantation, their beloved cash crop almost disappeared.
And until we threaten this school with the same penalty for exploiting our bodies, nothing will change but the day. The businessmen will trade their suits for lab coats, the doctors hear their cue. Progress is a white lie that will be administered at inauguration ceremonies, toasted at fundraiser dinners– the melatonin of the Amerikkkan dream. Desperate and exhausted, the ethnic body will eventually the liberal prescription. Sedated, the churchgoers of the preaching choir can rest easy for a few hours.
But by nightfall that dream dies, after four hours of bleeding out on the street because ninguna pinche ambulancia ever came. It dies clinging to its detention center, on the false promise that Obama granted amnesty to all indocumentados. It dies selling loose cigarettes at Staten Island, from attending a swimming pool party in Texas, from driving with a busted tail-light, to praying in Charleston. The congregation holds steadfast to that dream, until it’s literally beaten out of them.
The diagnosis is cyclical and simple: racial insomnia. We’re woke, because we can’t sleep.
We’ve had conversations, we’ve talked about these issues. The problem is those in power choose not to act about it.
Don’t get it twisted. This whole question of diversity is a giant farce, nothing more than a power point slide for the Duke brand; where every fiscal year, I set aside my reservations and put on some cultural performance that makes you look good, while I get nothing in return. Whether Marriot workers, a one year Program in Education faculty (te extrañamos Dr. Jason Mendez), or an undergrad, to be a person of color is to always be reminded that your labor is deemed more valuable than the rights you deserve. Because we are expendable.
And to my quierida gente de color, my celebration of dark skin, I say: in this deathbed of culture, we are its fleeting heartbeats. Multiculturalism is nothing but the management of difference, one commodifed for brochures. Engaged in a futile politics of recognition, we’re hunched low, we fight for scraps. Divided amongst ourselves, we apologetically dismiss each other’s struggles. It’s not under my timetable, that resources are meager. Yes, precisely because the white pie chart allotted the very minimum to placate outbursts. Precisely because we exist only for their lamination.
To my beloved students of color, and all others silenced, as the movement ensues, I plead: in this borrowed limelight, do not confuse justice with concession. Amidst all this blinding opulence, do not forget that 50 years ago, five black American integrated this campus in large part due to economic pressure from esteemed endowments explicitly threatening to withdraw their donations unless the school admit them. Our politics does not exist in a vacuum, but within a complex matrix of supremacist hatred, liberal dismissal, and the shameless worship of capital [prestige].
Así que to Hell with respectability. A la verga con realizando mi miseria! Duke, me cansé de rogarle, nunca me quisiste. You tar and feather my culture, so quite frankly, I might Tar Heel my brown ass out of here. But no se te olvide, I ain’t no traitor, because you betrayed me before my chanclas ever stepped here. But before I leave, jamas pararé, until I knock you down a few pegs, so that you may see our unpaid labor, quietly draining our spirits. Pagados bajo la mesa.
So what now? Ahora te dejo con unas palabras: James Forman, Executive Secretary of SNCC, said, “We can present thousands and thousands of bodies in the streets if we want to. And we can have all of the soul force and the moral commitment around this world. But a lot of these problems will not be solved until that shagged-old place called the White House begins to shake and gets on the phone and says, ‘Listen George [Wallace], we’re goin’ put to in jail if you don’t stop that mess.’ It’s not just the sheriff of this country or the mayor of the police commissioner or George Wallace. This problem goes to the very bottom of the United States. And you know, I said it today, and I will say it again, ‘If we can’t sit at the table, let’s knock the fucking legs off!’”
Adama was killed 4 years ago on his 24th birthday by the police in 2016; Assa decided to fight for her brother and not let this crime be an “accident” or be part of the local news, for 4 years she kept fighting for her brother and for the black community. Her voice will not be stifled and we will keep shouting Adama’s name until justice is done.
Ella Fitzgerald et al v. Pan American Racism or “honest mistake”?
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
Born 105 years ago today, April 25, 1917, jazz singer extraordinaire Ella Fitzgerald faced discrimination on tour in 1954. En route to a concert in Australia she was denied the right to board a Pan American flight. She had to spend three days in Hawaii before other transportation to Australia could be secured, and she missed her concert dates.
She sued Pan Am claiming racism and seeking financial compensation. Pan Am claimed it was “an honest mistake” due to a reservation mix-up. The district judge dismissed the complaint, but the plaintiffs appealed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed that decision, ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.
New York Times, 12/31/1954.
Complaint, Ella Fitzgerald, John Lewis, Georgiana Henry, and Norman Granz v. Pan American, Inc., 12/23/1954 Records of U.S. District Courts (NARA ID 2641486)
President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford with Ella Fitzgerald at White House Bicentennial concert 6/20/1976, Ford Library, NARA ID 7840021.
Ella Fitzgerald Performs at the White House State Dinner for King Juan Carlos I of Spain, 10/13/1981, Reagan Library, NARA ID 75855955.
“Parking Lot Pimpin| On the Wrongful Conviction of Julius Jones
This Friday we get into the wrongful conviction of Julius Jones, a Black man who has been on death row in Oklahoma for 19 years for a 1999 murder that he’s always denied taking part in.
Julius will be wrongfully be put to death in SIX DAYS if we don’t take action now.
Reach out to the Governor’s office at 405-521-2342 and urge Governor Stitt to stand by the recommendation of the Pardon and Parole Board and grant Julius Jones clemency. Time is of the essence.
What you can say or speak from the heart: I would like to urge Governor Stitt to stand by his own word to follow the recommendation of the Pardon and Parole Board and grant Julis Jones clemency. Please save Julius from wrongful execution.
- Let’s also discuss how the judge is literally messing over the Kyle Ritttendon trial. His overly chatty disposition can lead directly to an appeal if Kyle is in fact found Guilty.” - @lyneezy
TAKE ACTION NOW:
➡️Call the Oklahoma City Governor’s office at 405-521-2342 and urge Governor Stitt to stand by the recommendation of the Pardon and Parole Board and grant Julius Jones clemency
Lets take the 70′s , This time period was alive with political activism , Feminism. environmentalism, and fights for Racial Justice. Sound Familiar? Fashion was Democratized by the Fashion Designers of the socialites Halston and Yves Saint Laurent and Couture was no longer just for the elites it was accessible to every one.
Ettiquette was broken and replaced with Do you (Tommy) .. ONE way to express oneself was through Color.
Racial microaggressions you hear on a daily basis in America
Photographer Kiyun asked her friends at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus to “write down an instance of racial microaggression they have faced.”
LOS ANGELES, CA – Around the block from where Ezell Ford was killed by LAPD, officers from the Newton Division stopped, Brandon Dawson, 26, on Sunday evening. Dawson had just finished his shift as a dental assistant and was picking up his seven-month-old daughter from his grandmother’s house. He was strapping the baby’s carrier into the car when officers stopped Brandon asking why Brandon had parked in the private driveway. Brandon explained that there were no other spaces available and he had just pulled up to pick up his daughter.Photo via Linda WashingtonThe police asked for no papers, and told Brandon to put his hands up as they snatched the father’s baby. Soon after, Brandon would be tazered, beaten, and arrested by police on suspicion of assaulting a gang officer from LAPD’s Newton Division, according to Officer Lilliana Preciado. http://goo.gl/jO88Xs
“This latest yet unidentified St. Louis police executioner claimed that he followed Myers and his friends because he felt that the teens were acting suspiciously.” Ten minutes earlier he had taken the turkey sandwich Berhe Beyet made him and cradled it away from his friend’s playful snatching. Then stood breaking off a piece that he shared with another friend. By now, his mother has seen this tape of him standing in silhouette, and watched his peaceful chewing. On his way out the door he gives yet another friend a bite of what he did not know was his last supper, walking off into a night every parent in America cannot begin to imagine. A night every black person in America knows is coming and that the next one coming could be them—might as well be them—every time they imagine the high caliber bullet shattering his cheek bone, eye socket, aorta the medical examiner identified as the cause of death. http://goo.gl/XxJR1p
More people should know about Father Bryan Massingale. He’s an openly gay and black Catholic President that is fighting to make the Catholic Church more inclusive to the LGBT community and and for racial justice. Fr. Massingale is amazing.
Image description: A still image from the 90’s TV sitcom Saved By The Bell. Zack is in the locker room holding a microphone to his mouth. He is carrying recording equipment, and he is addressing a girl with a hand on her hip, a look of disbelief on her face (interpretation of scene my own). The caption reads, “White people benefit from the privileges accrued from racist exploitation, past and present, and are therefore accountable for changing and transforming white supremacy and racism.”
The Colour of the Climate Crisis is a project by Do The Green Thing, an environmental social initiative that uses creativity to combat the climate crisis. Come say hi.
Fox News hosted a town hall with Bernie Sanders on Monday, and I decided to watch it. Here are my impressions and takeaways:
Audience Reception on the Issues
The town hall took place in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, described by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as an industrial town with a closed steel plant that voted for Obama and then voted for Trump. These are swing voters who Bernie Sanders should appeal to on issues like trade and workers’ rights. And, to be certain, when NAFTA, CAFTA, and TPP were brought up, the audience sided strongly with Sanders.
But on other issues, even though this town hall aired on Fox News, the audience was often very supportive. This might have best been illustrated by one of the most interesting moments of the town hall: Bret Baier asks the crowd how many of them have private work-provided health insurance, by a show of hands. Many hands raise. When asking the crowd whether they would want Medicare for All, more hands shoot up, some people stand, and some vocalize their support, as well. This is, I’m sure, not what Baier was expecting, because one of the arguments used against universal healthcare, often framed disingenuously, is that people want to keep their private insurance. The audience responded very positively to the idea of having stable, ongoing coverage.
Later, I was surprised by how loudly the crowd applauded the following comment:
“The American people, I think, are ready to deal with justice in America. That is what we’re fighting for. And that’s economic justice, social justice, environmental justice, racial justice.”
Even though this was a Fox News town hall with attendees who appeared to be mostly white, the audience got really excited and loud when Sanders brought up racial justice. From that point through the end of the town hall, it was fairly clear that the majority of those in attendance supported most if not all of what he had to say. Viewers could hear Bernie chants here and there, particularly in the second half of the telecast. Towards the end of the town hall, one of the hosts was booed for asking if Bernie supported prisoners having voting rights for his own political benefit. When he was given an opportunity to provide a closing remark, he and the audience engaged in some call and response, and he was sent off with repeated chants of Bernie.
The message
The case Bernie Sanders made was for a politics and a movement for the working class. He’s advocating for a positive agenda that benefits all workers. In many ways, he appealed to liberal Democrats: he proactively discussed climate change, he discussed suppressing black people’s voting rights, advocated for universal healthcare, challenged the demonization of immigrants, and he didn’t criticize other Democrats when given a chance while criticizing Fox News. But he also advocated for policies further to the left of Democratic Party dogma: he criticized the military industrial complex and the Pentagon for refusing to do an audit and for wasting incalculable amounts of money, he called on us to “rid the world of nuclear weapons,” he said it’s not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel, and he brought up poverty over a handful of times, even mentioning childhood poverty. And that’s where the strength of Bernie’s campaign lies: appealing to the shrinking middle class on standard Democratic issues while also appealing to the poor and working classes of all ethnicities, and he was particularly effective in advocating for inclusive class-based politics and policy, even on Fox News.
What the town hall achieved
First,he looks like the front-runner and a leader. He was criticized by the center and the Democratic Party for appearing on Fox News, and he was criticized by some of my compatriots on the left for platforming Fox News. I see the merit in the latter argument, but Fox News is mainstream and has been for a long time. I’d be concerned if he went on Tucker Carlson, but that’s not what this was. That said, being a leader means making choices you think will be beneficial even when the decision is unpopular. Effective leadership also means walking the walk: Bernie Sanders is about working class politics; refusing to go on Fox News does, to some extent, leave out a platform where some of the working class goes for news–even if the outlet itself is a horrible news source. Trump won the votes of some Americans who voted for Obama; failing to try to bring those voters back into the fold would be political malpractice.
Finally,Sanders effectively demonstrated that he can take on Trump. At multiple times during the broadcast, he spoke directly to Trump: when he brought up his support for staying out of Syria and Yemen and ending endless warfare, he called on Trump to sign the measure he introduced to end America’s support for Yemen. He also went after Trump’s hypocrisy of refusing to cut Medicare on the campaign trail but then proposing budgets that support Medicare and other social insurance programs. At multiple times during the town hall, he positively contrasted himself with Trump. Democrats and many independents–and some Republicans–want to envision a candidate who can emerge victorious against Trump. Bernie’s performance could help some of those voters envision that.
Was his appearance effective?
Press coverage suggests it was. Here’s a sampling of headlines:
“Bernie Sanders may have just set the model for 2020 Democrats with his Fox News town hall” -The News-Times
“Sanders takes on Fox” - and emerges triumphant -Politico
“Bernie Sanders Beat Fox News on Its Own Turf” -Spin
“How wide is Bernie Sanders appeal? This cheering Fox News audience is a clue” -The Guardian
“Bernie Sanders Shines on Fox News” -The National Review
“Bernie’s victorious Fox News town hall” -Vice
“Bernie Sanders on Fox News is Most-Watched Town Hall of 2019″ -The Wrap
What could he have done better?
The first ten minutes of this town hall were particularly combative, and I think that largely stems from the initial focus on Bernie’s tax returns, which revealed him to be a millionaire, and possibly his desire to ensure that he articulated clearly that he is not on board with Fox News as a media organization. While the line of questioning about why Sanders wouldn’t just send his tax cut from Trump back–even though he voted against the bill–is completely asinine, I would like to see him come up with a better answer to what he’s doing with his newfound wealth. Ultimately, though, I think this is a debate of minimal consequence. You can certainly support policies that benefit the 99% without actually being in the 99%. Sanders, as he pointed out, also supports taxing himself at a higher level. And I think most people can draw a distinction between the Clintons, Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, and others and how they generated their wealth versus how Bernie made his. And, not to forget, the very real degree of separation in their wealth.
And while I think that Bernie has improved on his messaging around foreign policy and developed a better vision of what that would look like, he didn’t proactively bring up foreign policy in the first half of the event. Mostly, I’d like to see him connect what’s happening at the border with our foreign policy. He said that people are desperate and “fleeing violence and misery in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala.” This is true. He said we need more immigration judges. That’s also true. But he needs to then say that we need to stop intervening in the affairs of these countries and using diplomacy to support stability and economic growth throughout the Americas by supporting workers’ movements at home and abroad.
Final Thoughts
If you know me or were aware of my blog during the 2016 election, you know that I was a strong Sanders supporter and that I volunteered for his campaign. Over the past few years, my political views have shifted more to the left, and I’ve developed more criticisms of Sanders. In spite of that, I did come away from this town hall reminded of the appeal of the Sanders campaign: one that could represent a shift towards an inclusive working class policy focus and movement building, and away from a divisive Red State/Blue State paradigm.
I haven’t made any kind of endorsements for 2020 because, again, it’s too early, and there are many candidates running who will be out of the race a year from now. However, it was difficult not to come away from viewing the town hall with some combination of familiarity and inspiration. One could say I was feeling the Bern…
In addition to being a serious social issue, racism is also a serious challenge to public health. Studies show that people who are subject to racism are affected by it in every way, including physically.
Order our UNMASKING YELLOW PERIL zine and all funds will go to CCED’s mutual aid work in Chinatown Los Angeles and beyond! CCED is supplying hundreds of hot meals and care packages with groceries and cleaning supplies to elders and community members in critical need.
Unmasking Yellow Peril is a colorful zine full of archival images, forgotten histories, and critical analysis about Yellow Peril. With this project, we seek to ground ourselves in the long history of Yellow Peril, uncover its main forms, and resist it in the time of COVID-19.
CCED is an all volunteer, multi-ethnic, intergenerational organization based in Los Angeles Chinatown that builds grassroots power through organizing, education, and mutual help. Learn more and sign up to volunteer at ccedla.org!
Unmasking Yellow Peril was created in collaboration with the Asian & Asian American Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut, and Jason Oliver Chang, Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut.
Not only do Asian Americans worry about surviving the virus, we also fear for our lives. Our loved ones are experiencing skyrocketing levels of unchecked hate and violence – over 100 hundred hate crimes a day. This violence is the latest iteration of Yellow Peril. It is a form of white supremacist settler nationalism that the U.S. pioneered to peddle racial fear and justify endless global war and the exploitation and expulsion of what they perceive as diseased and enemy Asians.
What we are experiencing in 2020 is tied to the violence of the mid-1800s when Chinese immigrants were targeted while risking their lives to lay railroad tracks. As a result of white suspicion and fear, the US passed racial bans on immigration and naturalization in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This law created a new gold standard in settler states and made Yellow Peril a core element of US national identity.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic fit the ready-made story of Yellow Peril in the US. Racist responses to the spread of the disease are consistent with a history of treating Asians as a foreign threat. Part of undoing the power of Yellow Peril is confronting the history of empire, capitalism, and white supremacy and building a vision of peace, justice, and health which celebrates and honors our interdependence.
Unmasking Yellow Peril is a collaboration between 18 Million Rising, the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute at UConn, and Jason Oliver Chang, Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies at UConn. We seek to ground ourselves in the long history of Yellow Peril, uncover its many forms, and resist it in the time of COVID-19.
Yellow Peril has been here for more than a century, it’s time to unmask it.
During the pandemic, anti-Asian hate and COVID-19 disinformation are putting lives at risk. Coronavirus opportunists are using the internet to spread their dangerous lies and fuel xenophobic and racist violence.
Asian Americans are being blamed for spreading COVID-19, particularly those of us who are of East Asian descent. Asian Americans are now experiencing over 100 hate crimes per day related to the virus.
Millions of people are sheltering in place and dependent on social media for up-to-date, truthful information about how to keep themselves safe. It’s urgent that social media companies crack down on the hate and disinformation spreading across their platforms.
You’re invited to ANTIDOTES 4 YELLOW PERIL! From Filipino nurses on the COVID-19 frontlines, to Chinatown businesses closing due to xenophobia, Asian Americans are challenged to heal and be the freedom fighters our communities need right now. That’s why we’re teaming up with Spenta Kandawalla of Jaadu Acupuncture and co-founder of generative somatics to bring you a virtual healing practice space, in the time of pandemic and Yellow Peril.
The event, on April 25 at 1 pm ET, is FREE with sliding scale donations and open to all. Register here.
Participants will be guided through somatic practices and learn how Traditional Chinese Medicine can build our resilience and immunity.
Accessibility: ✿ We will have ASL interpretation for the event. ✿ The practitioner will share adaptations to each somatic practice to meet participants’ diverse physical needs. ✿ Participants who register will have unlimited replay access to the event, even if they do not attend it live. ✿ Unfortunately, we are unable to provide live closed captioning.
Asian American Valentines (or how we say “I love you”): Taking your shoes off in the house. Washing the rice properly. Bailing our fam out of detention. WhatsApp text threads. Cut fruit. Loving our melanin.
Sign up for our monthly newsletter, “Did You Eat Yet?” and we’ll send some radical love to your inbox this season.
Plume offers safe, convenient, gender-affirming health care services for trans people, by trans people.
WHAT WE DID:
On May 26, 2021, Plume took over Tumblr dashboards with the below image. The TSD linked Tumblr users to Plume’s HRT Access Fundpage. From here, users could choose to donate to or apply for the fund, which provides 12 months of free gender-affirming care, including the cost of medications, for trans folks seeking gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT).
Black Lives Matter, and black lives are threatened every day by violence inflicted on Black communities. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is an organization dedicated to eradicating white supremacy and building local power within Black communities.
WHAT WE DID:
✊ On January 3, 2021, Black Lives Matter PAC and the Working Families Party took over the Tumblr dash with an ask for users to volunteer to make calls and mobilize voters in Georgia:
✊ On October 26, 2020, with just one week until the election, we wrapped up our #make2020countcampaign with Tumblr’s very FIRST video Dashboard Takeover; donated to Black Lives Matter. Check out the moving video below:
On December 1st, we announced our in-kind ad donation program, LOUDR. With the launch of this program, Tumblr will be donating 10% of our top ad inventory units to advocacy organizations. LOUDR is an alliance dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices. The program will be primarily dedicated to supporting BIPOC-led and -focused organizations. We will also leverage this program to support Tumblr’s long-standing social justice priorities of racial justice, mental health, and equity.
How did the name “LOUDR” come about?
The focus of this program is AMPLIFICATION — to amplify is to “make louder,” or in this case, LOUDR.
Who is eligible?
Organizations that:
serve/support BIPOC communities
are BIPOC led
align with Tumblr’s focus areas of racial injustice, mental health or LGBTQIA+ equity and causes.
