In my previous SLATE post, I talked about the recent hate crimes going around, affecting the AAPI community during the Pandemic. I gave awareness by talking about the sources that I used to help me give off this information, gave some of my opinions on recent hate crimes, and why these hate crimes are happening towards the AAPI community. But overall, giving knowledge to the readers that there is a major issue that is not being taken seriously.

Now, in my journey of making my website, I came across sources that helped me a lot to make the way my website looks and the information that lies in it. The first source that I used to make my website was NextShark. I couldn’t have made any of this without NextShark. NextShark gave me the information and knowledge, that I needed to help me translate the information back to people who didn’t know about AAPI hate crimes, during the Pandemic. The website is just filled with the latest information on AAPI hate crimes or just typical news in the AAPI community. They also talk about the latest AAPI “business, culture, entertainment, politics, tech, and lifestyle.” - NextShark. The second source that I used for my website, is this gofundme page. I talked about if people wanted to help, to stop these hate crimes, they could donate to that gofundme page. And the people who are raising 8 million dollars for the AAPI community will help “organizations that empower and uplift the AAPI community, with initiatives such as increased ​community safety and support for those affected by violence.” - gofundme description. And finally, the third source that I used was SYSTRAN Translator. I used this translator to make my digital flyer in different Asian languages. I translated my English sayings to Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai. I translated my words into 5 languages because I didn’t want my digital flyer to just have Asian Americans helping the AAPI movement, but elderly AAPI too. The elderly AAPI are always the “easier targets” for hate crimes. But they have been through the thick and the thin, just to live a good life in the U.S. So, giving them this type of information would help the AAPI movement impact others more quickly.

When thinking about what I could do for my Agent of Change project, I didn’t really think of doing something big. For my topic, I knew it was a big issue to tackle. That is still happening in the world. Then the idea of making a flyer about AAPI Hate, and putting those flyers up around my neighborhood seemed like a great idea to me. Then my sister suggested making a website with a digital flyer instead. I wasn’t really into that idea but as I continued thinking about my sister’s suggestion, I thought that it wasn’t that bad of an idea, and I could add more information about AAPI hate. So, I started my website by not knowing what I was doing and wondering if I should change my Agent of Change idea but pulled through. I first started working on the format of my pages, then settled on good-looking formats and went with that. Afterward, I started working on my page backgrounds, and decorate them with Stop AAPI Hate posters, created by artists: Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, JULIA KESTNER DESIGNS, colorsofhoney, Danielle Chandler, pauline.c.cuevas, Pi Delta Psi, Michelle Wang, Yuk Fun, Lauren YS, evexcristina, Eric Lee, Tika, and Brett Sayles. To make my website have an indie, friendly feel.

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: JULIA KESTNER DESIGNS, colorsofhoney, and Danielle Chandler

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: pauline.c.cuevas, Pi Delta Psi, and Michelle Wang

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Yuk Fun, Lauren YS, and evexcristina

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Eric Lee, Tika, and Brett Sayles

And, after finishing with all the requirements that I thought my website needed, I began to notice that this was a good first experience making an actual, professional website. I enjoyed researching this topic because being part of the AAPI community made me passionate about reading victim’s stories. I feel that doing this initiative, making a website to get individual’s attention about Stopping AAPI Hate was a great idea after all. I know for my project, I could’ve joined in Stop AAPI Hate protests in Philly, but since of COVID-19, I decided to make my project virtual. Overall, I hope that I affect many people in the SLA community, to know more about the struggle that the AAPI community is facing.

After looking at the final product of my website for a few days, I felt pretty proud of what I made. Even though the process of making my website was pretty stressful and difficult, I still was fulfilled with the final product. I learned that I am capable of more things than I thought. I would’ve never thought that I was able to make a website that might impact other people’s lives for the better good. And, I learned that other people who are supporting the Stop AAPI Hate movement can really benefit by impacting the world. The Stop AAPI Hate community is very diverse and has a lot of different perspectives from this movement. The movement isn’t just to help the AAPI community but could also help other voices that also need to be heard. For example, “Over 85 Asian and LGBTQ+ Groups Band Together to Oppose COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act” - NextShark. Currently, in NextShark news, the LGBTQ+ and the some Stop AAPI Hate organizations have banded together to support each other in ways society never supported them. By helping each other to spread awareness and support for one another.

Some things that I thought that I could’ve done better for my project was, to try to put more information about the Stop AAPI Hate movement. For my “About” page, I put questions that are very essential to learn about the Stop AAPI Hate movement. But specifically, I didn’t get to tell the stories of the victims that were affected by the hate crimes. I knew that there were things that needed to change for the movement to make the AAPI community feel safe. And the things that we could start with: peaceful protests. It could catch the attention of the news, and make the government think about making a new equal rights amendment or act, that will help affect the AAPI but also communities that are in need of being heard. To fulfill their safety and equality. I know doing a protest sounds like a lot because it is. But this is a big issue that we’re dealing with. So, taking big steps for a big issue may just be an acceptable idea for what we’re dealing with.

Finished Annotated Bibliography

Did you know that there is a huge issue going on, around in the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community? Did you know that there are people who are getting verbally and physically assaulted, even murdered, just because of the way they look? Did you know that some of these AAPI hate crimes are not being documented/filed as a hate crime? Did you? Well if you didn’t, you can now. In this post I’m going to go more into depth about (what I believe) hate crimes that are targeted towards the AAPI community. This is a major topic that is, thankfully, being more publicized and talked about, but (in my opinion) aren’t being dealt with properly and aren’t given immediate consequence, to the people who are assaulting/murdering the AAPI community. As a person of the AAPI community, I would like to show my knowledge of what I learned from my research about this sensitive yet really engaging topic. I hope this can help/add to your knowledge about this topic and soon will, hopefully, make a change in our society to make these Anti-Asian hate crimes stop.

This chart shows the increase of Anti-Asian hate crimes in 2019 to 2020.

Now, in my opinion this topic just hurts and disgusts me by how many AAPI are getting assaulted, cause as an Asian-American living in the U.S. I am constantly scared by what if I’m the next person that’s going to get assaulted, or even murdered, just by how I look. Or even worse, if one of my family members gets assaulted. I just can’t get that through my mind and how much it hurts me to see my community hurting like this. When I read or watch articles/videos about the AAPI community getting assaulted, or murdered, just really infuriates me how society treats us AAPI.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SOME VIEWERS!

I am really passionate about this topic because I learned that some of these horrific assaults/murders happening to the AAPI community, aren’t even being documented/filed as hate crimes.

I watched this podcast by The May Lee Show, talking about why some of the AAPI’s assault cases are not being documented as hate crimes. When I watched this podcast, I respect on why some opinions that were being made, like why the prosecutors aren’t digging enough to find the answer that the defendant wants, but I just don’t agree with those opinions. To paint a better picture of what I’m trying to say is by looking at the recent case of murders, by a man named, Robert Aaron Long, who killed a total of 8 people in Atlantic spas. When I first saw this news, my reaction was like, “are people getting this bored in the Pandemic that they’re starting to kill people ‘for fun’?” But soon to later find out that despicable man, killed 6 women of Asian descent out of those 8 victims because of his “sex addiction”. Then to hear that these spas shootings probably wasn’t towards a particular race. Yet this white man goes on a mass killing spree into spas, that are predominantly Asian spas, and decide to kill 6 Asian women, was because of his “sex addiction”, isn’t called a hate crime (case still under investigation)?! Another key thing I realized was that the officer, who was the spokesman on this case, said that the attacker was just having “a really bad day.” So you’re saying a white man killing 8 people, with those victims, 6 of them are from Asian descent, to come to a hypothesis, that the attacker was just having “a really bad day.” That is the dumbest, stupidest, inconclusive, white supremacist answer I ever heard. Plus, the white spokesman who said that Robert was just having “a really bad day”, promoted a sale on anti-Asian t-shirts, on Facebook. That said “ ‘imported virus from Chy-na.’ ” So, this sounds like that white spokesman was first, racist and second, biased. Side Note: It seems like the Police Department hasn’t said anything about how long Robert will serve in jail, but if it’s only, like 4 years…why, all of those victims because of his idiotic actions.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SOME VIEWERS!

This issue is a very significant topic to learn about, especially during these times where the hate crimes towards AAPI are significantly unfolding faster and getting worse till this day. Learning about this topic can tell you that America isn’t just about the “American dream”, but can reveal about the actual history behind America, that was always covered up.

To continue with that, let’s talk about a word you probably heard many times before, stereotype. Yes, that famous, loathsome word, that impacted so many AAPI’s during their childhood and till today, still. First, I would like to talk about a term that falls under with the word “stereotype”, The Model Minority Myth. That word just means that, “a persistent stereotype that paints Asian Americans as inherently successful and problem-free, particularly in contrast to other minority groups, had helped keep the story ‘from being a big deal before this’.” said by NBCNews. Second, I really disagree with that myth, using this information about how the Model Minority Myth impacted the AAPI community, many times in their life is a good way of knowing how America decides to treat us AAPI community, by making up a whole Myth just to make the rest of the world think that we’re smart, well-off, or that we’re always going to be successful in life. But no, that is completely false. AAPI are not born smart, they are trained just like every other kid in school to get good grades and soon to be successful in life. But I guess America thought that they needed to degrade another race, to make the AAPI seem to “know more” than the other students. Like have they never heard of studying, the people in America didn’t have to make a whole racist myth because AAPI are “good” at studying. LIKE WHAT?! I just think that was the most idiotic conclusion America came to.

Next, I am going to talk about my research/some stories I found about, what’s happening to the AAPI community, and how they’re being impacted by the Pandemic. First, let’s talk about this source, where they talk about how “Hate-fueled attacks on Asian Americans spiked across major U.S. cities last year — in some cases by triple-digit percentages — …” I think that is disgustingly high by how many hate-fueled attacks (hate crimes) there are towards the AAPI community. Like are you serious, the triple-digits?! They just had to go that far. Second, there is a source that talks about how brands are responding towards AAPI hate. Here is a quote that I took from the article that I really love, “ ‘No one is paying attention. No big news outlets. No brands. No influencers. No hashtags,’ he wrote.” “ ‘Silence…The model minority myth placed on Asian Americans through a systemic, racist system has made us raceless. That dynamic has resulting in silencing us even in the greatest moments of appropriation and violence…Don’t let us die in silence.’ ” I just love that quote. I loved how that person brung up how the government excludes us, AAPI, completely as a race. It’s disappointing that AAPI doesn’t even count as a race, to some people. Third, there is a news source that talks about how hundreds of people are escorting elderly AAPI and roaming around Chinatown, to keep the APPI community safe. I love that idea because the ones that are most vulnerable, in these times, are our AAPI elders.

Fourth, there is another news source that talks about how “Additionally, according to the study, between February and May 2020, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) received reports of 389 coronavirus-related hate incidents. Of those, 145 involved anti-Asian sentiments, representing 37 percent of all complaints.” That just upsets me, that the NYCCHR had so many reports on coronavirus related hate crimes, that the NYPD (in the video above this quote, in the source) had to make a “Asian Hate Crime” task force just to stop this nonsense. Fifth, this source talks about how an elderly Asian woman was waiting in front of a bakery in Chinatown. Until, an attacker decided that it was okay to start calling racial slurs at her, then push her harshly on the concrete ground until she fell unconscious. And later had to get 5-10 stitches because of that hate crime. I was just at awe when I read this article. I was just dismayed, how that man had the guts to do that, to an AAPI lady, who wasn’t even provoking him in any way. Finally, the final source I found, talks about people’s experiences and how they’re trying to cope with the hate crimes towards the AAPI community. And one quote that really resonated with me is, “Unfortunately, Asians are often targeted for violent attacks because Asians are stereotyped as weak and non-confrontational, …” That quote was just so immaculate and accurate because I do believe that is true. It seems people like to stereotype AAPI, as the type of race that are weak, or won’t tell the attacks to authorities cause we’re shy (stereotype). But no, of course we will tell some type of authority, we’re human too. You attacked us, that hit us to the point where we had enough of this AAPI hate.

To wrap all of this educational information, some of you may not be part of the AAPI community but you can still help. These hate crimes are still happening, the AAPI community will stay here as long as the AAPI history lives on, in America’s exposing reality. What I am wondering for my readers is, if there was a protest near you, will you protest with the AAPI community? To let people hear that the AAPI community will not stay silent no more, to the point where we can prove that we are happy for who we are. Are you going to give support and respect to the AAPI community? Are you going to be there, like when we were there for you? Are you? I really hope you do and use this revealing/exposing information about America’s real history towards the AAPI community. Help spread the word to stop AAPI hate. If you would like to help the AAPI community please donate to this gofundme, if you witness a hate crime toward an AAPI, report it to https://stopaapihate.org/, and if you would like to know more information about what’s going on in the AAPI community, go to https://nextshark.com/news/.

#AAPI #AAPILivesMatter #StopAAPIHate #StopAsianHate #RacismIsAVirus

My sources: Annotated bibliography

Our group members are Valeria, Michelle, and Mykai. Our last episode was talking about pages 160 - 221, of the book “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a book written by Mark Haddon. In the episode, we gave a summary of what last happened since the last episode and talked about how the book ended. Then, we said our thoughts how the book was and…gave out awards! For the characters in the book. And finally, said our final reviews and recommendations.

(I recommend to turn on captions or turn up the volume for the video)

Our group members are Michelle, Valeria, and Mykai. Our episode was talking about pages 110 - 160, of the book “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a book written by Mark Haddon. In this episode, Valeria interviewed Mark Hadden, the author of the book and the one and only, Christopher John Francis Boone. Since our last episode, Christopher read more of the letters father had hidden from him and found out that mother hadn’t died, she moved to London with Roger. His dad found out and also told him that he had killed Wellington because he was mad Mrs. Shears didn’t want to move in with them. Christopher is now scared of his dad and decided to run away and look for his mother. After that Valeria asked some questions to Mark Haddon (Michelle) and Christopher (Mykai) ft. Christopher’s rat, TOBY!

Our group members are Michelle, Valeria, and Mykai. Our episode was talking about the 50 pages, of the book “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a book written by Mark Haddon. We gave a brief summary of what we know from the book, by what we read so far in the book. We talked about our thoughts on the book and certain quotes we thought were nice and interesting. At the end of our podcast we talked about our predictions what will happen in the future in this book.

Quotes: “I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them.” (Pg. 8) “ I like dogs, you always know what a dog is thinking.” (Pg. 3) “Mother used to say that Christopher was a nice name because it was a story about being kind and helpful, but i do not want my name to mean a story about being kind and helpful. I want my name to mean me”. (Pg. 16)

Some specific things that I related to in Trevor Noah’s book, Born a Crime, is that he said he never really fit in; he just bounced around groups that were split racially and I relate to that. At my old school I also thought I never fit in. I had no friends that I could relate to, I just hovered around in my friend group not really understanding them. I also care about Asian-Americans and their experience of getting bullied, the same way I did, and wanted to write this essay to make Asian-Americans not feel alone like the way I did. The way Trevor explored his own Identity was that he went to a new school, looked around to see all of that was split racially and just looked at which group he would fit in the best (Chapter 4, Chameleon, Pages 40-46). I felt like that was me looking around at my old school trying to find friends that I fit in with. Eventually, I found friends but still found I fit in with them.

Trevors’ writing impacted me to write about the time where I felt like I didn’t fit in/got bullied because since the Pandemic happened a lot of things unexpected things happened to my community that are just so shocking to learn about and surprised that people aren’t even going to do or talk about what happened to my community since the Pandemic hit. Also some of Trevor’s comedic moments in the chapter made me want to make my memoir with some moments that are comedic. Some storytelling techniques I used in my vignette is that I was talking to a person about something personal that happened to me in my life and seeing if they can relate to what I said or see what’s been happening in my community.

I did choose humor like Trevor Noah because I am not a very serious person and a person who kind of laughs at their own pain but lowkey hurting inside yet I used humor just to add some comic relief in my vignette instead of trying to bury my thoughts when I got bullied. I wrote my vignette like I was speaking to an outsider (that never had an experience that I had) face to face and showing them the pain that I’ve been through and how horrible it is to go through that experience and wanting them to feel the way I felt in those moments I got bullied, not to make them feel bad for me or hurt them but to open up their eyes what is happening to the other sides of reality then just one side.

This vignette addresses one of the essential questions, How do our various cultures influence our identities?, because being as an Asian-American it’s like being a person that is in the community/system but no one counts you as one. You’re just like a ghost floating around, no one caring, no one seeing you, no one knowing you exist. I hated being an Asian-American I wanted just to hide in a corner and wait there until people started noticing that there are more than two races but I had to face reality on my own and explore, and soon to find out that there is a community that sees the way I see, a group that shares about their experience being an Asian-Americans, the times they got bullied, social media accounts showing love to Asians. I finally felt that I belonged and finally fit in a community/system. Then not feeling like a ghost and wanting to hide until I woke up from my nightmare.

How I created this essay was kind of complicated like quarantine because I never did anything like this, it was heart wrenching for me. When I started to create my “masterpiece” I didn’t know what to create, all I knew is I wanted to show my photography but what to photograph. So I asked my mom, my mom was pretty excited about this project (unlike me at the time), she had ideas for what I should photograph and I actually liked her ideas. So I set a date on when I should take the photos, it was perfect until I noticed that I didn’t have a battery charger for my camera. So we went online to buy a charger.

5 days later… the package came but the postman didn’t knock on our door so the package got stolen, I was distressed on how I have to wait another week for another battery charger to come and on top of that this was the first time we ever got a package stolen from us so it was just a lose-lose-lose for me and so I set a new date for when I should take my photos.

A week later… the package arrived, I was so excited to charge my camera battery after all these months, I charged my battery and waited for tomorrow to take my pictures.

The next day… I was excited to take photos of my city, Iwas ready so I got changed and waited for my parents. We went out and my mom had suggestions for where I should take my photos, I thought they would be irrelevant but actually turned out well. I took my photos in City hall, The Love park, and Chinatown, I was surprised by how the pictures turned out but I chose the photo that was in Chinatown and City hall.

After all of that happened I sat down on my chair and started writing my essay to show what these pictures mean to me, the first try I wrote my essay… fail, The second time I tried… fail but the third try…SUCCESS. Finally I was finished with my essay. So I had my mom check what I wrote and she said that it is a good story on how I express what being in quarantine meant. I was happy that she approved of it and happy that I enjoyed this project.