With art and words, nearly 1,000 members of the Bay Area Asian American community and allies gathered today in San Francisco’s Chinatown to mourn the eight victims of the recent mass shooting in Georgia – where six of the victims were Asian American women – as well like the other victims of anti-Asian violence in the bay area and beyond.
The Portsmouth Square event, called “From Bay to Atlanta: A Safe Space for Asian Americans to Suffer and Fight,” was organized by a coalition of neighborhood groups, including the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) and the Community Coalition for Security and Justice (CCSJ). Event participants wrote letters and created art to honor those who suffered. Many held up signs to protest the increase in anti-Asian violence that increased during the pandemic.
The organizers compared the event to the Qingming Festival, which will take place in a few weeks on April 4 this year. The Chinese holiday is a traditional time for people to mourn and celebrate the lives of those who have left.
“Whether we are grandparents, workers, women or young people, we all deserve security and it is clear that current systems are not working,” Shaw San Liu, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association, said in a statement. “We need to fight racism, economic inequality and sexism / gender violence with effective community solutions if we are to achieve real security for our communities.”