Tag Archives: Atlanta Shootings

by Amanda Ong

On May 1, KUOW premiered its second season of Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai’s podcast, Ten Thousand Things. The podcast first aired in 2021 and was previously named The Blue Suit after the blue suit Rep. Andy Kim wore during the Capitol riots. A photo of Kim in the suit, cleaning up after the riots, went viral as a symbol of his quiet service. Each Blue Suit episode follows the story around a different object, invites guests to elaborate on their stories, and speaks to Asian American experiences. This season, the title has changed to reflect not just one object and one particular moment in history, but a more expansive collection of objects and stories.

Continue reading →

Community

Massage Parlor Outreach Project Holds Third Annual Vigil for 2021 Atlanta Shootings

March 14, 2023 Editor

by Amanda Ong

On March 16 from 9 to 11 a.m. in Hing Hay Park, the Massage Parlor Outreach Project (MPOP) will be hosting its third annual vigil commemorating the eight lives lost in a shooting in Atlanta on March 17, 2021. Those killed were Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Yong Yue, Hyun Jung Grant, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, and Paul Andre Michels. Six of those lost were Asian women and massage parlor workers.

Continue reading →

Voices

OPINION: 悼念冯道友, A Tribute to Feng Daoyou, Victim of the 2021 Atlanta Massacre

March 16, 2022 Editor

by JM Wong

To Coco, Feng Daoyou, who crossed over on March 16, 2021. Our ancestor, who left home at a young age to work in the factories and the nail salons and massage parlors. Who sent money back to build a home for your elders, one massage at a time. Who landed in New York, LA, and then Atlanta. Who died in anonymity. Whose body cannot return home, I remember you. We remember you.

Rest in peace.

Continue reading →

Community

‘Our Stories Are Your Stories’ Video Collection Celebrates AAPI Heritage

May 13, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Mark Van Streefkerk

A video storytelling campaign was launched at the beginning of this month to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage. “Our Stories Are Your Stories” (OSAYS) is a growing video collection of short oral histories from AAPI people of all walks of life in the greater Seattle area. Coinciding with AAPI Heritage Month, another goal of OSAYS is to help dispel harmful misconceptions about these diverse communities and create empathy as a response to the disturbing trend of anti-Asian violence and xenophobia.

Notable Seattle athletes, artists, actors, and community leaders like Doug Baldwin, Dr. Vin Gupta, Hollis Wong-Wear, Gary Locke, Lana Condor, Yuji Okumoto, Lauren Tran, and more have kicked off the campaign by contributing their stories — and OSAYS expects more to come. The oral histories don’t have strict guidelines but primarily explore the questions, “What does it mean to be Asian American or Pacific Islander?” and “How does identity inform your life?” Anyone from the AAPI community is encouraged to contribute. The OSAYS videos will become part of the Wing Luke Museum’s oral history archives.

Continue reading →

Voices

OPINION: When Black Men Are Killed in Seattle’s South End, Why Does Society Shrug?

April 5, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Marcus Harrison Green

(This article is co-published with The Seattle Times.)

Listening to Lynda Wolff, I want to roar at the world to remember her murdered son’s life. Four years ago, Latrel Williams was shot multiple times while returning to his Lakeridge home.

In the aftermath of his death, I spotted no signs at marches acknowledging his life, no public speeches given in his honor, and no politicians furiously spouting his name to earn social justice merits.

But Lynda still lost a son. Latrel Jr. (LJ) lost a father. And I lost a friend.

Continue reading →

Voices

OPINION: What We Can No Longer Accept

March 23, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Norma Timbang

After hearing of the shootings in Atlanta, the first thing that rose up in my mind was the very real impact of racist, sexist, and xenophobic stereotypes upon Asian and Pacific Islander women and how those impacts can range from microaggressions to disappearances to murders. I am angry and grieving. I have known women who worked in massage parlors and the sex industry and I felt this loss deeply. I am also so very angry about the way people are reluctant to see this as a hate crime.

Continue reading →

Community

PHOTO ESSAY: Hing Hay Protest in Wake of Atlanta Shooting

March 22, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Maile Anderson

For the second time this month, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and their allies gathered at Hing Hay Park in Chinatown-International District (CID) to protest the rise in anti-Asian hate in Seattle and across the U.S. This time, protesters came together in response to the Atlanta shootings on Tuesday which took the lives of eight people, six of whom were Asian women: Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Yue, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng. Delaina Ashley Yaun and Paul Andre Michels were also killed in the shooting. Saturday’s midday rally at Hing Hay Park, “Kids vs. Racism,” was organized by 10-year-old Seneca Nguyễn (Tia Nguyen), a fifth grader at Louisa Boren STEM K-8. Nguyen wanted to take a stand by organizing and amplifying a youth message against hate. He felt it was important to hold the protest in the CID. Dozens of children, youth, and young people were in attendance.

Continue reading →

Voices

OPINION: Regaining a Better World for Our Women and Children

March 20, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Cindy Domingo

International Women’s Day (IWD) always reminds me of my sister, Eileen Nelson, an older African American woman who was a grocery clerk and long time Seattle resident working in Seattle’s Central Area. The year was 1999 and the place was Havana, Cuba. Eileen and I were on a national delegation hosted by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), an international women’s peace organization that has worked for over 60 years to end the US blockade against Cuba.

The day after we arrived in Havana was International Women’s Day and everywhere we went we were greeted with “Happy International Women’s Day,” flowers, songs, smiles and hugs. Two women from our delegation were even walking later that night along the Malecon (Havana’s sea wall) when they were approached by a Havana policeman. Surprising the fearful women, the policeman also said with a smile, “Happy International Women’s Day!” We ended that second day in Cuba feeling proud of who we were as women and the contributions that women globally have accomplished.

However, Eileen also said something then that has remained with me over these two decades. She said to the Cuban women, “Why did I have to come all the way to Cuba to find out about International Women’s Day, especially since its beginnings had to do with women workers killed in the U.S.?”

Continue reading →

News

Local Reactions, Resources & Events in Response to Atlanta Shootings

March 19, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Emerald Staff

In the wake of the horrific mass shooting that took the lives of eight people in the Atlanta area on Tuesday — including six women of Asian descent — local elected leaders and community organizations came together to denounce anti-Asian hatred, show solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and call for solutions that did not de-center the needs of all communities of color. The shooting, the worst mass attack in the U.S. since 2019, has sent shock waves through the local AAPI community, and drawn renewed attention to a spike in anti-Asian hate and violence, especially against women, during the pandemic.

Continue reading →