What I'm Listening To
“Democratic citizens in particular fulfill their civic role well when they are engaged, well-informed, and open to ideas and perspectives different from their own.”
–Christopher A. Callaway, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Saint Joseph’s College
Over the last few months, there has been a large spike in anti-asian hate crimes throughout the United States. Just last week the Stop AAPI Hate organization released their report on nearly 3,800 hates incidents, stating the number is most likely higher due to unreported incidents. The same day, eight people, including six Asian women, were murdered within one hour during three shootings at spas in Atlanta. The police are still investigating the motive of the shooter, but it’s hard for me to believe there is no connection to race.
Motive aside, this tragic event combined with the uptick in hate crimes further worsens the fear and pain that the Asian American community continues to endure since the increase of racially-motivated assaults and harassments at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The spa killings sparked a debate about racism toward the Asian community in the United States. I personally had stranger challenge me on a professional social post I made to support my friends and colleagues during this difficult time. He came to my page to tell me that “people were overreacting and making everything about race when it clearly wasn’t”. I calmly responded the best way I knew how and sent him a list of resources with news articles and statistics to help inform him.
This particular experience with a challenging opinion reminded me of something I feel strongly about—perspective. In order to better understand the world around you, sometimes you need to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and consider how they think and feel from their point of view. That being said, I gathered a list of podcast episodes to help amplify the voices of people directly affected by AAPI hate.
I hope you can listen to these shows and gain some insight to what others are feeling during this time. Hopefully it will help you find a way to contribute to a solution… or bare minimum, at least gain some understanding and empathy.
1. AsianBossGirl: Episode 104: #StopAsianHate with Tammy Cho & Michelle Hanabusa, Co-founders of Hate is A Virus
AsianBossGirl hosts Tammy Cho & Michelle Hanabusa, co-founders of Hate Is A Virus, a community of mobilizers and amplifiers that exists to dismantle racism and hate. Tammy & Michelle started Hate Is A Virus in April 2020 in response to the rise in hate crimes against Asian American Pacific Islanders due to the pandemic.
Listen in as they process the recent events, learn more about the initiatives at Hate Is A Virus, and discuss ways to take action to #StopAsianHate.
To learn more about Hate Is A Virus, check out @hateisavirus_ and https://hateisavirus.org/.
2. Worst Year Ever: The Rise of Asian American Hate Crimes
Worst Year Ever sits with Christopher Wong to discuss the rise in Asian hate crimes.
3. Add to Cart with Kulap Vilaysack & SuChin Pak: Asian Hate & Gaslighting
Feeling emotional, raw, and angry in the wake of the Atlanta shootings, SuChin and Kulap felt an urgency to share their unfiltered thoughts. Six of the 8 people that were murdered in Atlanta on March 16th were Asian women. This special episode delves into how centuries of anti-Asian rhetoric and laws, sexualization of Asian women, and white supremacy have impacted them, their families, and our society. Plus, how we can all start to educate, advocate, and activate to dismantle this harmful system.
4. Fifth & Mission: Anti-Asian Hate: How the Media Can Do Better
As the nation reels from the Atlanta mass shooting, Vox’s Cecilia Lei, an Asian American Journalists Association president, speaks with Heather Knight about how the rise in anti-Asian attacks has affected her and her family, and about how journalists and news organizations can better cover this type of violence.
5. Tso Yellow: S3 EP6: #StopAsianHate
Tso Yellow is a weekly podcast co-hosted by Cindy Lin and Helen Lin about their experiences as female Asian-Americans. They share personal stories about college, relationships, work, hobbies, and more.
On this episode, they address the wave of hate crimes against Asian-Americans. President Biden signed an executive order condemning racism against Asian Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is still so much more work to be done. Hate is a Virus is a nonprofit community dedicated to dismantling racism and hate. All proceeds from this episode will be donated to their Community Action Fund. To learn more about Hate Is A Virus, check out @hateisavirus_ on IG and https://hateisavirus.org/
6. Wave of Change: Modern Perspectives in Asian American Psychology: #37 – Stopping Asian Hate with Rachel Matsuoka: Why Are Hate Crime Charges So Rare?
Waves of Change: Modern Perspectives in Asian American Psychology is a conversation with Diana Chu and Dr. Mankit Li. They are San Francisco based psychotherapist and psychologist who like to deconstruct psychology, digging deep to challenge themselves and their listeners.
This episode features guest speaker Rachel Matsuoka, who is an activist and television actress. You may have seen her in the popular show, 13 Reasons Why. Rachel is kind enough to share with her encounters with microaggressions and race violence, and the impact it has on her.
Rachel has curated a reading list for the #StopAsianHate movement with the aim to educate, foster empathy, and be a resource for allies and Asian-Americans who are starved of their stories in literature, media, and classrooms. https://www.booksinc.net/stop-asian-hate. She is also on Instagram and Twitter at @RachelMatsuoka.
7. Our America with Julián Castro: Curbing Anti-Asian Pacific Islander Hate (with Cynthia Choi)
Julián Castro helps listeners understand how to make sense of a non-stop stream of headlines affecting our daily lives.
On this episode, Cynthia Choi of Stop AAPI Hate and Chinese For Affirmative Action joins Julián to talk about scapegoating, the data collected on AAPI racial verbal and physical attacks, and the pressing need for community-led, intersectional public safety initiatives.
8. Public Discourse: Stop Asian Hate Crimes
Public Discourse self describes as an ill informed Korean living in Japan trying to have civilized, humorous discussions with interesting, well-informed people. In this episode Tae tries to verbalize his thoughts on the hate crime shooting that happened in the past few days in Atlanta.
