South, Central, and West Asian People Supporting Black Lives
Police have killed over five hundred people in the United States this year. Over a hundred of those people were Black. (Comparatively, about sixty police officers have been killed in the United States this year.) This violence is a continuation of the violence that U.S. Black people have experienced for many generations.
More people are rising up every day in support of the right of Black people to be alive in the United States. Asian USers have been thinking about how to be vocal and visible and actively contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement. Some have written about how to talk to immigrant elders and other family members about what is happening to Black people and why we need to stand in support of this movement for Black lives.
This work is especially important as we think about the U.S. war on people of our countries: Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Afghanistan, and others. There is a war against Black people in the United States.
There is so much to discharge. There is also so much potential for taking creative action wherever we are. This is a moment for South, Central, and West Asian people to support the call to value and protect Black people’s lives in the United States.
I would love to hear your thoughts, what you are discharging on, and what you are doing or want to do to support the movement for Black lives.
Los Angeles, California, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of South, Central, and West Asian-heritage people
(Present Time 185, October 2016)