G+JI Statement of Solidarity with AAPI Communities

On March 16, a white man killed eight people, six of whom identified as Asian women, in 3 Atlanta-area spas. 

Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng. We celebrate your lives and lift up your loved ones who grieve your deaths through targeted racialized violence.

This tragedy comes at a time when anti-Asian violence is on the rise. According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, anti-Asian incidents have increased by 150% since the beginning of COVID-19. Women are twice as likely to be targeted. 

These attacks, however, are not new but rooted in a long history of anti-Asian racism and racialized misogyny. This targeted violence grows out of white supremacy, colonialism, systemic racism and sexual violence. These murders are also rooted in anti-migrant animus, the sexualization of Asian women, and the criminalization of sex work.

We at the G⁺JI stand firm in denouncing misogyny, systemic racism and violence in all its forms. We send our love and feminist solidarity to Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, women, queer, trans, non-binary, gender conforming, poor, elderly, disabled, immigrants, refugees, undocumented, Brown, Black, Muslim folks and all those affected by this white supremacist violence.