We hope you're reading this in a safe, gentle environment.
As an Filipino*-focused magazine, we want to address the recent violence against Asian women.
There is plenty of nuance within this conversation as well, so please reach out to us if there is an important factor we did not discuss in this article. Also, there is skepticism surrounding the hashtag #StopAsianHate, and these valid concerns can be read here.
Following the murders of six Asian women in Atlanta, we strongly encourage Asian and non-Asian folks to focus on the root of this violence and commit to the dismantling of American imperialism and white supremacy.
Asian folks can organize within their own communities; for our Pilipino/a/x mga kasama, GABRIELA and Malaya Movement, are a couple of organizations to join to get involved.
We ask white people to see what steps they can take to stop the violence. This does not begin and end with an infographic post or a retweet. White allies, we urge you to engage in the difficult conversations at home, especially with your conservative friends and family. We ask you to ask the questions: how do I benefit from white supremacy? How can I be of and provide protection to the BIPOC folks I call my friends, neighbor, and family? This violence begins and ends with white supremacy, and it is your responsibility. We cannot call on the Black community to organize for us Asians (though they are already in support of us), especially when non-Black folks do not show up for the Black community.
While a lot of new articles and discussions are centering the experience of the Asian woman in America, we acknowledge the hyper-sexualization and fetishization of Asians is not only with women, but with non-cismen as well. Following Jen Ramos, we also ask that folks use inclusive language surrounding gender, as a portion of our masthead are non-binary. We especially encourage East Asians to consider their proximity to whiteness and how they can uplift their Brown Asian brethren as well as de-centering themselves to allow other Asians, such as South and Southeast Asians, to join the conversation.
While there is debate on the dismantling of the acronym "AAPI" as seen in this thread by Pacific Islander poet, Craig Santos Perez, those who use it are opting for "API", as racist hostility towards Asians is not solely present in the United States of America.
The state fears solidarity between BIPOC communities (hence the creation of the Model Minority Myth), and within the diverse Asian community (as we are not a monolith) must first begin to address the anti-Blackness within our own. While we work on including resources to Stop Asian Hate, we currently have a Black Lives Matter page, which we encourage you to read. We must support Black organizations, especially Black women (this shouldn't need to be stated, but for clarification, when we at Marias state 'women', we mean trans women as well.) Folks can start with providing monetary donations to Black folks who share their Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, etc. on social media. Lastly, we ask folks to use the hashtag #StopAsianHate, and not co-opt verbiage from the Black rights movement by using "Anti-Asian" or "Asian Lives Matter."
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach us at MariasAtSampaguitas@Gmail.Com. With love, The Marías Team
*Filipino/a/x people, whether in the Philippines or among the diaspora, use many terms to refer to their identity, whether it's Filipino/a/x, Pinoy, Pinay, Pin@y, Pinxy, Pilipino/a/x, Pilipinx, Fil-Am, Fil-Aus, Fil-Can, Philo, or their own ethnolinguistic group, such as Bikolano/a/x, Ilokano/a/x, Cebuano/a/x, etc. All are valid. We only ask that we allow others to use the label that is most comfortable to them.
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