West End House mourns the loss of lives of the eight people who were shot and killed in Atlanta, six of whom were Asian-American women. We remember Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, and the four other individuals whose names have not yet been released as of this posting.
In the words of our national affiliate Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s CEO Jim Clark:
“In the past few days and weeks, we have been horrified to read about racially motivated hate crimes involving physical violence and harassment, targeting Asian Americans. These are not isolated incidents. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric, harassment and violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander persons, families and communities have increased. These hateful acts damage our society and run counter to everything we stand for… Advancing equity for people of all races and ethnicities is critical to guaranteeing the safety and security of everyone.”
We encourage everyone in our community to work to #StopAAPIHate. As one action you can take now, please see the following resources, which one of our college partners shared with us today:
- Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment Training
- Stop AAPI Hate: Together We Can Stop It
- AAC-Community-Action-Guide
- More resources, including mental health and emotional support resources can be found on the Bunker Hill Community College News site
