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April 2-April 8, 2021
Community leaders rally against anti-Asian
hate on National Day of Action and Healing
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Queens elected officials,
community organizers and
religious leaders joined Bay
Terrace residents for a unity
rally at Bay Terrace Shopping
Center on March 26, in solidarity
with the virtual National
Day of Action and Healing.
Queens Congresswoman
Grace Meng and California
Assembly member Evan Low
organized the event, which
demands an end of violence
against Asian Americans
and encourages everyone to
share their stories on social
media, using the hashtag
#StopAsianHate.
Congressman Tom Suozzi
acknowledged that the past
year had been challenging
for everyone and pointed out
that because of the COVID-19
restrictions, hate crimes overall
went down by 7 percent in
2020. Yet, hate crimes against
Asian Americans went up by
a staggering 150 percent the
same year, and officials believe
that the number of racist
attacks against AAPI community
members is even higher
because many victims are too
afraid to come forward.
Suozzi shared an anecdote
about his father, an Italian immigrant,
who said, “You can’t
Residents, elected officials and community leaders stood together in support of the Asian American
community amid the rise in hate crimes against AAPIs in the past year. Photo by Gabriele Holterman
have a rose without the thorns;
you can’t have the beautiful
things in life without the
suffering.”
“Well, we’ve been through
our thorns,” the congressman
said. “This past year, this violence
and hatred against Asian
Americans is an example of
those thorns. But you all here
tonight, and people throughout
the country that are doing the
same thing, which is a celebration
of the roses of life. The best
part of life is when people from
all different backgrounds, all
different nationalities and races
and religions come together
to say we are one. We are united
against Asian hate.”
Suozzi introduced Rabbi
Yossi Blesofsky of Chabad
Lubavitch of Northeast
Queens, who recalled the
Crown Heights riots in 1991
and the words his spiritual
mentor Rabbi Schneerson
shared with then New York
City Mayor Dinkins. The
Rabbi told Dinkins that they
were one people.
“Who would think a Hasidic
Rabbi identifying so closely
with members of a completely
different culture?” Rabbi Yossi
asked. “Because the truth is,
we are one people. We are all
God’s creatures, and we are all
one family. And we are here
today to make a protest. You
might ask what difference does
it make? What sort of impact
does it have? But the reality is
that if you don’t protest when
something hurtful and painful
happens to your fellow citizens,
then, apparently, it doesn’t
bother you enough.”
He reminded the crowd
that Passover, which began on
March 27, celebrates freedom
from oppression, freedom from
bigotry and freedom from hate,
before reciting a prayer.
Queens State Senator John
Liu, who has attended many
rallies in the last several weeks
protesting the rise in hate
crimes against the AAPI community,
recognized that the
past year had been difficult for
everyone, but even more so for
Asian Americans.
“Everybody has their own
perspective, and the perspective
of Asian Americans is not
spoken of enough or written
about enough. And that’s why
it is so heartening for me, personally,
to see this kind of rally
take place,” Liu said.
Read more on QNS.com.
Vol. 87 No. 14 32 total pages
2021
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