8 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 15, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Asian and Black clergy condemn anti-
Asian hate during rally at Jamaica church
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
A group of multi-denominational clergy
from across New York City came together
in solidarity with the Asian American
community outside the First Presbyterian
Church in Jamaica on Tuesday, April 6,
condemning the violent racist attacks on
the AAPI community, but also announcing
the creation of a support network.
“We gather here to raise our voice. We
are a multi-racial, multi-faith group of
clergy who gather together to condemn
all types of hatred, all types of discrimination,”
said Senior Pastor Adolphus Lacey
of Bethany Baptist Church in Bedford-
Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. “What these types
have revealed is that we do not have connections.
Th ere is no infrastructure for us
to have bridge building, and we are starting
the process right now to build bridges
to connect with all of these communities.”
Rev. Patrick O’Connor of the First
Presbyterian Church of Jamaica welcomed
the clergy members on the steps of
the 359-year-old church.
“We stand with our Asian brothers and
sisters, but we stand with all people who
experience hate and harm. Let love and
righteousness and goodwill prevail,” the
reverend said.
Pastor Charles Ryu of Morningside
United Methodist Church in Manhattan,
a mostly Korean and Asian American
congregation, was grateful for the show of
solidarity. He shared that he attended an
anti-Asian hate rally in Times Square last
Sunday, organized by young Black and
Asian activists and that they changed the
rallying cry “the people united will never
be defeated” to “together united, we will
never be divided.”
“Th e white racist structure will always
try to divide, and the history between
the Black and Asian community has both
been division and cooperations. And
when I see young people coming together,
we are together, and together united,
we will never be divided. We will fi ght
together,” Ryu said.
Bishop H. Curtis Douglas wanted the
Asian community to know that he was
standing with them.
“We condemn all acts of white supremacy
against any race, any group of people,
especially those of us of color. And
we want to connect and make sure that
together, we do all that we can to ensure
that our children and our grandchildren
do not have to deal with or go through
this kind of abuse,” the bishop said.
Priest Wang of the International
Buddhist Progress Society thanked everyone
for supporting the Asian community.
“We would love to work together to
build a loving, kind, compassionate community,”
Wang said.
Tisha Dixon Williams of the First Baptist
Church Bridgehampton invoked the tagline
“who are you going to call?” from the
soundtrack of the movie “Ghostbusters.”
She admitted that she did not know who
to call when the racist attacks happened
in the Asian community. She thanked the
organizers for creating a support system
and connecting the communities.
“We’re here today because today we’re
building a call list when something horrific
happens. When strange things happen
in our neighborhoods when our Asian
brothers and sisters are attacked. And I
know that they feel the same way when
their African American brothers and sisters
are attacked. From today forward,
we’ll know who to call,” Dixon Williams
said.
Imam Shamsi Ali of the Jamaica
Muslim Center expressed that hate was
the United States trademark recalling
a time when hate was also directed
towards Italians, Irish, Catholics and
Jewish people.
He reminded everyone that New York
wasn’t the most beautiful and powerful
city in the world because of its skyscrapers
or Wall Street, but because of the
people who forge connections.
“So let’s continue building our bridges,
working together to break down the
walls that separate us, my brothers and
sisters,” he said.
John Chang of the Buddhist Tzu Chi
Foundation recalled how diffi cult the
past year had been for so many because
of the COVID-19 pandemic and how
saddened he was because of the increasing
acts of hatred against minorities. He
prayed for healing and reaching harmony
and understanding.
“It’s very important for us to express
compassion to each other, to help others
in need,” Chang said.
Rev. Stephen A. Green of the Greater
Allen AME Cathedral spoke of the late
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and how
much he had believed in the power of
community.
“We’re standing here as faith leaders.
As African American and Asian leaders,
because we are here to resurrect
the dream. We are here to resurrect and
reconstruct the dream that says that all
human life has dignity and worth. We’re
here to reconstruct the dream and to
resurrect the dream to affi rm that black
lives matter, and we will stop Asian
American hate in this country,” the reverend
emphasized.
Rev. Gregory Woo of the Faith Bible
Church asked everyone to continue to
raise their voices and love each other.
“Some of us Asians, we have a hard
time voicing out and sharing what we
feel, what we care about. You know, with
our African American brothers and sisters,
our Black brothers and sisters,
we’re gonna learn a thing or two from
you,” Woo said.
Th e last speaker, Rev. Patrick Henry
Young of the First Baptist Church in
Corona, described racism and hate as
stupidity in its highest form and asked a
question from the bible.
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” he said.
He said that the formation of the
diverse coalition answered the question.
“We are our brother’s keeper. And we
have to keep our brothers and sisters
safe. We’re here to keep them safe by
speaking up and speaking out against
hatred, against racism, against the act
of all violence. We want to let you know
we are here to be a voice to the voiceless
and help those who are helpless,”
Young said.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
A group of multi-denominational clergy from across New York City came together in solidarity with the Asian American community outside the First
Presbyterian Church in Jamaica.
“We stand with our Asian brothers and sisters,
but we stand with all people who experience
hate and harm. Let love and righteousness and
goodwill prevail.”
— Rev. Patrick O’Connor
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