Standing in Solidarity with AAPI Children

In New Jersey, Anti-Asian hate crimes reported to police rose 75% during the pandemic and continues to climb. According to Stop AAPI Hate, 1 in 3 AAPI parents report that their children experienced a hate incident in school over the past year. A parent's impulse to protect their kids is our most basic instinct and this educational advocacy is so important.

Together, thousands of AAPI individuals in NJ and and a coalition of 60+ organizations advocated for the AAPI curriculum bill and the bill was signed into law last January. These acts of hatred take an enormous toll physically and mentally on our children and communities. As a psychiatrist, I heard from my patients about the fear that overtakes them, the nightmares that rob them of their energy, the hypervigilance that saps their playfulness, the emotional numbing that diminishes their experience of the world, robbing our children of their childhood. I think all children deserve to feel safe. All children deserve to feel that they belong. Our kids are kids only once. We want to protect them as best we can.

Children pay attention to whose stories are told in school and whose stories aren't and it shows how valued you are. We want our kids to know we are valued, we do contribute and we do belong. And not only our kids we want their classmates to know that because as AAPIs we're often seen as forever foreigners. We would like to show how Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders contributed to the building of this country.

In this session, participants will learn potential action steps and strategies for organizing/advocating for a cause they believe in."