Contributions from our Community: Fitting into America

The month of March is filled with juxtapositions between celebrations and reflections birthed by tragedies. It is in this month that we observe March 8th as International Women’s Day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women; yet at the same time across the globe, we watch brave Ukrainian women escaping with their young and their old or taking up arms fighting for their country. As we also commemorate the month of March as National Women’s History Month, we acknowledge the fact that throughout history, women have had to pay the ultimate price of wars waged by power-hungry men. I would be remiss to not mention that a year ago in March we experienced the horrific Atlanta spa shootings that led to the tragic deaths of eight AAPI women. It is always the mothers, grandmothers, wives, daughters, and sisters who will have to pick up the pieces of the shattered lives.

Although the Stop Asian hate movement have awakened the AAPI community to speak out against the hate crimes, we are still dealing with the fact that majority of the attacks against AAPI women are still occurring. We can’t talk about this issue only when another AAPI woman is brutally murdered. Whether or not it’s labeled a hate crime, let’s face it, with 74% of AAPI women reporting to have experienced racism and/or discrimination this past year, the results are a sobering reminder on the current state of safety for AAPI women in the US (National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum). There needs to be a long-term commitment from the community and from those in positions of power to direct resources to address the issues that AAPI women face.