A little over 100 miles away from Atlanta, Georgia, a crowd of 200 people gathered on Sunday evening for a “Stop Asian Hate” rally in a park in Birmingham, Alabama. There were many Asian families, with small kids holding “Stop Asian hate” signs, as well as multi-racial crowds: white people, Black people, Latinos, and people of all ages.
The event was co-sponsored by Black Lives Matter Birmingham, Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, Alabama Asian Cultures Foundation, City of Birmingham Office of Social Justice, and the Vietnamese Student Association at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In a rally led by young Asian folks, people spoke out against anti-Asian hate and white supremacy. They connected anti-Asian racism to the racism experienced by Black people, and the need to fight against all forms of racism and white supremacy. They spoke about the racist patriarchy that led to the attacks — the hyper-sexualization of Asian women and the women who are on the front lines of the movement.
At the end of the vigil, the name of each person murdered was read out to the crowd and participants lit a candle in remembrance.
Watch some of the speeches here:
