Last June, members of ALF Silicon Valley’s AAPI Caucus gathered for an evening of connecting and sharing stories. Gordon Yamate (Class XIX) hosted the group for a private tour of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) for the purpose of being inspired by the creative approaches artists use to understand and solve problems and express new ideas and perspectives.
The circle of Senior Fellows in attendance felt like a safe haven and included long-time friends, partners, and people meeting for the first time. The external context was the recent Supreme Court decision impacting women’s rights and related threats against LGBTQ+ people, questions about commitments to true racial reckoning, and the resurgence of anti-Asian racism since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With this context in mind, Buu Thai (Class XXVIII) invited people to check in by sharing how we were feeling rage and expressing and releasing it. Many shared a range of emotions and a desire to channel energy into action and support for moving forward.
From there, Gordon invited the group to consider creating a collective project modeled after Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the Arts to share how we are experiencing this time, especially in the context of anti-Asian attacks, xenophobia, invisibility, and divisions. The idea is to share stories—through letters or other forms of creative expression—to inform members of our broader ALF network about our experiences as Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
Often we feel invisible or dismissed as AAPIs, considered model minorities or perpetual foreigners. As Gordon shared, AAPIs are not the problem in Anti-Asian hate, but merely its recipient. The solution needs to come from non-AAPI people. How do we educate our non-AAPI colleagues? How do we get them and you to be part of the solution?
This project is also serving as a way for AAPI Senior Fellows to learn about ourselves. How do we better understand the differences and common experiences across the diversity of AAPI communities? How do we connect across communities—beyond AAPIs—in solidarity with others who are attacked and misunderstood?
It starts by sharing our stories. It is important to understand that many AAPI cultures teach us to be quiet, polite, and keep our personal experiences private. Discrimination in the U.S. has reinforced this as a protective approach.
So sharing our personal stories is often an act of courage held with hope for healing—ourselves and our communities. We believe we can contribute to building a stronger community and democracy by sharing our stories, so we are taking the risk—making waves—to share our AAPI voices.
View all current contributions in the Making Waves | AAPI Voices series here.
The title of this project, Making Waves | AAPI Voices, is inspired by the book Making Waves, An Anthology of Writings By and About Asian American Women. We thank editor Dr. Elaine Kim and Asian Women United of California for their groundbreaking work and permission to use the title.
Tell us what you think. Want to start a dialogue? Contact Akemi Flynn.
Akemi has over 25 years experience working for multicultural community building and equity in Silicon Valley. Prior to ALF, she served as Executive Director of PACT: People Acting in Community Together, a multi-faith, multi-racial organization leading grassroots community organizing for racial and economic justice. Akemi brings her experiences and relationships working with leaders from the non-profit, philanthropic, public policy, corporate, business, faith, and cultural communities to serve as ALF’s Chief Impact Officer. She is a member of Class XXVII, wife of ALF Urbanist Senior Fellow, and mother of two young adults.
