Fellow Asians: we need to educate our community on radical thought & inspire our people to dream bigger than the goals that capitalism has forced upon us. I feel like we gained traction during the Civil Rights Movement, but in recent years many of us have settled into complacency

Asians NEED to do better at showing solidarity to other marginalized people, especially Black people. Many of us have become too comfortable in the model minority niche, refusing to "rock the boat." Others use anti-Black rhetoric in an attempt to gain Asian liberation.

We must recognize anti-Blackness in all its forms, not just overt racism like Asians saying the n word. Anti-Blackness is staying quiet while Black people struggle. Anti-Blackness is respectability politics. Anti-Blackness is centering ourselves and silencing Black voices.

Too many of us are treating Asian liberation and Black liberation as completely separate struggles, sometimes even in opposition with each other. But Asian liberation and Black liberation have always been intrinsically linked. We cannot let the white agenda divide us.

We MUST work to deconstruct the anti-Blackness in our communities, and we have to keep ourselves accountable and open-minded too. We need to listen to Black people more, listen to their critiques, and amplify their ideas. We need to support Black people in tangible ways.

Working towards Asian liberation without joining forces with and supporting Black movements will only have us going in circles. White people created race to divide us, and we cannot fall into the trap of separating ourselves further.

We need to educate ourselves on the history of the construction of race itself. We have to understand that when white people created race, they placed Black people at the lowest tier, and Asians somewhere in the middle. We cannot simply rise to the status of white people.

1. White people would never let that happen.
2. The destruction of racist systems can only happen if we liberate and support ALL marginalized people.
3. Racism as a concept is inherently based upon anti-Blackness.

We MUST look to our ancestors who joined forces with Black activists and worked with them in their collective fight for freedom. We MUST learn from them and be inspired by them: their humility, open-mindedness, inner strength, and willingness to follow Black leadership.

We MUST expand our circles and educations beyond Asian people and Asian-centric discussions; I'm not saying they aren't important, or that we should ignore them altogether, I'm saying that our conversations need to continue beyond ourselves. It is the only path to liberation.

Also, saying that anti-Asian racism is overlooked by other POC and that anti-Black racism is taken more seriously is a selfish lie. Black revolutionaries have BEEN fighting for Asians in their civil rights efforts. You don't even have to dig deep to learn about this.

Black hypervisibility =/= liberation. Media representation in white institutions =/= liberation. Black activists have fought for our rights here in the U.S. as well as overseas (e.g., protesting the Vietnam War). It's time we return the favor and stand with them.