The webinar hosted by @chineseforblac1 is starting now, giving Africans living in China a platform to share! Zoom meeting ID: 895 5519 8094
I will be live tweeting here
#BlackLivesMatter #ChineseforBlackLives

Mcebo Maziya (MC): from South Africa, worked in edu consulting in NYC for African students. Moved to China to experience what it's like there because China has been influential in Africa

S Africa came from a colonial white supremacist history that extracts resources and demolish culture. Same is true in the US

China does not come from a history of having been colonized by white people. However, China is also an imperial country in Asia. China can act the same way the US may act in different spaces
Chinese imperialism and US imperialism both exist

If you google Africa, you will see stereotypical narratives and images that Africans are poor, that Africans are trying to make it in other countries. White supremacist systems created this stereotype

MC's perspective on China: "it's definitely racist" People on trains touching his hair, asking if he plays the drums. Racism didn't start with the pandemic. The pandemic is racism--way before the coronavirus happened. Covid only illuminates existing institutional racism

MC was paid less than his white co-workers. African and white expats treated differently in China

MC: "ignorance is not the same everywhere." The BLM shows that the ways Black people are killed in the US and abroad are disproportionately high. Too many people consume and appropriate Black culture

"They like our rhythms not our blues."

"When the pandemic happened, lots of white people from the West were being racist against Chinese people. Black people on the front line are fighting against anti-Chinese xenophobia. But Asian people then turned on the Black/African communities."

"This really showed us that our lives don't matter. the same people we advocated for then put up signs that say 'Black people not allowed'"

Police came to MC's home to interrogate him for documents all of a sudden, even though he has been in the country for 3 years. Anxiety for the pandemic was put on Black people, who have been defending Chinese people when anti-Asian xenophobia first started

In Beijing, a restaurant owner said "your white friend can come in, but you can't." Signs saying that "No foreigners allowed," but there were lots of white people inside

Chinese people first need to admit that anti-Black racism exists in their society. As a LGBTQ person, MC expected to experience more homophobia than racism, but it was the other way around

"They are fine with being gay, but it seems like they are not fine with Black people!"

MC: you need to inform and confront your parents how they love white capital, while discriminating against Black people. The west is propped up as progress and civilization at the expense of Black people. Anti-Blackness is the underbelly of white capitalism

"I really hate it when Im taking about race, and folx say that 'oh but there are other things too!' if we are talking about race, lets focus on that and have that conversation!"

There are BLM protests occurring the world. This is a systemic issue that happen not only the US. Other parts of the world have been militarized against Black bodies.

When George Floyd was being strangled on the floor, there was an Asian man standing there doing nothing. This is a metaphor of what's happening: many Asian Americans not standing in support of Black lives. Black people cant fight for everybody, but we do

But when Black people are in trouble, many Asian people decide to stand aside, "not me." We need to interrogate that complicity with white supremacy. We can also think about whether it is so innocent for China to be in Africa

Asian Americans touted as the model minority by a white supremacist system to suppress Black people

"Talking about Chinese people as if they are a monolith is wrong. Just like when people talk about Africans as if we are one thing." MC not going to entertain a comment that says All Lives Matter--taking away power from the BLM movement

MC is tired with having to educate folx on the Black experience all the time: either you are courageous enough to learn, or you are not. He is trying to be courageous to participate in this webinar. Encouraging audiences to be courageous too to learn

Second speaker: Anda from Nigeria

Anda came to China in 2018. He is in China to pursue his PhD. He interacts primarily with Chinese scholars. Stereotypes on Africans in academia: Africans are hard-working, valuable, and result-oriented

But most other people in Guangzhou tend to see Africans as criminal. They are immediately afraid and skeptical when they see a Black person, thinking that they are here to commit crimes

Most Chinese people based their perceptions of ALL Black people based on just 1-2 Africans they know. Feel the pressure to represent African people. "We are humans, just like the whites."

It's more difficult for Africans to live in China than other expats. Requires more energy to do so than other fellow foreigners. Folx are extra skeptical of Africans, even when they are just going about their everyday lives

Anda has been a victim of racism several times: folx tried to avoid him in public. It's hard to differentiate whether people are avoiding him because of racial bias or language barrier

Anda experienced racism when trying to rent an apartment. Landlords claimed that Africans don't pay their bills. Chinese people mostly only spread negative stereotypes against Africans

Anda: a lot of Chinese people are quite friendly. I do have many Chinese friends that we share time and food together

Coronavirus was not originated in Africa, but we Africans in Guangzhou was forced to quarantined by the gov. It was very absurd.

It was an abuse of our fundamental right. I still don't know the reason why overnight Africans were forced to be quarantined. The police came: we were interrogated. We were not allowed to go outside.

"Why should only Africans in Guangzhou be quarantined and not others?" This question has still not been answered.

During the quarantine period, Anda's Chinese friend helped get him everyday supplies and food. He was tested four times during the quarantine and it was all negative. Most Africans he knew in Guangzhou have tested negative

Anda's lab work and research was severely delayed because of the forced quarantine.

The worst thing you can do to a human being is to take away their freedom. You are dehumanizing peope when you demobilize them.