Berkeley’s #STOPAAPIHATE movement
Protestors plant themselves in the middle of Martin Luther Jr. Civic Park in Berkeley, Calif., after an anti-Asian (AAPI) violence demonstration on Mar. 21, 2021. The community gathering marked the first of many other city and UC Berkeley movements, bringing out around 30 East Bay residents and a handful of local city officials and leaders.
Amongst flower bouquets and sidewalk chalk messages, a cardboard sign honors victims of an Atlanta spa shooting which occurred five days prior to the rally on Mar. 21, 2021.
“It’s been years of repressed feelings and endurance for a certain minority,” Jessica Perez-Wong, a resident of Contra Costa County and native of Marin County, said. “(The minority) shouldn’t have to endure because they succeed. It should be the reverse.”
A UC Berkeley student departs from a campus march against AAPI hate on Apr. 7, 2021. The march–organized by local members of the national organization, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)–flooded onto nearby streets, gathering as many as 50 participants.
BAMN organizer, Hoku Jeffery, speaks to a crowd of UC Berkeley students and Berkeley residents before mobilizing the group to chants and marching. “We say your blood is our blood,” Jeffrey said. “Black, Latino, immigrant, Asian, white — no matter what race or country you’re from, everybody deserves opportunity in this society.”