US PROTESTS: CHINESE FOR BLACK LIVES

ASSOCIATE EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES — Just weeks into the protest of “Black Lives Matter,” a movement among young Chinese people is starting to grow as they shout out their support for the cause.

“Chinese For Black Lives,” founded by feminist activist Xiaowen Liang, has been seen organizing Chinese volunteers to spread the word out in their local neighborhood. Volunteers are distributing flyers that say “Asians For Black Lives” to Asian vendors in Chinatown of Manhattan and Flushing. The volunteers encourage store owners to display the posters in their store.

The group aims to counter growing unhappiness between African-American and Asian-American  communities after a controversial leak of racist messages against the BLM protest from the NYU chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon, an Asian-interest fraternity. Similar insensitive remarks have also been spotted on some Chinese social media, worsening the stereotype of Chinese discrimination towards blacks.

The counter-offensive against patches of anti-black racism within the Asian community by “Chinese for Black Lives” appears to be winning the day. At least half of the visited stores were convinced by the volunteers to join the movement. The group now plans to connect with more Chinese students in the U.S. and reach out to Chinese vendors beyond Chinatown. The student staff at Asia Media at LMU wishes the effort great success, enthusiastically applauding the effort.

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