Co-Conspirator Actions for APAs in Support of Black Lives
It’s Juneteenth. For those of you who don’t know, Juneteenth (June 19th) is commemorated as the day when slavery “ended” in the U.S. after the Civil War. This year, Juneteenth is being more widely recognized than ever before. Nonprofits and businesses are adding it to their official list of holidays. They’re doing it to be in solidarity with the black/African American community because they’re realizing it’s not enough to be an ally anymore.
Protest, man in a mask holding up a “Asians in Solidarity with Black Lives” sign.
Allyship signifies that we acknowledge racism, that we are in solidarity with marginalized communities, and that we are actively participating in the process of unlearning. Allyship is great, but it hasn’t gotten us as far as we wanted. To dismantle white supremacy and end racism, we must move past allyship and into co-conspiratorship. Angela Davis said, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be antiracist.” Being a co-conspirator means that we have to take a risk — whether it’s to our livelihood, reputation, or life — in our quest for racial justice.
Here are eight ways that Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) can be co-conspirators in the Black Lives Matter Movement right now:
Plan a protest. It doesn’t need to be perfect, and you don’t need to have all the answers. If a fifth grader can do it, so can you.
Challenge anti-blackness in your family and community. Call it out. Find opportunities to engage them in conversation about this issue. Don’t let them get away with stereotyping and using racial slurs. The dominant culture has ensured that our history as APAs are not in textbooks, so we need to take the extra time to educate ourselves and our community. As we study our past, we’ll soon realize that APA and black history are very much intertwined.
Shop at black owned businesses. If no one has taken the time to compile a list, then create one. Circulate it on social media, to your colleagues, friends, etc. Promote it on Nextdoor and on local FB groups.
Looking for that Asian food fix? Need Asian veggies that only your local Asian market sells? Well, then commit to only supporting Asian businesses that are pro-Black Lives Matter. Money talks, and most businesses are compelled to follow the tide of change. Look at what happened to Starbucks, Taco Bell, Adidas, and Anthropologie.
Share your story. If you have personally experienced police brutality or witnessed it, talk about it. If you grew up being taught to be afraid of law enforcement, let others know. Reiterate why it’s so important to not call the police.
Stand on the front lines when invited by the black community. If you’re at a protest and our black brothers and sisters are asking us to form a wall between them and the police, do it. Follow their lead.
Boycott APA brands and celebrities that appropriate black culture like Awkwafina, Lilly Singh, and Eddie Huang. Let them know it’s not okay to profit off the success of black people.
Center black voices. If you’re an APA leader, don’t hold a panel or workshop about anti-blackness in the APA community unless you’re ready to bring black folx into the conversation about how this impacts them. Unless we’re black or bi-racial APA and black, we don’t know what it’s like to be black.
Being a co-conspirator won’t be easy. It might be scary, and it can feel lonely at times. We’ll be seen as disruptors. It’ll probably be worse than if we had brought home a black boy/girlfriend. We’ll go against what some of our parents have always told us — to keep our heads down and assimilate. But if we are truly saying that Black Lives Matter, then we need to unapologetically and fearlessly act on it now.