On The Vine: A call to action, do nothing but good
My mind, for some time now has been on Asian American activists in the 1960s. If I scrape away all the excess, the curiosity has been rattling around in the back of my mind long before Atlanta, before the pandemic and the rise in anti Asian hate — let me reiterate rise. It was a documentary about Koreatown during the 1992 LA riots in wake of the Rodney King verdict that planted the seed. But, as is often the case, it took recent, relatable events shining the light in my face to bring it to the forefront.
Now that it is, I can’t stop thinking about this photograph (graphic). Maybe you know the one? Of Malcolm X’s assassination. Why didn’t I notice the woman holding Malcolm’s head before? I’d seen this photo before, but her being there never seemed curious until an Asian American colleague recently singled her out. Her name is Yuri Kochiyama. And hearing her talk about why she ended up there, by Malcolm X’s side as he lay dying sounds familiar to me now in 2021.
I’m not going to get into her life story. There’s a biography you can read (“Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama”) and a host of articles. But there’s one moment, at a courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, which she recounted during a 2008 Democracy Now interview. Malcolm X walked into this courthouse and was mobbed by Black youth.
“And as I watched, about 25 yards away, I felt so bad that I wasn’t Black, that this should be just a Black thing. But the more I see them all so happily shaking his hands and Malcolm so happy, I said, ‘Gosh darn it, I’m going to try to meet him somehow.’
“There was a time where — maybe he didn’t look up, but I may have just thought he did or wished he did. And so, then I yelled and said, ‘Malcolm, can I shake your hands, too?’ because all these young people were. And he said, ‘What for?’ And I didn’t know at first what to say. ‘What for?’ I said, ‘Because what you’re doing for your people.’” And he said, ‘And what am I doing for my people?’ Now, I thought, ‘What would I say to that?’ And so I said, ‘You’re giving directions.’”
Around the block
Kansas City leaders take aim at jaywalking law for racial disparities in citations
Of the roughly 123 citations issued for jaywalking in Kansas City over the past three years, 65% were issued to Black people and 34% were written to white people, according to the mayor’s general legal counsel Jane Brown. Surprise, surprise, that’s disproportionate to the demographic breakdown of the city — nearly 30% of Kansas Citians are Black, while about 55% of residents are white, according to recent census data. Another 10% are Hispanic or Latino.
There’s a proposal in front of the city council that would eliminate penalties for jaywalking and other pedestrian offenses, in an effort to reform laws that disproportionately harm people of color.
Mayor Quinton Lucas wrote on Twitter: “As we consider it, the data on disparities in arrests over the years shows serious concerns and shows why we need to decriminalize daily life and found alternatives for petty offenses.”
Walking while Black is a real thing. In 2017 ProPublica and The Florida Times-Union dug into the ticketing data for pedestrians, uncovering how the system perpetuated racist stereotypes and continued the oppression of Black and brown people and poorer neighborhoods.
In case you missed this...
Missouri House passes penalties for protesters for blocking traffic, police ‘bill of rights’
White supremacist who killed 3 at Jewish sites in Overland Park dies in Kansas prison
Hey, old white men, y’all run everything. It’s time for some others to take the lead
Goodbye, Shawnee Mission North Indians. Here is the high school’s new mascot, the bison
Father and fitness trainer fatally shot in Kansas City ‘left nothing but good behind’
Gary Taylor, a father of three, was shot and killed, just after 10 p.m. on April 25, near the intersection of 19th and Vine streets. His was the 48th homicide in Kansas City this year, most of which were the result of gun violence. He was 34 years old.
Anna Spoerre writes for The Star:
Just as everything seemed to align so well in Taylor’s life, he was gone...
“When I say this city loved Gary, this city loved Gary. Like, they loved him,” Harris said, clapping her hands for emphasis. “And I just hate that he didn’t realize how much he had already changed people, inspired people.”
Taylor used exercise to help beat hereditary health issues, she said, and he wanted to help others improve their health from the start...
“Gary was a pillar in our community. He wanted so much more for those growing up without much,” said Wesley Hamilton, founder of the nonprofit Disabled But Not Really and a friend of Taylor’s. “He was a motivator, protector, humble man that unfortunately lost his life in such a senseless act.”
‘Why BJ?’: Family saw future greatness in 12-year-old bystander shot in Leavenworth
The story of 12-year-old Brian Henderson — fondly remembered by his self-given nickname “Fam0us BJ” — shot and killed in a pharmacy parking lot, and his family’s longing for justice was told here by Star reporter Bill Lukitsch:
Everything on this busy Kansas City block is a reminder of BJ Henderson.
There’s the basketball court directly across the street. The sidewalks where he rode his bicycle. The empty rooms of the house where his laughter is no longer heard.
His parents worried for his safety in the same way many do. They warned him to be careful riding his bike near the street or practicing his backwards somersault on the trampoline. He was destined for and aspired to greatness, his father, Brian Henderson, said.
“Never did I ever imagine my son would be shot and killed,” Henderson told The Star. “Especially not at the age of 12.”
Beyond the block
Explaining critical race theory and why it’s causing a stir in schools across the country
*Heavy sigh*
OK, let’s see if we can unpack and explain this. Critical race theory is getting a lot of attention lately, and no, not because folks are beside themselves with excitement of the idea of kids getting an education in thinking critically.
If you don’t know what critical race theory is, just know that race is not a biological birth right. Race is a man-made social construct meant to ascribe meaning (also read: labels) and hierarchy to groups of humans. Critical race theory is a method of examining how race and racism is embedded in our systems and institutions and exploring how that replicates and perpetuates racial inequality. Some parents don’t want it taught in schools and conservatives have latched on to the idea as well.
Our neighbors on the other side of the state helped bring a lot of attention to this debate.
Conversations during a Rockwood community forum in Eureka, Missouri, were heated as some parents got big mad about the teaching of critical race theory to students.
“Who gets to decide what history is?” one parent asked.
“Just because I do not want critical race theory taught to my children in school does not mean I am a racist, damn it!” said another...
Conservatives have seized on the idea that schools are promoting critical race theory, a decades-old academic framework that examines how policies and the law perpetuate systemic racism...
Critics say this approach injects race into what should be, in their view, a colorblind system. Proponents counter that U.S. schools have never been colorblind and insist they aren’t pushing critical race theory anyway. The equity work is critical, they say, to address systemic barriers holding back students of color and to create schools that are truly inclusive.
Check this out too...
Rockwood teachers call for protection from harassment over diversity curriculum
Can A Social Media Boycott Fight Racism Online? The English Soccer World Hopes So
A call to action
Rather than culture news this week, here’s a reminder: just because we may be going about our daily lives and not as inflamed about anti-Asian hate and rhetoric as a month, two months, ago, doesn’t mean it’s stopped happening.
Daylight Attack on 2 Asian Women in San Francisco Increases Fears
Two Asian women repeatedly attacked with cinder block as they closed Baltimore store
Asian American Father Walking With 1-Year-Old Son in Stroller Repeatedly Punched in SF
Here’s your call to action. At City Hall at 5 p.m. on Saturday there will be a celebration of AAPI heritage month. Speakers included Mayor Quinton Lucas, Missouri state Rep. Emily Weber, Justice Horn, and Cafe Ca Phe owner Jackie Nguyen.
“WE NEED YOU!This is the celebration we wanted and we deserve!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE ALL INVITED!!!,” Nguyen wrote in a post on the Vietnamese coffee shop’s Instagram page. “Let’s show KCMO how happy we are. This is one step in the direction of visibility we deserve!!!!!!”
Be there. Stop Asian hate. Show up for the work.
See ya in a week!
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This story was originally published May 6, 2021 at 10:41 AM.