Visual Communications Stands in Solidarity
/Dear Friends of VC,
We hope that you are doing ok. If you are not ok, that’s ok too.
Thank you for joining us for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Virtual Showcase, featuring artists and communities whose stories are critical at this moment.
We shared with you our American stories - our histories, our heartbreaks, and our hopes. To keep us inspired, we showed you our heroes from the past and visionaries for the future. From the historic strikes in universities and the fields of Delano, to the current movements on Mauna Kea and detention centers, you saw the strength of our people. Through music from Ruby Ibarra and Goh Nakamura, along with meles passed down from Native Hawaiian ancestors, you heard the heartbeats of our story lines.
With the donuts and lumpias, you became hungrier.
You watched communities eager to exercise their voting rights while we highlighted current and future leaders to remind you of your privilege and power. You were also reminded that there are marginalized communities who are struggling.
Saturday, May 2, 1992: A large crowd gathers at Ardmore Park. This rally and march throughout the streets of Koreatown took place the day after Rodney King appeared in front of the local press to utter his "Can we all just get along?" comments. (Photo: Abraham Ferrer/Visual Communications Photographic Archive)
Now, we ask you to share your power to create solidarity with Black communities - people who are fighting for the right to hear the heartbeats of their storylines. We also urge you to use your privilege to oppose racism, its systems and structures, and combat anti-blackness in our own communities.
Saturday, May 2, 1992: A protester advocates for police reform during the memorial and march for Eddie Lee, a Korean American youth who was gunned down in a "friendly fire" accident on Day Two of the Los Angeles Rebellion. (Photo: Abraham Ferrer/Visual Communications Photographic Archive)
We still have work to do. While media can be used to destroy communities, Visual Communications will continue to use media to build and connect communities. We passionately support the countless organizations who are doing work in pursuit of justice.
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
In solidarity,
VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
Resources
What Can I Do? A Google document with resources on how to educate yourself, support the cause, and other ways to take action.
20+ Allyship Actions for Asians to Show Up for the Black Community Right Now by Michelle Kim
Let’s Eviscerate the Model Minority Myth by Erna Kim Hackett
Have nonprofit and philanthropy become the “white moderate” that Dr. King warned us about? by Vu Le
How to Safely and Ethically Film Police Misconduct by Palika Makam
