8 Human Lives Lost and 1 Wounded

After posts and comments I had seen on social media over the past few days between my fellow massage therapists and massage educators, I offered that perhaps we in the massage profession can approach discussing the murders and violence in Atlanta this week similar to how we work with a new client or similar to how we teach. Meaning that before making and posting assumptions, I ask we each take a beat, pause, read, research many different sources and review with critical thought before moving forward. This allows us the ability to avoid potentially victimizing or dehumanizing the victims, which much of the media has already done.

Here are the resources, opinions, and articles I found helpful over the past two days and I hope many of you find them helpful too.

• “Killing Asian American women to eliminate a man’s temptation speaks to the history of the objectification of Asian and Asian American women as variations of the Asian temptress, the dragon ladies and the lotus blossoms, whose value is only in relation to men’s fantasies and desires. This is horrifying. Stop fetishizing us,” – Catherine Ceniza Choy https://twitter.com/ccenizachoy/status/1372386585203798017?s=21

• “I am tired of people humanizing white terrorists and excusing their murderous acts. ‘He was a sex addict.’ ‘He was having a really bad day.’ It’s meaningless to help a community that’s being attacked and who feel helpless to stop it. This is a way to try to justify and rationalize what he did instead of just calling it what it is: a hate crime against Asian women. We have to hold him to account. We have to hold people who think that way to account. You have an entire population living under threat. Asian Americans are targeted. You wanna talk mental health? Let’s talk about how there’s a mental health crisis about living in a country that attacks you just for being you. We need help. Please. #StopAsianHate” – Olivia Munn, Proud Asian American https://www.instagram.com/p/CMiilsRgaTB/?igshid=6py6vwbv1cn4

• “He didn’t have a “sexual addiction” – he had racist sexualized fantasies about dominating Asian women. In other words, he had fantasies of white supremacy and acted on them. Name it.” – Minh-Ha T. Pham https://twitter.com/minh81/status/1372217352281018373?s=21

• I found this post did justice to respectfully and thoughtfully address the murder, it’s reporting and our Industry: https://www.healwell.org/do-no-harm

• I found this letter another respectful and thoughtful example of addressing the murders while respecting the victims, from Red Canary Song: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Q0mFJnivTZL5fcCS7eUZn9EhOJ1XHtFBGOGqVaUY_8/edit

• In speaking with those I know that have a connection to the Asian community in the greater Atlanta area, I was told that a few of the victims were of South Korean descent and that people in the Korean American community in Atlanta have stated that there is a lot of shame around the circumstances of the victims because the news is portraying them as sex workers. Therefore, many families may prefer the names of some of the victims are not publicized or repeated. The victims whose details have been shared can be found online. But I believe we are not owed any of their stories. They don’t have to meet any standard. They are victims. They were murdered.

• “Since the start of the pandemic last spring, Asian Americans have faced racist violence at a much higher rate than previous years. The NYPD reported that hate crimes motivated by anti-Asian sentiment jumped 1,900% in New York City in 2020. Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting database created at the beginning of the pandemic as a response to the increase in racial violence, received 2,808 reports of anti-Asian discrimination between March 19 and December 31, 2020. The violence has continued into 2021, “ https://time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/

1. Sign on to this collective community statement as an individual and/or organization (same as above): http://bit.ly/GeorgiaAAPICommunityStatement
2. Donate to the victims of the violent acts and their families: https://bit.ly/DonateToGeorgiaAAPICommunity
3. Share the resources you can offer to the victims and their families, other impacted community members, and community organizations involved in crisis response: https://bit.ly/georgiaAAPIcommunitycare
4. Ideas for Actions: https://stopaapihate.org/actnow/
5. Support the AAPI Community Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-aapi-community-fund
6. Reach out and support your local Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander business owners, especially our fellow massage therapists and massage business owners who are Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander.