[WEBCAST] The COVID-19 Racism Pandemic: A Call to Action FOR Asians
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Disease does not discriminate – so why do people? From the United States to France, anti-Asian sentiment has spread even quicker globally than the novel coronavirus strain itself. Restaurants in Chinatowns around the world have reported devastating declines in business since the outbreak and in many cases, both verbal and physical racially-charged actions have been perpetrated against those in the Asian community. Some international headlines and certain prominent politicians’ nomenclature choices have also contributed to a deepening divide over the dangers of xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment. In response, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Banchelet has raised the alarm, declaring that “the coronavirus epidemic has set off a disturbing wave of prejudice against people of Chinese and East Asian ethnicity, and I call on member states to do their utmost to combat this and other forms of discrimination." Grass-roots activists of all ages have also responded by uniting online to fight back against the hatred. A handful of creative hashtag campaigns have sprung up in recent months and trended around the world, raising critical awareness to this injustice, while inspiring a movement of solidarity with the Asian victims of discrimination along the way. As the U.S. celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage month this May, join us for an empowering webcast talk that will unmask this issue of surging coronavirus-related racism and spotlight two innovative social media campaigns that have built up momentum to correct these false COVID-19 narratives. As we will also feature a Chinese journalist who is an expert on the African migrant worker experience in China, we extend this call to action to find an online cure for the societal virus that is racism anywhere, against anybody. S. Alice Mong, Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center, will moderate the discussion.
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Ariel Estrada is Co-Founder of the #RacismIsAVirus campaign. He is an actor, singer, arts advocate, producer, and Founder & Producing Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab, a creative studio for Asian American theatre and film artists. As an actor and singer, Ariel has performed on television, film, commercials, industrials, new media, and Off-, and Off-Off-Broadway. He is currently the Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator at Actors’ Equity Association, and the Marketing & Membership Coordinator for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists. He was previously the Manager of Communications & Community Engagement for Asian American Arts Alliance. He was designated by New York Foundation of the Arts as an Emerging Arts Leader and by Theatre Communications Group as a Rising Leader of Color. He was also a member of New York Community Trust’s Race Forward Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab, an alum of The Broadway League’s Commercial Theater Institute Emerging Producer Program, and a graduate of the MFA in Acting Program from The University of Washington. As a freelance grant writer, he has raised over $500K in funding for community-based, nonprofit arts groups. Ariel is also an accomplished Fortune 500 and Inc. 5000-level communications designer and social media strategist.
Hangwei Li is an Advisor for African Views Organisation and a PhD candidate in Politics and International Studies at SOAS, University of London. She is also an Asia fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and a researcher at the Global Development Policy Center. Prior to her current gig, she worked as a journalist and researcher for three years in Africa (mainly in Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania). She also has working experiences with the United Nations Information Center, Council of Europe and University of Zambia. She was also an award-winning journalist, silver medal winner of the United Nations Correspondents Association in 2017.Her previous work has been published in various media, including the Guardian, Financial Times, NPR, VICE, Middle East Eye, the Africa Report, South China Morning Post and Beijing TV.
Telly Wong is Creator and Campaign Director of #WashTheHate. In response to the surge in hate incidents against Asian Americans following the outbreak of COVID-19, Telly led the creation of this social media campaign that invited the community to post videos of themselves washing their hands while sharing a personal story about how the pandemic has impacted their lives. Launched in March with the participation of Asian American actors and leaders, the initiative quickly went viral and has garnered global attention numerous media outlets including Good Morning America, People and Hollywood Reporter. #WashTheHate recently debuted one of the first U.S. public service announcements to address the issue of anti-Asian hate as a result of the virus. By day, Telly is the Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer of IW Group, a leading multicultural creative agency that develops innovative campaigns and experiences for such clients as McDonald’s, Lexus, Warner Bros. Pictures and Brown-Forman. Fresh, transformative and culturally progressive, Telly's work has been recognized with numerous honors from such leading industry organizations as AdAge, Public Relations Society of America and PR Daily. In 2016, he was named PR News' Agency Awe Professional. He is a graduate of NYU where he earned his BFA in Dramatic Writing with a double major in East Asian Studies.
S. Alice Mong is the Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK). Prior to ASHK, she worked in New York for almost a decade in the non-profit sector in senior management position. While in New York, Ms. Mong was the Director of the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) from 2009 till 2011. Ms. Mong left MOCA in July 2011 after successfully transforming the museum from a New York Chinatown institution to become the leading national museum. Ms. Mong also served as the Executive Director for the Committee of 100 in the United States, a Chinese-American non-profit membership organization founded by architect, I.M. Pei and cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. Prior to New York, Ms. Mong worked in Hong Kong from 1992 to 2002.
CALL TO ACTION!
Asia Society Hong Kong Center will proudly compile a short video starring real residents of Hong Kong. Join Asia Society Hong Kong Center’s banner campaign to action by uploading a selfie or group selfie holding the #RacismIsAVirus or #WashtheHate hashtag sign. Your contributions will be added to our montage video that will be shown on the day of our program! See our sample video for more details!