May is designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, yet all over my Instagram feed and TikTok For You page, AAPI people shared their pain and fear through intimate and personal stories. It’s time that we reflect on what’s been going on in New York.
In the SAC plaza beneath a gray sky, Julie Sato held a megaphone to her mouth and read her favorite Nelson Mandela quote to the 50 Stony Brook University students assembled in front of her.
“People must learn to hate,” she said, “and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.”
Sato is the secretary for the Japanese Student Organization, which held a #StopAsianHate Awareness Walk on Saturday, April 17.