Image Transcript:
A Message from Flying V Leadership
We as a community grieve for the lives lost in Georgia this week. We hold anger towards the rampant escalation of racism and xenophobia, fueled by the drowning desperation of white supremacy, that led to these violent actions. And we unequivocally condemn this bigotry in all its forms.
Flying V is based out of Montgomery County, Maryland. In our community, more than 150,000 people identify as Asian American. In our greater community – the DC Metro region – there are almost 600,000 Asian Americans (more than Atlanta’s entire population). And that represents just a portion of the incredible diversity found in the DMV.
Bigotry can fester in any environment. It spreads through jokes, words, and gestures, through stereotypes and tropes in the art we consume, and through how we choose to respond to (or ignore) it. When left to rot, these small instances of toxicity can grow and accumulate and, inevitably, boil over in abusive, chaotic, and violent ways.
Flying V has undergone sweeping structural changes in our organization over the last year, with a strong focus on infusing Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive practices into every aspect of our Company. As we continue to actively reconstruct our company to be more equitable, we discover that the insidiousness of institutional white supremacy is everywhere.
Even in writing this, we (a majority Asian-American Artistic team) have a duty to disrupt the cycle of reactionary rhetoric. It is important to us that this Statement be more than performative solidarity, lacking real action behind it.
We at Flying V are currently discussing sustainable ways we can wield our resources, voice, and platform to combat white supremacy and foster spaces for individuals to share their stories. We don’t want to rush these actions, but we know that statements mean nothing without action to back them up.
Until then, we want to provide you with resources to combat Anti-Asian harassment and violence. We’ve compiled some links in the text of this post, and we encourage you to share any sites you may have found valuable, as well as any thoughts you might have about how we can better support our Asian American community. We are stronger when we work together.
#StopAAPIHate
navi, 1st gen Asian American, Artistic Lead R&D
Joey Ibanez, 2nd gen Asian American, Artistic Lead Fights
Jon Jon Johnson, 1st gen Asian American, Advisory Board Member
Tim German, Afam/2nd gen latino American, Artistic Lead Fight
Kelly Colburn, 1st gen Asian American, Artistic Lead Theatre
Katherine Offutt, Executive Director
For educational resources, training materials, and more: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
Report An Incident: https://stopaapihate.org/
https://www.standagainsthatred.org/
To donate to the AAPI Community Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-aapi-community-fund
To send a message to your elected officials: https://www.napawf.org/stopasianhate
