On the One Year Anniversary of Atlanta Spa Shootings, We Call for Reflection and Action
Read our collective statement in-language
Read last year’s collective statement.
On March 16, 2021, eight people, including six Asian women massage workers, were killed at three spas in the Metro Atlanta area. As we mark the one year anniversary of this tragedy, we honor the victims, the survivors, and their families. We place their healing, care, and peace at the heart of our remembrance. We are grateful to the local and national communities of care that blossomed over the past year and that have centered the families of victims and survivors.
We have centered those most directly impacted by connecting them to critical services, and raising funds for victims and their families. For our broader community, we continue to tend to the process of healing by finding inspiration in the traditions of our elders. We are also continuing to advocate for policies and solutions that address the root causes of violence and hate so that we may all live in safe communities.
We have held our community members close as we navigate loss, grief, and trauma not only in the wake of the Atlanta spa shootings but in experiencing continued violence, misogyny, and racism against Asian Americans in Georgia and beyond. Most recently the brutal murders of Michelle Alyssa Go and Christine Yuna Lee within weeks of each other in New York City have renewed the fears and anxieties of Asian and Asian American women and femmes who are subjected to both gender and race-based discrimination and violence. In Albuquerque, NM, two Asian massage workers were killed during robberies at Asian spas, heightening the fears felt by Asian American and immigrant small business owners.
These highly visible tragedies also call our attention to the everyday experiences that the most vulnerable members of our communities face in the cross-hairs of white supremacy, misogyny, and imperialism: the racial and sexual exploitations wrought by the presence of U.S. militarism in Asia and the Pacific; the resulting geopolitical upheavals that force migration; the daily terrors of a system that criminalizes immigrants, massage workers, and sex workers; housing and financial insecurity; and the ongoing abuses and dangerous conditions that migrant, low-wage, service workers face daily.
To heal we must grapple with these truths and address white supremacy and misogyny as the root causes of violence and hate. To do so requires us to hold uncomfortable dualities. It means acknowledging the pain and fear that motivates some victims and community members to call for carceral solutions such as increased police presence, hate crimes legislation, and other forms of punishment; while at the same time interrogating how these responses criminalize and cause harm in the name of public safety.
Grappling with the truth also means confronting anti-Blackness in our Asian American communities. We cannot allow the tragedy of the shootings in Atlanta to justify policies that expand law enforcement and its disproportionate impacts on Black communities. Rather, alongside our Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Arab, and Pacific Islander allies, we are inspired to reimagine what justice, healing, love, and hope can look like for our communities.
Over the past year, we witnessed messages and acts of community care, empowerment, and solidarity reverberating in streets, parks, and community centers as more people have come together, bound by grief, and committed to radical change.
Together, we commit to push beyond the oppressive boundaries of white supremacy and anti-Blackness and build sustaining communities of care. We can address the needs of victims of racialized and gender-based violence while also holding our elected leaders accountable for creating policies that center our communities. This includes investing in community-based organizations that are often on the frontlines of caring for victims, survivors, and vulnerable communities in the languages they use and with sensitivity to their cultures, livelihoods, and immigration statuses. Our elected leaders must provide long-standing investments and resources for the families of victims and survivors well after the immediate crisis has abated, access to victims’ compensation funds, fully fund violence prevention and restorative justice programs, and public infrastructure and institutions focused on public health and education.
Together, we can struggle in more powerful ways for community safety and healing, for racial and economic justice, for stable housing, for access to quality health care, including mental health and education and a liveable wage, for the right to vote, for the right to organize, and for art and beauty in our neighborhoods. On this anniversary, we remember the lives taken and the families who still struggle without their loved ones, and we recommit to expanding and deepening our community of care for all communities, beginning in Atlanta and spreading throughout the country and the world.
In Solidarity,
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Korean American Coalition – Metro Atlanta
New Georgia Project
Raksha, Inc
Georgia Organizations
Athena’s Warehouse Inc.
Atlanta Antifascists
Atlanta Jews of Color Council
Avondale Alliance for Racial Justice
Better to Speak
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
Carter Media Group
Center for Civic Innovation
Cherokee Family Violence Center
CivicGeorgia
Common Cause GA
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Compassionate Atlanta
Council on American Islamic Relations – Georgia
Emory Law Chapter – National Lawyers Guild
Environment Georgia
Fair Fight Action
Faith in Public Life
Families Against Racism
GALEO & GALEO Impact Fund
Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc.
Georgia AFL-CIO
Georgia Alliance for Social Justice
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Georgia Interfaith Power and Light
Georgia Muslim Voter Project
Georgia Working Families Party
Global Village Project
Grantmakers for Southern Progress
International Rescue Committee Atlanta
L’Arche Atlanta
Men Stopping Violence
Migrant Equity Southeast
Nabilah for Georgia
Necessary Trouble Georgia
New American Pathways
Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative
POSITIVE IMPACT HEALTH CENTERS
Purpose Possible
Re’Generation Movement
REMERGE
Rep GA Institute Inc.
Southern Poverty Law Center
SURJ Atlanta
Taiwanese American Professionals – Atlanta
The Georgia Human Rights Clinic
The Lola
They See Blue GA
Twice Consulting Services LLC
Tzedek Georgia
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta
Virginia-Highland Church (UCC)
Women Watch Afrika
YWCA of Greater Atlanta
National/ Out of the State Organizations
18 Million Rising
AAPI Equity Alliance
AAPI Women Lead
AAPIs for Civic Empowerment Education Fund
AAPIs for Justice San Antonio TX
Act To Change
ADL Southern Divisoin
AHRI for Justice
Alianza Sacramento
Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment
APAICS
APALA-Sacramento
APANO Communities United Fund
Apex Express
API Middle Tennessee
APIA Vote-MI
APIENC
Apna Ghar, Inc.
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)
Asian American & Pacific Islanders for Justice (San Antonio TX)
Asian American Alliance
Asian American Arts Alliance
Asian American Documentary Network
Asian American Film Lab
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian American Liberation Network
Asian American Organizing Project (AAOP)
Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA)
Asian American Resource Workshop
Asian American Studies City College of San Francisco
Asian American Women Artists Association
Asian American Women’s Political Initiative (AAWPI)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Asian Americans United
Asian and Asian American Classical Caucus
Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)
Asian Arts Initiative
Asian Counseling and Referral Service
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Organizations for Muslim Arab Desi Inclusivity (AOMADI)
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, Seattle Chapter
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Asian Pacific Development Center
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence (API-GBV)
Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA)
Asian Prisoner Support Committee
Asian Solidarity Collective
Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK)
Asian Women Giving Circle
ASIAN, Inc. 美亞輔鄰社
Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
BPSOS Center for Community Advancement
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities
California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
California Primary Care Association
Campaign for a New Myanmar
CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)
Center for the Pacific Asian Family
Centro Legal de la Raza
Chinese American Museum of Chicago
Chinese American Service League
Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
Chinese Progressive Association
Chinese Progressive Association
Chinese Progressive Association, Boston MA
CHUANG Stage
Coalition of Asian American Leaders
Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network
Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists
District Attorney Sherry Boston, Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit
DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving
Earth Action, Inc.
East West Players
Eastwind Books of Berkeley
EMBARC
Everyday Impact Consulting
Faith and Community Empowerment
Faith in Florida
Faith in the valley-merced county
Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Taskforce
First Congregational Church of Santa Barbara
Franciscan Action Network
GAPIMNY—Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders
GGE Media
Gold House
Grassroots Asians Rising
Greater Boston Legal Services Asian Outreach Unit
HA:N United Methodist Church
Hamkae Center
HANA Center
Hate Is A Virus
International Campaign for the Rohingya
J CHEN PROJECT, Inc
Japanese American Citizens League
Japanese American Citizens League, Seattle Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League, Twin Cities Chapter
Japanese American National Museum
Kamayan Coalition
KAN-WIN
Karen Organization of San Diego
Khmer Girls in Action
Korean American Coalition – Los Angeles
Korean American Community Foundation
Korean American Family Services (KFAM)
Korean American Federation of Los Angeles
Korean Community Center of the East Bay
Koreatown Youth & Community Center (KYCC)
LA City Councilmember Paul Koretz
Leadership and Education for All Foundation (LEAF)
LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics)
Leviathan Lab
Little Tokyo Service Center
Make Us Visible Florida
Make Us Visible NJ
MALO Motivating Action Leadership Opportunity
Mekong NYC
Model Majority
Mujeres Latinas En Accion
National CAPACD- National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
New American Voices
New Breath Foundation
New Mexico Asian Family Center
New York Day of Remembrance Committee
North Carolina Asian Americans Together
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
OCA Asian Pacific Advocates of Greater Seattle
OCA Greater Chicago
OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates Greater Cleveland Chapter
Office of Councilmember John S. Lee, 12th Council District of the City of Los Angeles
Office of Councilmember Mai Vang, District 8, City of Sacramento
Ohio Chinese American Association
Phil Jones Bass ( American Acoustic Development LLC)
PIVOT
Poder Latinx
Poligon Education Fund
Project by Project
Prophetic Resistance Boston
PrYSM
Q-Wave
RUN AAPI
San Diego Japanese American Citizens League (SDJACL)
Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc.
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
Sikh Coalition
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Bay APALA
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Southeast Asian Development Center
StageSource/Asian American Playwright Collective
Stand With Kashmir
Stories Within
Taiwanese American Citizens League
Thai Community Development Center
The Almond Group
The Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Lactation Collaborative of California
The Center for Asian Pacific American Women
The Center for Victims of Torture Georgia
The SEAD Project
The Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC)
Theater Mu
Theatre Communications Group
Transforming Generations
Tsuru for Solidarity
Ventura County Activists for Bernie Sanders 2020 #OurRevolution
VietAID
Vietnamese American Roundtable
Vietnamese Association of Illinois
Vietnamese Social Services of MN(VSS)
Visual Communications Media
Woori Center
Woori Juntos
OCA – Sacramento – Asian Pacific American Advocates
1Hood Media
1Hood Power
9to5
Advancement Project. National
AI for the People
All organizations
All Saints Episcopal CHurch
ARISE
Art for Social Change at Lewis & Clark
Asian American Federation
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
Asian Media Access
Asian Services in Action, Inc. (ASIA)
Asian Youth Center (AYC)
Austin Youth River Watch
AYPAL: Building API Community Power
Ballot Initiative Strategy Center
Bocoup
Bold Action Works
Bridge Beyond
Building Movement Project
CAIR-Minnesota
Campaign for a New Myanmar
Can’t Stop! Won’t Stop! Consulting & Education Fund
CAPA21 (Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans)
Cayuga Centers
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation
Center for Latinx and Latin American Studies, University of Southern California
Charity Cultural Services Center
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Climate Justice Alliance
Coalition for a Diverse Harvard
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Collaborative on Race
Community Care Alliance
Community Justice Action Fund
Community-University Health Care Center
Compassion in Oakland
Defend Yourself
Diversity Discussions
Domestic Violence Action Center
East Bay Asian Youth Center
Embrace Services, Inc.
Endangered Species Coalition
Episcopal Church of the Saviour
Equal Justice Society
Equality Labs
Estolano Advisors
Everytown for Gun Safety
Eviction Defense Collaborative
Extinction Rebellion San Francisco Bay Area
Faith in New Jersey
Faith in New York
Faith Organizing Alliance
Film Fatales
Food Empowerment Project
Food Not Bombs Salt Lake City
For Freedoms
Fort Collins community action network
Freedom Network USA
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM)
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees
HapaLis Prods
Healing by Choice!
Hep B United
Hepatitis B Foundation
Hmong Americans for Justice
Hmong Innovating Politics
Huwaida for Congress (MI 10)
Immigrant Justice Network
Immigration Hub
Indigenous Environmental Network
Indivisible
Interfaith Worker Justice – New Mexico
International Campaign for the Rohingya
International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, AFL-CIO & CLC
International Union, UAW
Japanese American Service Committee
Jewish Liberation Fund
Joint Action Committee
Journal of International Women’s Studies
Journal of International Women’s Studies
Justice Is Global
KAYA: Filipino Americans for Progress
Keep Beyond
Korean Community Services – Orange County
Kovner Center for Behavioral Health and Psychological Testing
Latino Community Foundation
Let’s Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee
Libra Foundation
Live Oak County Democrats
MALO Motivating Action Leadership Opportunity
March For Our Lives
MN8
Montagnard American Organization (MAO)
Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative
Muslim Justice League
Muslim Power Building Project
National Council of Jewish Women
National Education Association
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for New Americans
National Tongan American Society
Native Organizers Alliance
New American Leaders
New England Foundation for the Arts
Newtown Action Alliance
Northridge Indivisible
OCA Greater Tucson
Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence
One East Palo Alto
OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership
Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA)
Orange County Congregation Community Organization
Parent Education for Exceptional Children
Peace Action
People of Color Sustainable Housing Network
PracticePro
Project Safeguard
Protect Oakland Chinatown
ProtestAccess
Public Wise
R.A.C.E.
Racial Equity Institute
Rainforest Action Network
re:power
Reflex Design Colleective
Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
Revolutionary Love Project
Rice Rockettes
Rodfei Tzedek, the social justice team of Congregation Rodef Shalom
Safe Medford
SAHARA
SAJE
Sakhi for South Asian Women
Sakura Foundation
San Jose Nikkei Resisters
SEAC Village
Seattle Works
Serita Yoga
She the People
Social Changs
Social Transformation Project
Solidaire Network
South Asian American Policy and Research Institute (SAAPRI)
Southeast Immigrant Rights Network
SURJ Marin
Taiwanese American Professionals – DC
Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence
The Art of You
The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus
The Healing Trust
The New York Women’s Foundation
The Ocean Project
The Ruby
TJ Alumni Action Group
Tsuru for Solidarity Minnesota
UCLA Labor Center
Unified Asian Communities
Union for Reform Judaism
UNITE HERE Local 8
United Women in Faith
Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights (UAF)
Vermont Interfaith Action
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign
VietRISE
VOICE
Voice of Witness
We All Rise
Welcoming America
Western Colorado Alliance
Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Women & Girls Foundation Southwest Pennsylvania
Women Donors Network & WDN Action
Women’s Foundation of Florida
Women’s Foundation of Minnesota
Youth Leadership Institute