In recognition of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the second annual Rise Against Hate event took place at Lan Su Chinese Gardens where the community gathered together to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and the AANHPI (Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander) community, its resilience, and commit to combat the continued rise of anti-Asian hate.
Members of the Clean & Safe team were on hand to ensure the event’s success. Following the event, Elizabeth Nye, Executive Director of the Lan Su Chinese Garden, shared the note below with our team:
“I just wanted to reach out to thank you and your entire Clean & Safe team for their incredible work and support all of last week and on Saturday for the Oregon Rises Above Hate event. By all accounts, the event was a huge success due in part to the fact that your team made sure people were safe and welcome.
I know at Lan Su we had lines of people coming into the garden and both Portland Chinatown Museum and Japanese American Museum of Oregon had hundreds of people visit – which was incredible to see. The significance of this is huge – this event brought over 50 AANHPI organizations together for the purpose of increasing the visibility of the AANHPI community and creating a sense of belonging.
I thought I would share the words of one of our community members in summing up the meaning of Saturday: I am truly grateful for this event and pray for more collaborations in the near future and more success to reach the ends of the rivers and to many, that there is no place for hate, but to treat each other with love. Thank you, Elizabeth.”
Event Organizer Anne-Naito Campbell, daughter of noted late Portland businessman, civic leader and philanthropist Bill Naito and Principal of the Bill Naito Company, shared that the idea for this event “began last year when the news of the shootings in Atlanta broke….remember that day. Now we’ve seen more murders and attacks…, and we know our work here is not done. The anti-Asian rhetoric and hate that started at the beginning of the pandemic has taken root. For many AANHPI people in our state, especially women, it feels as if it’s not a matter of if but when. Too many people think it couldn’t happen here; that acts of bigotry don’t happen here, despite Oregon’s long history of anti-Asian hate and violence. That belief is partially a function of racism….”
If you missed this great event, we encourage you to catch the highlights here. And to offer your support to the AANHPI community, we encourage you to:
- Learn: Asian Americans on Amazon Prime. “This series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, and cultural innovation. It is a timely look at the role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation.”
- Engage: Join other Oregon Rises Above Hate events.
- Visit: Local cultural businesses and institutions.
- Shop: Spend your money at local AAPI owned businesses.