Over 5,000 Asian Canadians and allies came together in solidarity for a rally against anti-Asian racism on Sunday held at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.
Organized by the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance (ACLA), Butterfly, Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice (CCNC-SJ), Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO), For a Safer Space, Sheila Hui and Helena Vo, the hour-long rally commenced with a performance by Raging Asian Womxn Tako Drumming and a speech and blessing from Indigenous elder, Catherine Brooks.
Speakers at the event included Amy Go, president of CCNC-SJ, Avvy Go, clinic director of Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, Kennes Lin, co-chair of CCNCTO, Jess Tang, community organizer of CCNCTO, Min Sook Lee, documentary filmmaker, representatives from Butterfly, Carol Wall, community and labour activist, MPP Bhutila Karpoche and Toronto city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. Anakbayan Toronto also took to the stage to perform.
As Wong-Tam put it, the event not only allowed the Asian community to mourn, but to also raise its voices and rise up where it can. Speakers urged for more support for sex workers and also called for solidarity among marginalized and oppressed communities.
“We are rising together—Asian, Black, racialized, Indigenous to say we end anti-Asian racism when we abolish white supremacy,” said Wall. “We end anti-Indigenous racism when we abolish white supremacy. We end anti-Black racism when we abolish white supremacy.”
Councillor Wong-Tam shared stories of two hate-motivated incidents that occurred within the span of four days in her community, including racist vandalism that was sprawled on the walls of a private building.
“The words were, ‘Go home chink,'” she said. “Well guess what, we are home! I’m a proud Chinese Canadian, I’m a patriot and my ancestors have been in this country since 1788…and we are not going anywhere. We are going to stand and we are going to make sure that we are counted.”
Check out photos from the event below:
Supports and Resources:
To Report Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in Canada:
Mental Health Resources
- Asian Canadian Therapist Directory
- APISAA Therapist Directory
- Asian Mental Health Collective
- The Colour Project — anonymous text-based peer support for mental health with trained volunteers
- Subtle Asian Mental Health — private online community for peer support
Donate
- #StopAsianHate GoFundMe
- Red Canary Song — grassroots collective of Asian and migrant sex workers, organizing transnationally
- Butterfly Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Network (Toronto-based)
- SWAN Vancouver — culturally-specialized supports and advocacy for im/migrant women engaged in indoor sex work
Additional Tools and Resources
- Alternatives to Calling Police
- Amplify Asian Voices | Readings + Resources created by Jezz Chung
- Anti-Asian Violence Resources
- Bystander Intervention Training
- Project 1907 — Vancouver-based grassroots organization helmed by Asian women and dedicated to elevating marginalized voices.
- Responding to Hate Toolkit (Ryerson)
