A Richmond resident and other Asian youth across Metro Vancouver are inviting the community to join a virtual event Thursday evening to promote Asian artists and raise money to combat anti-Asian racism.
The event will include music, art and DJ performances by Asian artists and its aim is to open up a space for discussions about ongoing anti-Asian hate and racism.
Asian youth leaders with the Canadian Global Shapers network are hosting the event called “Artists Against Asian Hate Pan-Canadian” in collaboration with a non-profit called Threading Change.
Laura Chen, who is part of the Canadian Global Shapers network organizing team, said they hope the event will allow an “easy entry point” for people to join in the dialogue of ongoing Asian racism in communities through art.
“A lot of us felt frustrated and not sure what we could do with all the general racism that has been going on and we acknowledge that it can be quite triggering for certain folks who people who have experienced racism,” said Chen.
“By inviting the community and spotlighting these artists to start the conversation, we believe that is what we can do right now to not only support these Asian artists but also support organizations that are working on building educational capacity to protect our elders and … on policy advocacy work to tackle anti-Asian hate and racism.”
While the event is free, participants are encouraged to buy $10 raffle tickets for a chance to win $2,000 worth of prizes from Asian brands.
Funds from the raffle will be donated to Canadian organizations working to combat Asian racism.
The event will take place on Zoom from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 27.
To register and for more information about the event and raffle, visit https://bit.ly/3fp5kea
