Thread by @AndyKimNJ

While we celebrate #MothersDay let’s also commit to keeping moms safe. I updated words I recently wrote about AAPI moms, many are victims of violence. Attackers target AAPI moms thinking they are vulnerable&weak. What they don’t know is that AAPImoms are strongest among us.THREAD

GRIT: I visited Atlanta last month to talk with children of spa shooting victims. They all said their moms were hardworking. Long hours, careful spending to save for family/retirement. One said mom “worked so hard to have it end that way.” Another said “She’s finally resting”2/10

ENDURANCE:Their powerful reflections hit me hard. When I was young, my mom worked night shift as hospital nurse so she could take care of sister and me during daytime. I asked her once when she had time to sleep. She said simply, “I don’t know.” Moms have superhuman strength.3/10

CARE: My mom told me about racist patients at the hospital who would yell hurtful words at her like “Go back to where you’re from!” Despite their hate, she would care for them. Bathe them, feed them, give them medicine, watch over them as they recovered.4/10

PROVIDER: Every time my mom comes over she has a large cooler full of food even when I tell her I don’t need anything. Fruits kimchi marinated KoreanBBQ. I thought about this when I saw this sign at shooting site saying one of victims, Hyun Jung Grant, made best kimchi stew.5/10

DEDICATION: Hyun Jung Grant was single mom survived by two boys who said she “dedicated her whole life to providing” for them. Said “She was “strongest influence on who we are today.” They buried her where she can “rest basking in a constant warmth of daylight.”6/10

RESILIENCE: Daughter of a Filipino woman attacked in NYC said mom has “always been a resilient role model.” She described heartbreaking moment when she heard her mom was brutally assaulted. She said she is hoping her mother makes full recovery.7/10

COURAGE: My mom told me funny story from when she moved to America. She grew up on a tiny farm in Korea and then found herself staring at NYC skyline. She worried about island sinking from sheer weight of big buildings. That sweet story shows how big of a change she endured.8/10

DRIVE: I actually cannot fathom what it was like for my mom to leave Korea 50 yrs ago for a continent where she knew not one soul. To go from remote farm to biggest of cities. She said she wanted to come because she dreamed of America. It represented something beautiful.9/10

Our moms raised a generation of tough AAPI children to stand up for our families. As we see the stabbing last week of two AAPI moms in San Francisco and the other acts of violence, that's exactly what we need to do. Stand up for our moms, all of our moms(END)