I’m in Little Tokyo where a rally against anti-Asian hate has started. It’s being hosted at the Japanese American National Museum. This courtyard is where Japanese Angelenos during WWII were rounded up before being put on buses for camps.
Bill Fujioka, former CEO of LA County, was called Jap & beat up as a kid. He says now during covid, strangers tell him he brought the virus. He asked all communities & officials to take action. Not speaking up “is almost as bad as participating in this disgusting behavior.”
Several hundred here today in Little Tokyo for the largest gathering in LA to date taking on anti-Asian hate. 10 groups organized the rally including Ktown for Black Lives & @nikkeiprogress @tnproject
Several speakers so far from Chinatown’s @ccedLA including Tido who says she’s so “f*cking pissed” that although elders have been targeted thru the pandemic, the media & more privileged Asian Am’s started to pay more attention when video recorded perpetrators who are Black.
As Tido speaks, several men walk thru the crowd with a sign urging people to sign up to join foot patrols through Chinatown and Little Tokyo. They want to serve as as a “buffer” for the elderly and people with disabilities. They say there’s only about 8 volunteers now
None of the men want to give their full names except for David Monkawa bc foot patrols are a source of controversy in the community, seen by some as anti-Black and vigilantism. He says it’s impt to communicate to racists that Asians “are going to hit you back.”
Back to Tido of @ccedLA who says people should be just as outraged about the “economic violence” that the elderly in Chinatown are facing thru evictions, gentrification and the loss of multilingual health services and neighborhood groceries.
Take a listen to this. Tanny Jiraprapasuke, who was verbally attacked with racial slurs on the metro early in pandemic, reads a tender letter to the man who yelled at her and has made her scared to go out in public.
To the man on the metro who yelled every disease comes from China, Tanny Jiraprapasuke says: “From the LA Kings tshirt you were wearing that night, I know that you're a true Angeleno. And for me, that's enough to tell me that we have more in common than what sets us apart.” 
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