Community Corner

Bayside Middle School, Rep. Meng Host "Stop AAPI Hate" Rally

The virtual rally on Wednesday night organized by Beacon programs at three Queens middle schools will bring together Rep. Meng and families.

Parents and families will gather to talk about discrimination and resources for supporting the AAPI community.
Parents and families will gather to talk about discrimination and resources for supporting the AAPI community. (Adam J Dewey/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Families from three northeastern Queens middle schools are gathering virtually alongside Congresswoman Grace Meng for a Stop AAPI Hate rally on Wednesday night.

The rally, which is organized by Beacon Program Community Centers at MS 158, MS 172 and, MS 216 — located in Bayside, Glen Oaks, and Fresh Meadows, respectively — will be hosted by Commonpoint Queens, a community-based social services organization in the borough.

In response to the rise of racist and violent attacks on Asian communities amid the pandemic, which have increased as much as 1,900 percent in New York alone according to the Queens Chronicle, the event is aimed at engaging parents and families and empowering them with resources.

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“I just see a lot of parents struggling honestly,” Beacon outreach coordinator at MS 216, and one of the event’s organizers, Monica Someck, told Patch. She’s seen firsthand how families approach conversations about identity and racism differently, and her hope with this program is that afterwards parents will "be able to speak with their kids, and know what resources they have.”

Someck pointed out that Queens, affectionately nicknamed “The World’s Borough,” is known for its diversity, which is why she wants this event “to bring together people who are being affected by this [racism against AAPI’s], and people from other communities, to speak about what is going on with the AAPI community and how we can help them.”

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The rally will start with a discussion about xenophobia and discrimination, and include testimonials from community members, as well as resources that everyone can use to support the AAPI community. At the end of the program Congresswoman Meng, who represents all three neighborhoods with participating schools and has been advocating against AAPI-hate crimes, will speak about her own experiences of discrimination, and make time for a community Q & A.

“Confronting anti-Asian hate is emotionally challenging, especially as we navigate hard conversations with our kids,” Congresswoman Meng wrote in an email statement to Patch.

“While there is no roadmap or tips for how to handle these conversations, it is important to recognize that hard conversations are the starting point for change. Whether its talking to your kids, friends, parents, grandparents, or coworkers, we can all model true allyship by calling out hate and discrimination that we experience or witness,” she wrote, adding that “everybody must do their part to put an end to these acts of hate.”

Sunny Yang, a Chinese immigrant and parent to two children who participate in Beacon’s programs, is eager to partake in this rally, and agrees that it’s a discussion that needs to extend beyond the AAPI community.

“As parents we have to look at the bigger picture and we have to think about bigger communities. This is about minorities, not just Black or Asian or Hispanic, all minorities need to unite to have a bigger voice in American society,” she told Patch, pointing to the “First they came” poem by German pastor Martin Niemöller, which notes the importance of people standing up for each other against hatred.

“In the past I’ve been pretty silent, part of it is cultural because of the way I grew up, but I don’t think this approach is right. I have two kids, and I want to be a role model for them,” she said.

The Stop AAPI Hate rally will be hosted on Zoom at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night. You can stream it on Facebook Live, or register here.


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