Collective ‘Learning & Unlearning’ Is How We Change Anti-AAPI Culture
(Photo: Michael Nagle/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Grief. Fear. Reflection. Action.
Looking back, and looking forward, Asian Americans like YR Media’s Merk Nguyen are taking stock of weeks of conversations about anti-Asian racism. Her parents are immigrants from Vietnam, and as cohost of the podcast Adult ISH, she explores themes of identity, politics and race through a personal lens.
“It’s so important to acknowledge the pain but also the ways in which we can form this newer narrative to contribute to a healthier culture. Where we actually unpack the pain, but grow from it .... That’s what this moment is about. It’s about us being better as a whole and in our personal lives too.”
Nguyen spoke to Errin Haines, a contributor of the podcast and radio program “Our Body Politic,” in the show’s “Sippin’ the Political Tea” roundtable. The conversation explores Asian American political organizing, and the wider context of racism Asian Americans are experiencing in the U.S. right now and historically. The show is centered on reporting “not just how women of color experience the major political events of today, but how they’re impacting those very issues.”
Click on the player above to hear the conversation, and listen to the full episode here.