Walking Iris media

THE UPSTANDERS MINDSET: THE TIME TO STEP INTO THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE IS NOW

The May 19th AAPI Solidarity campaign, produced by Jeff Chang and Renee Tajima-Pena, in association with the Asian American Foundation, For Freedoms, A-Doc, and the UCLA Asian American Studies program, emerged from ongoing concern about anti-Asian violence, and the opportunity to find a way forward in a time of conflict and division. May 19th is the shared birthday of American civil rights activists Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X, who frequently worked together to build solidarity among Black and Asian communities. From May 19th through June 1st, the May 19th campaign distributed 14 social impact videos to advance the narrative of solidarity and counteract the narrative in mainstream media about the anti-Asian incidents, about who the main perpetrators of these incidents are, and why these incidents are happening. The videos were promoted through various social media platforms and aimed to provide context and advance the narrative of solidarity as a complement to the Stop AAPI Hate effort.