It's been a tough week...

Hello, friends! 

A few months back, at the beginning of the pandemic, I wrote a post about how rhetoric around COVID increases the chance that my kids would be put in danger and how everyone needed to knock it off. Apparently, not enough people read this blog...

In the past year, reported assaults against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has gone up 150% in the United States. While a majority of those assaults have been verbal in nature, you also have had acts of physical violence, like the Thai man who was pushed to his death in February. The murder of 8 people, mostly Asian women, in Atlanta earlier this week is the latest example.

Honestly, right now there are so many layers and complexities when it comes to this latest crime. We could talk about toxic masculinity. We could talk about White Supremacy or stereotypes of Asian women. We could talk about unhealthy purity culture or White evangelicalism. We could talk about bias in policing or how White Supremacy shapes our reactions to these things. We could talk about how easy it is to get a firearm in the United States. There's plenty there.

But I don't want to talk about any of that. Not because those things aren't important (they are) but because those issues are the most important thing right now.

What is the most important thing right now? The most important thing right now is that these past few days, in the midst of a really bad week, I've seen God use community to help get me through. I've received messages from folk living all over the country, checking in to see how I'm doing. I've been able to process with the other Asian Americans in my staff team. I've had more than one person send me money so I could get something tasty to eat (since apparently, food is my love language). My heart is heavy but my heart is full.

Friends, if you have AAPI folk in your life, please reach out to them. If they're like me, they probably aren't done processing. They may not want to talk but they'll appreciate the check-in. To all my AAPI brothers and sisters out there, I see you. Take the time you need to process. You can message me if you want. Eat something delicious. We can get through this, together.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam