The teacher asked them to close their eyes and breathe deeply to reach a state of movement and connection with their interior and surroundings; Another teacher invited them to write to express all those internal emotions that are difficult to visualize and express, while another teacher talked about the importance of taking care of yourself, being aware of your surroundings and always trying to avoid any danger.
These were some experiences that dozens of young people and seniors were able to experience during the ‘2024 Healing Hearts Community Art Festival’ at the Langley Senior Center, in Monterey Park, a city where on January 21, 2023 eleven people They were murdered as a result of a hate crime against the Asian community.
“The problem is that we are and live in a very divided world,” said Marielle Reataza, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American and Families Against Substance Abuse (NAPAfASA) organization. “Both in politics, in immigration, racism and situations that happen globally; In addition, there is a lot of intergenerational difference and between communities that makes it very difficult to sit down and talk about how we get out of this problem together.”
He stressed that this year’s theme of the event is ‘Difficult Conversations’ because they constantly hear that most people do not know how to talk about these topics and prefer to avoid them because they do not know how to deal with them.
Furthermore, he pointed out that in the Asian and Pacific community there is a lot of respect for older people who, in addition to the language barrier due to intergenerational issues, make it very difficult to talk about some topics such as hate crimes, racism and mental health.
“Many of our older adults who are immigrants did not know what a hate crime was, they did not know that they had rights and they did not know what a hate incident was,” said Reataza, who is an immigrant of Chinese-Filipino descent.
He adds that on top of all these complex issues there are social networks that sometimes make it more difficult to start a conversation and you simply end up expressing conflicting positions that do not always end well or with many insults, increasing the division between people.
Among the activities held at the festival were the workshops: Empower and Protect, Spoken Word to Heal, Dancing from the Heart, Self-Defense, How We Can Speak and Self-Help Zine; plus a book reading and a question and answer panel. All in a safe, friendly, positive and well-being environment that invites healing, connection and the power of expression through art.
Pía Vásquez, a 24-year-old of Filipino descent and recruitment coordinator at NAPAfASA, explained that the festival was open to everyone over the age of 15 and to all ethnic groups: from Asians to Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, the LGBTQ and Middle Eastern community.
“What we are bringing are different healing alternatives,” Vázquez explained. “We want young people to practice something new, that they may not have experienced before, especially now that there are many distractions and concerns about hate crimes, insecurity and climate change, among other issues.”
Vásquez emphasizes that there are so many things that young people are busy with that it is difficult to focus and prioritize the important things, but when you have an approach to art it can be very beneficial to express emotions, be able to talk about any topic and share difficult conversations with people. family.
He adds that the festival had been inspired by the consequences of hate crimes that increased dramatically during the pandemic (76% increase in LA) and after the shooting last year during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.
The situation in the community had reached worrying levels, which is why an event was immediately sought to unite the community, to be able to talk and provide a solution to the moments of stress, insecurity and division that were being experienced.
The first festival was last year at the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio Inc., in Alhambra, where the perpetrator of the Monterey Park shooting was disarmed by a brave young man.
“We had it at the Lai Lai Ballroom last year because we wanted to have a community healing event, we wanted to dance, have a positive experience of that place.”
Vázquez emphasizes that there are other challenges that could be more cultural or generational and are due to the lack of communication that sometimes exists between young people with their parents, a situation that complicates complex conversations between parents and children.
Crimes that are not reported
According to the latest report on hate crimes by the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, in 2022 attacks on this community decreased by 25%, that is, from 81 hate crimes in 2021, they dropped to 61 in the 2022; However, despite the decrease, the 61 crimes remain the second highest number reported against the Asian community in the county.
The report also highlights that this number could be misleading due to the large number of incidents and crimes that are estimated to go unreported, due to cultural or language barriers, lack of knowledge of how the system works or due to the irregular status of the people. In a study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) it was estimated that less than half of people who are victims of hate crimes dare to report them.
Victims for decades
Bill Chan, 65 years old and originally from Singapore, participated in the Self Defense workshop. He said he was very happy with the defense strategies learned, but emphasized that he would like to see the program expand to the entire community because Asians have been victim of bullying for decades.
“The elderly are one of the groups that victimize the most because they are already weak,” he says. “The main reason is because we don’t speak English, we don’t express what happens to us and we don’t report it to the police.”
He explained that hate crimes intensified with the pandemic because some groups began to blame Asians for the loss of jobs, their homes and simply attacked the entire Asian community without being able to distinguish who was of Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese origin. other nationalities.
“We need more programs like these, full of positivity to reduce hate,” he says. “We know that we are not going to eliminate hate completely, but we can reduce it and that way people will understand that we must learn to coexist as a society.”
Yuri, 22 years old and of Vietnamese-American origin, said that the topics to be discussed at the festival caught his attention, which is why he traveled from Huntington Beach to Monterey Park to participate in the workshop conversations, considering the current situation of the Asian community in relation to hate crimes.
“I think it’s very disturbing to hear that kind of news, especially because every time I leave the house, my parents worry that something could happen to me,” she explained. “That’s why I think these types of programs are a way to connect with other Asian Americans in the community, have a conversation with other people and share your worries which I think gives you a lot of mental health and helps you deal with those topics”.
Some workshops during the art festival:
Spoken word to heal
Dr. Pata Suyemoto, a feminist academic, writer and educator, explained that writing is a powerful tool for healing, it is a practice that allows people to express themselves and bring out the things they carry inside, it allows thoughts to be processed in different ways. forms and can be shown to other people, who could feel related to the same experience. She added that writing is a way for them to relate to others constructively. Many times people complain that they are not listened to, and this can be a way to be heard.
Self Help Zine
Zoe Cain, a Korean-American educator and artist from Los Angeles, said that in her workshop they made some identity construction scenes with which each person creates their own books (in miniature) that talk about who the person is, their culture and their role. in their families and the community.
“It is crucial to have an understanding of who we are and to explore our own identity; Additionally, it is important to see how we relate to others and see ourselves as part of a larger community. This gives us a sense of belonging when some feelings of isolation come to us and we begin to question ourselves.
dancing from the heart
Toni M. Kemehana Pasión, multidisciplinary artist and dance and culture teacher with a focus on social change, expressed that through Filipino and Hawaiian dances they adopt some healing concepts to connect with the body from within, with the people around, with the family and with the community. It is important for people to know that there are experiences and stories that live inside the body; This way we can understand what happens and/or why it doesn’t happen, and identify and understand where those experiences and stories are and put them in motion to let them go.