It’s been frustrating to see the Atlanta story unfold, and harder still to see America and the mainstream media finally catch up to what Asian Americans have known and felt for a year. The community was alarmed when Trump first uttered the slur “Kung Flu,” or mocked Asians by scrunching his face and bucking his teeth while saying “CHY-na Virus.”
When the leader of the free-world models racism, his mignons and followers listened. There are now nearly 4,000 instances of anti-Asian hate. We didn’t need Atlanta to know that, but it seems like the rest of the country did.
Ishmael Reed is a novelist, poet, social critic, and playwright. His new play is about painter Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life under the thumb of Andy Warhol and the New York Art scene. “The Slave Who Loved Caviar,” is having a reading over live stream this Saturday and Sunday at 7p EDT. Go to nuyorican.org to get your free link.
Go deep into the interview about 23 minutes in to hear him discuss the Atlanta shootings, anti-Asian violence, America’s caste system, and other topics.
I talk about getting the vaccine. Both doses. And a bit on the Biden plan to bring the economy back with the Stimulus plan. All Trump could say yesterday is try to take the credit. But all people remember is how he delayed addressing the virus and cost us more than 525,000 lives. That’s blood on Trump’s hands. Didn’t have to happen, as we remember how it’s taken a year to get to where we are now.
He died after a policeman had a knee to the back of his neck for about 5 minutes, according to witnesses. Is he our George Floyd?
I read from my column about the case, then SF State Professor Dan Gonzales and I talk about whether Filipino Americans can “rise up” as a community to join others, especially African Americans and #BLM in order to demand justice for Angelo Quinto.
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