San Francisco officials and community groups continue to work to reduce hatred, prejudice and related violence, including a march along the Upper Great Highway scheduled for Sunday.
On Saturday, Mayor London Breed, the city’s human rights commission and community leaders launched the Solidarity Campaign to unite Asian-American and Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Latinx, Indians and multiracial communities.
“San Francisco is stronger when we are united and work together,” Breed said in a statement. “We must continue to come together to denounce all forms of hatred, bias and discrimination.”
Launched at the Civic Center Plaza, the campaign featured intergenerational discussions, storytelling, and sharing successful examples of allies and why it’s important to stand together.
Event attendees put together “solidarity packs” that included children’s books, family cards for the Asian Art Museum, mental health resources, and information on public and personal safety.
The kits will be distributed to residents in Chinatown, Bayview Hunters Point, Tenderloin and other areas.
San Francisco’s efforts to reduce racially motivated violence come because crimes against members of the Asian-American and Pacific islander communities have increased since the pandemic began.
According to Chinese for Affirmative Action, there have been 3,795 reports of such crimes in the US as of March 2020, 43% of them in California. And approximately 24% of all racially motivated violence reported in California occurred in San Francisco.
“When we stand together in solidarity, we have strength,” said Jon Osaki, executive director of the Japanese Community Youth Council, in a statement. “It is more important than ever that we stop pointing and the violence that is tearing us apart.”
Regional and community leaders also hosted an event in Millbrae Saturday in support of communities of Asia-American and Pacific islanders. The organizers of the United in Action with Asians rally and march said their goal was to improve the overall safety, awareness and protection of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders or AAPI communities and communities in general.
The Sunday event in San Francisco, which seeks safety for AAPI communities, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Participants will meet at the junction of the Upper Great Highway on Sloat Boulevard. In addition to the march, there will be speeches, performances and resource tables.
