Posted Mar 24, 2021
A letter from our Executive Director, Mandy Moody
Dear friends of Green City Market,
The history of harassment faced by Asian Americans is longstanding in America. And, since the start of the pandemic, Asian Americans have faced a surge of violent attacks and hate crimes. The increase of racism rose to historic levels over the past year, with nearly 4,000 reports of anti-Asian discrimination in 47 states and the District of Columbia, according to reporting database Stop AAPI Hate.
Last week, eight lives, including six Asian women in Atlanta, were lost - senselessly and tragically. But the truth is, microaggressions and violence are happening each and every day. And they are happening right here, in our own community.
As the leader of Chicago’s largest farmers market community, I’m calling on every one of us to raise our voices in solidarity with our AAPI neighbors to stand up to #StopAAPIHate, Anti-Asian violence, racial violence, and discrimination in all its forms.
Our community numbers in the tens of thousands. Through our digital communications alone, our voice can reach more than 100,000 people. We are using this voice, with intention, to call on our community to action.
We ask that you join our staff in:
Checking in on your AAPI friends and family.
Reporting any incidents of hate on the Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s site Stand Against Hatred or the Stop AAPI Hate tracker.
Educating yourself. Download the The Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit here and attend a Bystander Intervention Training by Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
Our team is committed to taking these actions together and we are calling on you to do the same. Let’s use our collective voice to stand together and ensure our AAPI friends, family, and neighbors are safe.
I also want to share an invitation for you to call us further into conversation. If you are in a space where you’d like to provide us with feedback on your experiences with Green City Market and the work we can do to create a safer, more inclusive community for all of our neighbors; we welcome it. We are holding regular time and space as a staff to continue to explore this work.
Sincerely,
Mandy Moody, Executive Director