In Solidarity with @BlackPhiSigConfessions

In solidarity with our aapi sibs

To the Greater Wellesley Community,

We, Society Zeta Alpha, are releasing this statement in response to the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States, most recently the murders of eight individuals by a white man. Among the victims were six Asian women: Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Sun Cha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Xiaojie Tan, and  Daoyou Feng; the two other victims were Delaina Ashley Yaun and Paul Andrew Michels. This hate crime reflects a history of Anti-Asian rhetoric in America best exemplified by numerous Asian exclusion acts, a dangerous history of stereotypes and fetishization, and the perpetuation of the model minority myth. With a rise in white supremacist ideology in the past decade and a spike in anti-Asian sentiments as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary more than ever to stand in solidarity with our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) siblings. 

What can we do as a community?

As a community, there are many ways in which we can support our AAPI sibs. CSA has set up a fundraiser for organizations that support and protect the AAPI community. Their Venmo is @Wellesley-CSA and donations will go to Advancing Justice Atlanta, Red Canary Song, Greater Boston Golden Chinese Center and Stop AAPI Hate. We can also show up by attending events and supporting AAPI cultural orgs on campus. It’s also important to acknowledge Wellesley as an elite institution that upholds the model minority myth and to be cognizant of how this impacts our AAPI sibs. This model minority myth perpetuates the idea of the monolithic AAPI identity and disregards the experiences of low income and working class AAPI people. 

What can we do as individuals?

On an interpersonal level, find ways to continually support your AAPI sibs and friends. Make space to listen to and support your AAPI sibs. Do not center yourself or your feelings in the conversation if you do not identify as AAPI. Continue to practice allyship by educating yourself to dispel harmful biases and to better understand the experiences of the AAPI community.

To go beyond statements of support and solidarity, we have included a list of tangible ways to help support the communities affected in this time:

  • This Carrd includes resources created to serve and support AAPI communities such as community groups, legal defense organizations, GoFundMe links, and more (as well as educational resources) 

  • This list of resources has been collected and organized by the Class of 2022 and includes resources and events for both the Wellesley community and beyond

Additionally, it is important for people outside of the AAPI community to educate themselves on the role of xenophobia, U.S. imperialism, and anti-Asian rhetoric in the United States. Instead of placing the burden of education on your AAPI sibs, we encourage you to take a look at the following Linktree for resources. 

Love and Loyalty,

The Members of Society Zeta Alpha

ZA’s list of books/reading resources by AAPI authors:

Important scholars/activists:

  • Yuri Kochiyama - Activists who took part in civil rights movements and campaigned for cross-racial solidarity 

  • Grace Lee Boggs - Activist for marginalized groups with a specific focus on women and people of color

  • Lisa Lowe - American Studies and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration

  • Gina Apostol - Filipino writer 

  • William Cheng - LGBTQ+ studies, disability studies within ethnomusicology

  • Keith Camacho - discusses formation of Asian American studies, Pacific Islander studies, studies of Micronesia, etc.

  • Heidi Kathleen Kim - Japanese american incarceration

  • Catherine Ceniza Choy - Filipino labor/migration/care work industry

  • Yoonmee Chang - disability studies

  • Nitasha Sharma - Asian American studies and Black Lives Matter

  • Richard Fung - LGBTQ+ AAPI community

  • Cynthia Liu - representational politics for Asian Americans in media

  • Mimi Thi Nguyen - Asian American masculinity

  • J. Lorenzo Perillo - Filipino labor in the hip-hop industry

In Solidarity with Our Black Sibs

To the Greater Wellesley Community,

In response to the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade and many more at the hands of police brutality and systemic racism: We, Society Zeta Alpha, call upon the greater Wellesley community to take action and demand justice for these murders, act up for Black lives, and contribute to change that leads to creating a safe world for Black people. 

We want to emphasize that Black Lives Matter. Racism is entrenched in the institutions and the cultures of the United States and Wellesley College. Silence contributes to the continuation of white-supremacy and anti-Black beliefs and actions. Neutrality is not an option; it is our responsibility to advocate for Black lives. 

Below are tangible steps that you can take to support and protect your Black sibs. The endurance of the BLM movement is upheld by collectively uplifting Black artists, authors, musicians, etc. in everyday life, not only in response to the systemic murder of Black people. As the literary society, we have also included a list of books/reading resources by Black authors. 

To non-Black, and especially white, sibs: Understand your positionality and leverage it to dismantle white-supremacy in your communities. Educating yourself is an imperative first step. Education must translate into action. 

  • Listen to Black voices.

  • Check in with your Black sibs.

  • Speak up against both overt and passive racism: protest, donate, call, petition. 

  • Bring family and friends into the conversation and hold them accountable. Ask them to do the same for you.


Love, Loyalty, and Power,

The Members of Society Zeta Alpha


Things To Remember and Share:

  • If you are able to protest, do so as safely as possible. Wear a mask, distance where possible. Disable Face ID/Fingerprint unlock on your phone. Write down the local bail fund’s number on your person. Turn off location services, wear baggy clothing with no identifiable logos, cover your face, hair, and tattoos. Bring a water bottle with a sports nozzle to flush eyes after tear gas, and use lemons and bicarbonate to help with stinging.

  • If you aren’t able to attend protests and there is one in your area, you can leave food/water/first aid supplies outside with a note to help protesters.

  • Learn how to safely film police conduct, but do NOT share any photo or video of protesters with identifiable faces, clothes, skin, tattoos, or other features. Report any videos or photos that include identifying information. 

  • Put yourself between police and BIPOC protesters if you are a white protester. 

  • Don’t condemn the actions of Black protesters. Seek to understand and support the tactics of the Black Lives Matter Movement.


Tangible Ways to Help:

https://twitter.com/time2ryot/status/1266258569684377601?s=20

Reading Resources:

  • Here is a link to a massive Google Drive folder with resources and readings about Black history and activism.

  • Educate yourself by reading about race/racism; use these books instead of placing the burden of explanation on your sibs of color.

  • Consider buying books from Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis. They are a local bookstore who set up medic tents in their parking lot for protestors. They are currently closed due to COVID-19. 

  • ZA’s list of books/reading resources by Black authors:

    • We Want to Do More Than Survive, Dr. Bettina Love

    • Beloved, Toni Morrison

    • The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

    • Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    • The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

    • Citizen, Claudia Rankine 

    • Olio, Tyehimba Jess

    • Don’t Call Us Dead, Danez Smith

    • When They Call You a Terrorist, Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele

    • All About Love: New Visions, Bell Hooks

    • Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison

    • Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston 

    • Friday Black, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

    • The Sellout, Paul Beatty

    • Are Prisons Obsolete?, Angela Davis

    • White Teeth, Zadie Smith

    • Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Audrey Lorde

    • Freedom is a Constant Struggle, Angela Davis

    • Sister Outsider, Audrey Lorde

    • A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines

    • Hurricane Child, Kacen Callender

    • How it Feels to Be Colored Me, Zora Neale Hurston 

    • Assata: An Autobiography, Assata Shakur

    • Women, Race, and Class, Angela Davis

    • Hammer and Hoe, Robin D.G. Kelley

    • Trace, Lauret Savoy

    • Homie, Danez Smith

    • Gwendolyn Brooks’ book of selected poems

    • The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table, Minda Harts

    • Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler