The plaque sits at 20th and Blake Streets, across the street from where the vigil gathered and reads “Hop Alley/Chinese Riot of 1880,” a title with derogatory language that ignores who was victimized during the riot. Joie Ha, another speaker, is the Vice-Chair of the commission to replace the plaque acknowledging the mob that destroyed Denver’s Chinatown and lynched a man in 1880. And so for the safety of Asian Americans, we have to unite and we have to advocate for other communities’ safety,” she said.

“For us to all unite, that is the worst thing that could happen to white supremacy. Mayhem that if different communities fighting for civil rights joined each other’s causes they would be stronger together. Friends tell her to “be safe,” but that’s not the solution to eliminate anti-Asian assaults and harassment, she said.Īs she looked over the crowd of faces from different ethnicities lit up by the candles they held, Lewis called for unity and solidarity.

Lewis often thinks about her two daughters and their safety. We need to keep in mind as we talk about the safety of community members, that one individual can hold multiple identities that can make them even more vulnerable to predators.” “Within that community, there are more vulnerable community members like women, disabled, queer, elders that they would be targeting. “When a community is stigmatized then the likelihood of those community members experiencing abuse goes up,” Lewis said in a separate interview with Ms. Lewis said that AAPI members who hold multiple identities, whether they are women, LGBTQ, elderly or disabled, can have a larger target placed on them. Women and elders, including a 75-year-old woman in San Francisco who fought off her attacker last week, have been common victims of anti-Asian attacks. After rejecting sexual advances in the past she’s been called a “Chink bitch” and a “Vietnamese whore.” Lewis recalled men shouting racist and misogynist comments at her from their cars. She is the executive director of a Denver non-profit called The Initiative, which serves disabled abuse victims. Women accounted for 68% of reports.Īs a Korean woman, the Atlanta shootings hit close to home for Ashlee Lewis. Nearly 4,000 anti-Asian hate incidents from verbal to physical attacks were recorded from March 2020 to February this year by Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that tracks incidents. They related the rising assaults that AAPI face as well as the harassment the community receives from scapegoating due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Candles placed on circular planters continued flickering as people dispersed around 9 p.m.Ĭhang scheduled 11 speakers, mostly Asian women, who shared messages about the Asian experience. in front of Coors Field, the same area where Denver’s Chinatown once stood before being destroyed in a violent and racist riot in 1880. When Cody Chang organized the vigil for the murdered victims at the three Asian-owned establishments, six of the eight being Asian women, he didn’t expect to see a diverse crowd gather by the hundreds. The message was clear-marginalized groups must come together to dismantle white supremacy. The vigil, which doubled as a protest against anti-Asian hate, brought together AAPI and allies last night in Denver. Grief and anger delivered a unified message at a candlelight vigil for the victims of last week’s Atlanta massage parlor shooting.

Hop alley sign history denver