A Stop Anti-Asian Hate Rally was held in Albuquerque at the Civic Plaza on March 28, 2021. The following statement was submitted on behalf of the NMJACL and was ready by Council Woman Lan Sena, Albuquerque.
Submitted by Aiko Allen, Interim President
In observing our state’s COVID-19 public health orders, the advanced age and chronic health conditions of many of our New Mexico Japanese American Citizens League board members prevents us from being physically present today.
We are grateful to the rally organizers and to all of you who took time this afternoon to be here at Civic Plaza when you could have made other choices of how to spend your day.
Thank you Council woman Sena for agreeing to read this statement on behalf of Aiko Allen, Interim President of the NMJACL. The NMJACL stands with our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities this afternoon in sustaining a shared response to the escalating rise in anti-Asian violence, fear, hatred, and now deaths in Atlanta.
These women are us. They are our grandmothers, our mothers, our sisters, our daughters. They are our families. They are our dreams. They were taken from us abruptly. We feel deep loss and pain.
And the loss and pain must be transformed, not through endured silence, but through our efforts together to do more than speak of the diversity and inclusive world that we want to live in.
As a chapter of the national JACL, we are the oldest and largest AAPI civil rights organization in the US. Our mission is to secure and safeguard civil and human rights of the AAPI and all communities who are affected by injustice and bigotry.
As a nation that seeks strength in its diversity, the paradoxes historically expressed in its conscious discrimination and racism, are challenges expressed in each generation since our founding.
We must choose the world we want for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.
We honor your courage. We honor your tenacity. We honor our ancestors who dreamed through their sacrifices that there would be something better for their children. As NMJACL, we rise with you and stand together moving forward always. No silence, no invisibility.