Hey News-Changers,
Right now, thousands of folks in Texas are still experiencing water supply issues even after power was restored to most of the state. Here are a few different ways you can help Texans recovering from last week’s deadly winter storms.
Keep scrolling to learn about the rise in violent Anti-Asian hate in the country, and what you can do to help stop it. Plus, read what an independent report concluded about Elijah McClain’s arrest, how a 14-year-old changed high school sports for the better, and why I ended up on frog TikTok.
Let’s Do This!
#StopAsianHate: Activists Are Working to Put a Stop to Rising Rates of Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in the US There’s been a surge in violence against Asian-American people since the beginning of the pandemic, particularly in urban areas in New York and California (including three attacks in NY within the span of 36 hours).
Last month’s deadly attack that killed 84-year-old San Francisco resident Vicha Ratanapakdee has fueled a movement for justice.
How Widespread Is This Issue?
Stop AAPI Hate (the leading coalition documenting anti-Asian discrimination amid the pandemic) received 2,808 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate from 47 states and the District of Columbia in 2020.
The actual number of hate crimes happening in the country is probably even larger than that, considering most crimes of this nature go unreported or misreported.
How Are Folks Taking Action?
What’s the Government Doing to Address This?
Why Are These Attacks Rising?
It likely has to do with the increase in harmful Anti-Asian rhetoric based on racist and unfounded conspiracy theories that blame the coronavirus pandemic on Asian people. These kinds of baseless claims are even more dangerous when they’re parroted by elected leaders and other influential figures.
“When the previous administration said things publicly, like ‘the Wuhan virus’ or ‘this is the China flu,’ unapologetically, he helped to stoke the fires of anti-Asian violence against our communities,” Oakland community leader Dr. Connie Wun told ABC Nightline.
What Can I Do?
Why aren’t more people talking about… how an independent review found no legal reason for police to have stopped Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died after he was put in a chokehold by officers?
The good news is… AOC has raised over $2 million in less than 24 hours for Texas storm relief, and volunteers have rescued thousands of “cold-stunned” Texan turtles.
Meanwhile, in Antigua… 21-year-old Jasmine Harrison became the youngest person to row across the Atlantic Ocean.
My hero today is… 10-year-old Iris haq Lukolyo, who spoke up in her fifth grade class when slavery was missing from the lesson plan.
My *other* hero today is… 14-year-old Najah Aqeel, who successfully fought for a national rule change to let high school athletes compete while wearing hijabs.
This week in Black joy… a father and his 13-year-old son are launching a nonprofit to teach Black kids about investing and help close the Black wealth gap.
Today in viral cuteness… animals at the Oregon Zoo had a snow day!
I’m obsessed with… frog TikTok! The algorithm has landed me here, and I’m really not mad about it. We’ve got hits like flat frog, frog with the ginger ale, and
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