Hi Friends! Happy Sunday!

Today on the blog we have a special friend of ours “taking over” today’s post.

Hello In Our Style Readers!

Today I wanted to just take a moment of your time to express my feelings and thoughts on the recent horrible events that have occurred in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community (AAPI). Just a quick note that I am not speaking on behalf of everyone in the AAPI community, but I can personally speak for myself and my family.

I also do not want this to take away from any other groups that have experienced discrimination and hatred due to the color of their skin, ethnicity, race, religion or sexual orientation.

I would have never imagined there would be a time where me being an Asian American in 2021 would ever put me or my parents in harms way. The recent violent events in SF and ATL has really spotlighted the true nature of racism towards people in the AAPI community. It breaks my heart that these recent events could have happened to me or my parents. It puts in perspective that I, myself, may have even overlooked this growing issue that is very much the core of who I am and my culture.

As a reader, it does not matter if you took notice of this issue before or have not been aware of any type of racial hatred and discrimination towards the AAPI community, BUT you can be the change now. We can be the change we want to see in this world! We need to stop rationalizing and internalizing issues that affect real people in our community. The first step is to have those tough conversations. We need to humanize people regardless of their careers and professions. Let’s cultivate kindness and respect one another regardless of appearances.

To Ange and Allie,

Thank you for allowing me to use your platform to increaseawareness of an issue that has directly affected me and everyone in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community. Both of your support means the world to me!

IG Resources: @hateisavirus @stopaapihate @asianmentalhealthcollective