50+ ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER GROUPS RELEASE OPEN LETTER SUPPORTING JUSTICE FOR AKAI GURLEY AND THE INDICTMENT OF NYPD OFFICER PETER LIANG

50+ ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER GROUPS RELEASE OPEN LETTER SUPPORTING JUSTICE FOR AKAI GURLEY AND THE INDICTMENT OF NYPD OFFICER PETER LIANG

New York, NY — More than fifty Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups from across the country have released an open letter calling for justice for Akai Gurley, an unarmed, Black, 28-year-old father who was killed by NYPD Officer Peter Liang on November 20, 2014.

Officer Liang was conducting a vertical patrol in the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York when he fired a shot that killed Gurley, who was visiting the home of his girlfriend.

The 50+ Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations who have signed the letter represent diverse constituencies across all regions of the U.S. They range from prominent national organizations like Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, the nation's oldest legal Asian American civil rights organization, and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), an AFL-CIO affiliate, to grassroots community organizations such as Khmer Girls in Action in Long Beach, CA and Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) in New York City.

The letter has also been signed by almost 200 leaders in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, including MacArthur Genius and TIME’s 100 Most Influential people honoree Ai-jen Poo; Executive Director of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development Lisa Hasegawa; San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar; prominent blogger Phil Yu of “Angry Asian Man”; American Book Award-winning author Jeff Chang; and many more.

The release of the letter follows calls from some Asian Americans for the charges against Officer Liang to be dropped.

In the letter, the organizations and leaders strongly condemn such calls and express support for Akai Gurley’s family and all families impacted by police violence, writing, “We strongly oppose calls coming from some members of the Asian American community to drop charges against NYPD Officer Peter Liang for the death of Akai Gurley. This demand is misguided and utterly hurtful to Akai Gurley’s family and to communities that have been subjected to discriminatory and often deadly policing practices across the country. We stand with Akai Gurley’s family and all those who have lost loved ones to police violence. We firmly believe that Peter Liang must be held accountable for his actions...There is broad support in the Asian and Pacific Islander community for #JusticeforAkaiGurley and for the systemic overhaul of policing practices and other institutional policies that chronically defund and destabilize Black communities.”

“Our organizations have released this letter to make clear that there is broad support for Akai Gurley’s family and police accountability in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, including the Chinese American community,” said Cathy Dang, Executive Director of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities in New York, NY. “Efforts calling for charges against NYPD Officer Peter Liang to be dropped are divisive, hurtful, and misguided. We should all be standing with Akai’s family, who have lost a beloved brother, son, and father, and should be fighting to reform policing practices so that more families won’t have to suffer the pain they are going through.”

“Akai Gurley's tragic murder is not isolated. Black bodies are systemically and historically dehumanized in this country in ways the Asian American community will never face. Our solidarity work begins with organizing and transforming our community to understand the reality of anti-black racism,” said Sarath Suong, Executive Director of the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), a Providence, RI organization that works with Southeast Asian youth. “As Southeast Asians, we experience anti-black racism through invisibility and violence within the Asian American community because we are darker-skinned. We must connect that to the invisibility and violence that the Gurley family is experiencing right now, and not participate in using our systemic privilege as Asian Americans to avoid accountability for the harm we have caused to others."

“As South Asian communities, we know that we live in a racist society, in which we often are at the receiving end of racism, and sometimes we benefit from the racism. But the only solution to ending such racism is to fight for justice for all communities, not just only when it harms our communities,” saidFahd Ahmed, Executive Director, DRUM - Desis Rising Up & Moving, of New York, NY.

“The fact that Officer Liang is Chinese American doesn't mean that we as Asian Americans should support him unequivocally. It is quite the opposite — it should compel us to think about what justice looks like and how Chinese Americans and all Asian Americans can contribute to the movement for police accountability and broader racial justice. This is part of our history. Our Asian American identity was and continues to be about building solidarity with other communities of color, especially the Black community,” said Joyce Lam of the Chinese Progressive Association of San Francisco, based in the Bay Area.

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Text of open letter (English and Chinese):

As Asian and Pacific Islander community leaders and organizations from across the country, we strongly oppose calls coming from some members of the Asian American community to drop charges against NYPD Officer Peter Liang for the death of Akai Gurley.

This demand is misguided and utterly hurtful to Akai Gurley’s family and to communities that have been subjected to discriminatory and often deadly policing practices across the country.

We stand with Akai Gurley’s family and all those who have lost loved ones to police violence.

We firmly believe that Peter Liang must be held accountable for his actions.

The fact that Officer Liang is Asian American shouldn’t mean that we as Asians and Pacific Islanders support him unequivocally. Quite the opposite — it should compel us to think about what justice looks like and how Asian Americans can contribute to the movement for police accountability and broader racial justice.

Police violence against Black communities is a systemic problem, and when police officers are not held accountable, they are enabled to kill with impunity. Without accountability for police officers who use deadly force and a complete and thorough overhaul of policing practices and other institutional policies in the U.S., we will have more Akai Gurleys and more Officer Liangs, more Mike Browns and Darren Wilsons, more Rekia Boyds and Dante Servins. This should be unacceptable to all of us, especially as many of our own community members, from South Asians post-9/11 to Southeast Asian communities, are also targeted by police departments across the country.

Our history shows us that when Asian communities work together in solidarity with Black communities, we all benefit. We also recognize that the Asian community in the US has historically benefited from Black-led movements for racial and economic justice.

There is broad support in the Asian and Pacific Islander community for #JusticeforAkaiGurley and for the systemic overhaul of policing practices and other institutional policies that chronically defund and destabilize Black communities.

This is a flashpoint for Asian and Pacific Islander communities to come together and oppose police violence. In this moment, we stand together to show support for Akai Gurley’s family, other families who have lost loved ones to police violence, as well as the broader police accountability movement.

公开信：

作為全國各地亞裔美國人社區領袖和機構，我們強烈反對亞裔美國人社區中的一些人要求取消NYPD紐約警員Peter Liang為Akai Gurley死亡的刑事檢控。

這要求是很誤導人的，而且對Akai Gurley家人和受到警察歧視和生命威脅的社區來說是很傷人的。

我們與Akai Gurley家人和所有因為警察暴力而失去了親人的受害者同在。

我們堅信Peter Liang一定要為他的行為負責任。

我們亞裔美國人不能因為Peter Liang警員是亞裔美國人而無條件支持他。相反的，我們應該要因此思考什麼是正義，而且也要思考亞裔美國人如何可以為更廣泛的種族正義且向警察問責而貢獻。

警察對黑人社區的暴力是一個系統性問題，而當警察人員不用負責任的時候，他們可以有罪免責的殺人。如果殺人的警察不用負責任，我們會有更多像Akai Gurley和Peter Liang的案件。這是我們無法接受的，特別是像我們自己的社區一樣有很多911後的南亞人和東南亞人社區，也是警察部門全國針對的目標。

從我們的歷史中可以知道，當亞裔社區和黑人社區團結合作時，我們大家都受惠。我們也意識到，在美國的亞裔社區在過往因著由黑人帶領的種族和經濟公義運動而受益。

在亞裔美國人的社區裡，許多人支持#JusticeforAkaiGurley（讓AkaiGurley得到正義）的運動，也支持系統性檢討警方執法以及那些長期以來削減經費、動搖黑人社區的機構政策。

這是亞裔美國人社區的一個亮點。在這一刻，我們站在一起支持Akai Gurley家人、其他因警方暴力而失去親人的家庭，以及整個向警方問責的運動。

Signers:

Organizations:

18MillionRising.org

Anakbayan

API Resistance, Washington, DC

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), New York, NY

Asian American Resource Workshop, Boston, MA

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, San Francisco, CA

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, Atlanta, GA

Asian Americans United, Philadelphia, PA

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO

Asian Pacific Environmental Network, California

Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon

Asian Women's Shelter, San Francisco, CA

Asians for Black Lives - Madison, Madison, WI

AYPAL: Building API Community Power, Oakland, CA

BAYAN USA

ChangeLab

Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, Los Angeles, CA

Chinese for Affirmative Action, San Francisco, CA

Chinese Progressive Association - Boston, Boston, MA

Chinese Progressive Association - San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Coalition for the Revitalization of Asian American Studies at Hunter, New York, NY

Coalition of API Americans Collaborating Together to Unite the Southwest, Denver, CO

Damayan Migrant Workers Association, New York, NY

Dari Project, New York, NY

Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), New York, NY

Freedom Inc, Madison, WI

GABRIELA New York, New York, NY

Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY), New York, NY

HOBAK, Oakland, CA

Khmer Girls in Action, Long Beach, CA

Korean American Coalition to End Domestic Abuse (KACEDA), Oakland, CA

Korean American Historical Society, Seattle, WA

Muslim American Women's Policy Forum, Washington, DC

National Coalition for Asian Pacific Americans for Community Development (NCAPACD)

National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)

New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, New York, NY

Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, New York, NY

Oberlin College Asian American Alliance, Oberlin, OH

Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), Providence, RI

Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance (QAPA), Boston, MA

RAISE: Revolutionizing Asian American Immigrant Stories on the East Coast, New York, NY

Reappropriate

Sahngnoksoo, Seattle, WA

Society for Asian American Graduate Affairs (SAAGA) at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

SALGA-NYC, New York, NY

Simmons College Asian Student Association, Boston, MA

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)

South Asia Solidarity Initiative, New York, NY

Tufts Asian American Alliance, Medford, MA

UNC Monsoon, Chapel Hill, NC

VAYLA (New Orleans, LA)

Individuals:

Ai-jen Poo

Aki Douthat

Alex-Quan Pham

Alex T. Tom

Alice Wong

Allison Budschalow

Alvina Wong

Andy Su

Angie Tran

Angry Asian Man, Phil Yu

Anita Chikkatur

Anna Lei

Annie Shaw

Annie Wu

Ashley Uyeda

Athena Pult

Aya Folk

Bao Phi

Becca Asaki

Betty Chen

Bob Wing

Bruce Reyes-Chow

C. Kee

Cam Nguyen

Cayden Mak

Celine Liu

Chandan Reddy

Chelsea Gao

Chris Le

Cynthia Fong

Darakshan Raja

Christen Lee

Dr. Christine T. Lipat

Christine "Xine" Yao

Claire Tran

Clara Iwasaki

Cristy Yeung

Cynthia Lee

Dahn Bi Lee-Hong

Prof. David Palumbo-Liu

Prof. David Shih

Dawn Lee Tu

Debby Cho

Deepa Iyer

Diane Wong

Dieu Huynh

Donna Gasapo

Donna Maeda

Eddy Zheng

Eliana Yu

Prof. Ellen Wu

Eric Hu

Supervisor Eric Mar, San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Erica Qiao

Esther C.

Eugenia Beh

Fay Chiang

Felix Shiheng Huang

Francois Luong

Gareth Chen

Giao Tran

Glenn Omatsu

Gracelynne West

Gregory A. Cendana

Gwendolyn Mink

Hanna Sam

Helen Xu

Helena Wong

Henry Lee

Henry Pan

Hertencia Petersen

Hollis Wong-Wear

Jade Cho

Prof. James Lee

Janelle Wong

Jason Buell

Jason Fong

Jason McGraw

Jeff Chang

Jeffrey Lau

Jeffrey Pu

Dr. Jenny Phung-Payne, MD

Jessica Wu

Jillian Murray

Joan Chiou En Lin

Joan May Cordova

Johanna Puno Hester

Jonathan Tran

Joo-Hyun Kang

Joshua Wells

Joyce Nakamura

Judy Jun

Julia Katz

Juliet Shen

Karmen Cheung

Karen Fong

Karn Saetang

Kasey Shen

kat yang-stevens

Katharine Pong

Kathy Ko Chin

Katie Seitz

Katie Zheng

Keith Miyake

Kelvin Tam

Kevin Koo

Kristen Sun

Laina Yoswein

Lasitha Ranatunga

Le Tim Ly

LiJia Gong

Lily Wu

Linda Lam

Linh Chuong

Lisa Hasegawa

Lisa Lee

Londeka Ndukuda

Lorrayne Shen

Luke Patterson

Lydia Lowe

Lynna Zhong

M. Cesarre Perrin

Marcia Liu, Ph.D.

Mari Rose Taruc

Mark Tseng Putterman

May Fu

Mee-Ju Ro

Michael Pascual

Michelle Lau

Mimi Kim

Monica Tzeng

Monique Jones

Moon-Ho Jung

Moray Lee

Nga Bui

Nikhil Umesh

N'jaila Rhee

Olivia Evans

Pam Mintz

Patrick Chen

Prachi Patankar

Quynh Nguyen

Ray Jose

Rebekah Jaramillo

Rob Rusli

Roger Tang

Ryan Wong

Ryden Nelson

Samantha Ng

Scott Kurashige

Shaili

Sharifa King

Silvena Chan

Sine Hwang Jensen

Sonny Singh

Sophia Lamar

Soya Jung

Stephanie Mao

Stephen Mak

Sue J. Kim

Suey Park

Sunhay You

Suresh Dianand

Swati Rayasam

Taiyo Na

Tanya Tran

Tenzin Namdol

Tessa Kim

Theresa Tran

Dr. Thomas Chen

Tina Bartolome

Thomas L. Mariadason

todd ayoung

Toi-Sing Woo, New Directions Consulting

Tomie Arai

Tommy Wu

Toshi X. Tomori

Urooj Rahman

Victoria Wong

Vincent Fang

Vincent Pan

Vivian Truong

Wan Xia Ma

Wesley Alonzo

Wesley Chu

William Takamatsu Thompson

Yaejoon Kwon

YK Hong

Yonah Dylan Su-Chun Mott