During the COVID-19 Pandemic, there have been innumerable escalated acts of xenophobic, Sinophobic and misogynistic violence towards our East and South-East Asian community members. In light of the shootings that occurred in Atlanta, when so few are publicly doing so, it’s important to validate and name the racialized and sexualized nature of this violent incident. Specifically, this has highlighted the nuance of how East & South-East Asian women experience harassment and sexual violence in USA. For a variety of reasons, it is understandable that folks are grieving, fearful, feeling alone among others. It is so important for us to come together – whether we are on-campus or not – as a community to support one another through these difficult times.

It is easy to feel alone and fearful; we believe community healing is integral to our individual growth and feelings of safety. It is especially important to center the experiences of our East and South-East Asian community members as we collectively address what effective racial justice work means here in the Eugene/Springfield area.

Thus, we are honoured to host Dr. Ron Miyaguchi, licensed psychologist, who will be facilitating a closed processing space which is open to any ADPI identifying individuals. Since this is online, anybody can participate and do not have to be affiliated with the University of Oregon or live in Lane County.

During May, we will be offering a follow-up open listening session with UO administrators and allies for those interested in attending and learning how to better support our ADPI community members. More details soon.

This event is a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in April and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) in May. For other SAAM events, please lookout for the Teal SAAM 2021 banner on UO events and visit https://dos.uoregon.edu/svpe/saam. For APAHM events, please visit https://inclusion.uoregon.edu/apahm.