‘We won’t be silent anymore’: Hundreds rally in solidarity with Philadelphia Asian communities

Behind drumbeats and cymbal crashes, cries of “We are not the virus” and “Proud to be Asian” reverberated through Philadelphia’s Chinatown on Thursday as hundreds marched in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and to protest anti-Asian hate.

The event was a grassroots effort, said activist Sharlene Cubelo, 23, as local activists and community members, friends and family came together in the wake of a shooting rampage at three Asian-owned spas in the Atlanta area, where a white man shot and killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent.

After the shooting and a year of increased animus and violence toward Asian people in America, some of Philadelphia’s 120,000 Asian residents, particularly those of East and Southeast Asian descent, have said they are shaken and traumatized.

“It’s so important to show solidarity ... and to show the Asian American community specifically that we are here for them,” Cubelo said. “Right now, you can feel so much isolation ... but for us to be able to stand up and not conform to those fears and stand up together as a unit, it just shows so much to marginalized communities that we refuse to to be victimized.”

A racially diverse crowd of families with young children, young adults, and elders gathered at 10th and Vine Streets, standing on the koi fish sidewalk mural by Chinese artist Chenlin Cai to beautify the bridge over the Vine Street Expressway. The rally began with a lion dance — meant to symbolize “a new start for the city and better days ahead” — as speakers shared stories of racism they faced, linking the Atlanta-area shootings to history of hypersexualization of Asian women, and saying “Enough is enough.”

“I want us to be here in grief, but out of a history of strength,” Councilmember Helen Gym told the crowd, standing in the shadow of the “History of Chinatown” mural. “We are here and we will rise, we will rise together.”

Tami Ly passed out masks featuring a picture of Xiao Zhen Xie, a 75-year-old Asian woman who punched her attacker back in San Francisco, reading: “You can stand up for yourself, too.”

As the march moved through Chinatown, business owners and passersby stopped to watch, joining in chants and recording the scene.

Simi Chung, of Philadelphia, brought her two young children — Serenity, 8, and Theo, 2 — “for our elders, their grandparents,” Chung said.

“We won’t be silent anymore, for years growing up, just hiding or being ashamed of our culture. Enough is enough,” said Chung, who is Vietnamese and Cambodian.

Rally participants were encouraged to dress in black to mourn the Atlanta victims: Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Yong Ae Yue, 63; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Soon Chung Park, 74; Suncha Kim, 69; and Paul Andre Michels, 54.

Authorities have charged the alleged gunman, Robert Aaron Long, with murder and aggravated assault, but have stopped short of firmly connecting the shooting motive to race — a tie activists and legal advocates say is evident.

The Atlanta shootings came after a year of mounting anti-Asian violence, as nearly 3,800 anti-Asian hate incidents were reported nationwide, with 97 in Pennsylvania and 59 in New Jersey, according to research from Stop AAPI Hate. In Philadelphia, reports to the city of anti-Asian American hate tripled between 2019 and 2020.

This week, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that the department was actively investigating two incidents of “hateful and racist vandalism” in Chinatown and South Philadelphia.

“This national and local surge in racist rhetoric & acts of violence will not be tolerated,” Outlaw tweeted.

The graffiti in Chinatown was found at 10th and Vine Streets, and involved a vandalized flowerbox which is being investigated as a possible bias incident, a Police Department spokesperson said.

On Wednesday in South Philadelphia, a neighbor reported racist graffiti spray-painted on the wall of the former William Pierce School.

Advocates in the Indonesian community in Philadelphia have also expressed concerns after two high school girls were slapped and cursed at while waiting for a southbound Broad Street Line train at SEPTA’s City Hall station about 8 p.m. Sunday.

The girls, 17 and 18 years old and of Indonesian descent, told The Inquirer on Wednesday that they were sitting on a bench on the subway platform when a group of about four Black girls approached them, and two slapped their faces, and at least one cursed at them. They did not want their names published for safety reasons.

They believe they were targeted because of their race because the girls had earlier approached a man and woman of Indonesian descent, and did not approach any of the other people on the platform who were white, Black, and Hispanic.

A SEPTA spokesperson said the incident was not initially reported to SEPTA transit police or the Philadelphia Police Department. Authorities are now investigating.

As the rally concluded at City Hall Thursday night, Jenny Gai, a Chinatown resident, swayed to music and waved a sign reading “stop Asian hate women.”

“I feel more empowered,” she said through a translator. “We are not the virus.”

Staff writers Mensah Dean, Julie Shaw, and Erin McCarthy contributed to this article.