Photo by Ali Kochik
With the sun high in the sky and a 70-degree breeze blowing through the trees on Sat. March 27, residents of Coatesville and the surrounding areas could be seen gathered in Gateway Park off of 1st Avenue and Lincoln Highway, standing on the grass with posters and bullhorns in hand.
Chants such as “Hey hey, ho ho, Asian hate has got to go” could be heard echoing off the surrounding buildings. As cars passed, they honked their horns in solidarity with the approximately 35 people who had gathered to fight for an end to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) violence and white supremacy as a whole.
The event, coordinated by Chester County Stands Up and the Chester County branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), was a rally of solidarity in the wake of the growing violence toward Asian Americans. Though it was a local event, it was one of approximately 60 similar rallies, which took place across the U.S. on Saturday as a National Day of Action via PSL’s organization.
Monica Zheng, a music therapy student at WCU and a member of PSL Chester County, began by sharing intentions for the afternoon, and then held a moment of silence and read the names of those who were murdered in the recent Atlanta Spa shooting, most of whom were Asian women.
Following Zheng’s introduction, numerous speakers across varying identities and positions in the community were given the opportunity to speak on their experiences and their hopes for a better future. One speaker in particular, Jen Preston, shared the experience of a half Black, half Asian person: watching her mother undergo heavy and deliberate racism, all while working as a nurse and trying to save people from the pandemic she was being accused of starting.
In between each speech, all attendees were encouraged to engage in various chants, calling for an end to racism, sexism, capitalism and the like.
Once every speaker had shared their story and encouraged the crowd to continue challenging the ways in which our system is built to harm AAPIs and all People of Color, attendees participated in several more chants. Then, they gathered for a group photo to commemorate the afternoon spent supporting marginalized communities who are experiencing explicit and targeted racism and violence.
“The turnout went really well. It really does speak to the strong commitment and desire for a society without racism and white supremacy, which requires a whole new system,” stated Curry Malott, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies at WCU, and member of the steering committee for PSL Chester County. “And it just speaks to that, while the uprising against racism last summer has ebbed a little bit, I feel like because of the ongoing pandemic, the deepening economic crisis, the ongoing existence of anti-Asian racism, anti-Black racism…people are sick of it and people are ready for a new system and we feel like this could very well bring another summer of mass uprising.”
While the turnout for Saturday’s event was one that pleased the organizers, the need for that continued momentum is still very present.
Like many of the folks who attended the rally, Zheng hopes that the folks in her community, especially college students and people across those younger generations, continue to keep a watchful eye on the institutions they are a part of and do the work that is meant to dismantle the systems that allow white supremacy to do damage.
“I think when you’re in college, especially when you’re virtual learning, it’s very easy to be in the college bubble and not really connect with events outside of your immediate surroundings,” she explained. “But to my college peers, I would say, make sure you keep your eyes open for the world around you that doesn’t have to do with college or grades or professors or assignments, but those real world events.”
Ali Kochik is a third-year English Writing major with minors in Journalism and Women’s and Gender Studies. AK908461@WCUPA.EDU