Woman describes police attack at Brooklyn community meeting

Woman describes police attack at Brooklyn community meeting

“There is no wealth in our silence. Do you still believe policing will protect our community or are you ready to fight against police brutality?” Originally, “況黙不是金, 法理定要爭” (kuàng mò bùshì jīn, fǎlǐ dìng yào zhēng), this poster along with an “Anti-discrimination, Anti-violence” (originally, “反歧視, 反暴力” - fǎn qíshì, fǎn bàolì) poster written in black, Chinese characters are located behind four Asian women attending a Brooklyn community meeting on June 2, 1996. Below, another poster reads “Let’s Respect ALL in N.Y.C” and a partially visible poster located behind a woman in a blue shirt reads, “Intolerance CANNOT be tolerated.” Another woman, wearing black-patterned, yellow fabric pants, commands the floor as she details the story of her police attack. [1] This photograph expresses the layered forms of violence that institutionalized racism and oppression impose on Asian women living in America and emphasizes the need for radical community care within the Asian community.

These sorts of community meetings stem from the formation of the Racial Justice Committee (RJC) in Spring 1996, which shifted CAAAV’s case-by-case centered approach (where individuals ended contact with the organization after their cases finished) to a focus on building long-term power in the community. [2] In this moment, CAAAV began to develop the leadership skills of its community members, especially past victims of police brutality, by providing the space to sit in on RJC meetings and help determine committee initiatives, such as advocating for new cases. With this new community-centered approach, individuals had the opportunity to practice and develop skills in speaking with the media and organizing rallies, empowering them as former victims into activism roles.

During this time, police brutality had almost become characteristic of the Asian (American) identity. The fact that the woman speaking in this photograph actively uses her voice to speak out on these incidents reminds one of the inherent power in Asian voices, resistance, and activism that counters the attempts of white supremacy to paint the community as the well-behaved, quiet, and assimilated model minority. [3 This particular moment further highlights the power and resilience reflected in the leadership of Asian women community leaders and members, going beyond traditional categorizations of ‘submissive’ and ‘docile’ enacted on Asian women as a result of gendered and sexual violence facilitated by the patriarchy.

[1] Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, “Violence Against Asian Women” CAAAV Voice newsletter, Summer 1996

[2] Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, “The Racial Justice Committee: Fighting Police Brutality” CAAAV Voice newsletter, Winter 1997

[3] Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, “Repeat Offenders: Police Brutality Continues in Chinatown” CAAAV Voice newsletter, Winter 1997

June 2, 1996

Chris Chieng

This post was completed as coursework for Archiving Asian America, taught by Vivian Truong, in the Asian and American Studies programs at Vassar College.

Copyright is held by CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities

Photograph

Photo575