SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An emotional show of solidarity took place in Sacramento Wednesday night as people came together to remember the lives taken in a series of deadly shootings in Atlanta thousands of miles away.
Dozens of people gathered at Sacramento City Hall to honor the eight people killed after a man opened fire on three spas in Georgia. Six of the victims were Asian women.
"I thought about our immigrant and refugee mothers our grandmothers... and I thought about all the sacrifices that they have made," said Nkauj lab Yang from the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders.
Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, Xiaojie Tan, 49, Daoyou Feng, 44, are just a few of the victims tragically taken when the gunman went on a violent spree Tuesday.
"Even though we don't share blood, we share history," said Lee Lo, co-founder of the Sacramento API Regional Network. "Even though I've only learned their names... I know they go by sister, mom and auntie."
The killings strike at the heart of being an Asian American woman today as anti Asian hate crimes spike and anti Asian sentiment grows amid the pandemic.
"Why do I weep for strangers who voices I'll never know," asked Lo. "Because in them is me... and I'm too familiar with the violence of white supremacy and misogyny."
While the suspect told law enforcement, he was motivated to eliminate sources of his sexual addiction, police are not calling the deadly targeted act a hate crime.
Asian Americans, Pacific Islander communities and allies are now using their voices to speak up for the victims, shining a light on the country's nuanced history of anti-Asian hate. Hatred which includes the fetishization of Asian woman, which diminishes their humanity.
"What happened in Georgia isn't something new to Asian women," said Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang.
