Supporting Our Asian and Pacific Island Communities

May is Asian Desi Pacific Island American Heritage Month, a month to celebrate the contributions to the world and the culture of the multitude of people, nations, and cultures from the Asian and Pacific Island communities. However, given the devastating rise of COVID in India over the past weeks and the rise in hate crimes and violence against Asian people in the United States since last March, this month may also be a time of grief, overwhelm and anger, for all of us, but particularly for members of our community who are of Asian descent.

For those in the EPS community who are of Asian descent, we see you and stand with you. If your student needs support in this time, please know that our counselors are here for them (counselors@eps.org). We’ve also provided additional mental health resources below. For those of us who are not members of the APIDA community, we are challenged to be even better community members now—to find ways to support people in India and members in our community who have family and friends there, to educate ourselves about how racism and xenophobia against members of the Asian community are not new, and as we say to students at EPS, to work toward being upstanders rather than bystanders. Please reach out to EICL Coordinators Bess McKinney and Dr. Ed Castro (eicl@eastsideprep.org) with any questions or concerns.

Ways to support COVID-relief in India
A comprehensive list of COVID resources across India: https://www.covidresourcesindia.com/
Additional organizations and resources:

Mental health resources (from our counselors)

Asian Counseling and Referral Service: https://acrs.org/
Washington Listens: 1-833-681-0211. (Crisis Connections facilitates this support line with trained volunteers who will listen to your concerns, stress, anxiety, etc about COVID-19 and connect you to resources. More info here: https://www.hca.wa.gov/assets/program/washington-listens-fact-sheet.pdf)
A compilation of hotlines and resources are available through our state’s coronavirus support page: https://coronavirus.wa.gov/information-for/you-and-your-family/mental-and-emotional-well-being

Resources on Asian Pacific Islander and Desi American history (just a start . . .)

PBS Documentary series Asian Americans
Read Erika Lee’s The Making of Asian America
Read Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown (if you didn’t already for the all-school read)
Listen to the podcast Asian American History 101
Read this, “Racism Has Always Been Part of the Asian American Experience”