Sometimes looking outwards and finding allies is exactly what we need to do to solve our individual challenges

Last weekend, I read a powerful and insightful post titled “An Open Letter to White Colleagues and Bosses Who Reject, Ignore, and Sideline the Perspectives of Black People”

The post’s author, Banchiwosen Woldeyesus, wrote about her personal challenges as a Black female professional and her recommendations for how anyone can help and empower their Black professional colleagues.

Her suggestions are reasonable, actionable, and achievable.

Banchi’s post also led me to reflect on the commonalities that marginalized communities share.

While there are very important nuances and distinctions between Woldeyesus’s lived experience as a Black woman and my own as an Asian American man, I was struck by how we have struggled with similar workplace challenges in our professional lives.

Members of marginalized communities share many common experiences and challenges.

We live in resource poor environments (resource can be food, water, housing, material goods, knowledge, or networks) which make us more prone to zero sum thinking, focusing inwards, and working in isolation.

It is tempting to think that our problems are unique, that few people could understand them, and that we should solve our own problems first before devoting attention to the problems of others.

Of course, the risk is we miss the opportunity to find allies, band together, and achieve better outcome together.

May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month. While Stand with Asians is a movement with a mission to bring positive changes to the AAPI community, we also recognize we cannot achieve these desired outcomes alone. Pushing for change in an insular fashion is less effective and risk negatively impacting other marginalized communities.

That is why Stand with Asians is committed to highlighting and supporting the challenges facing all marginalized communities.

The AAPI community itself is diverse. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the AAPI community consists of approximately 50 ethnicities and its members speak more than 100 languages. We are new immigrants and 5th generation Americans. We are professionals, public servants, entertainers, small business owners, frontline workers, laborers and farmworkers. We live in some of the wealthiest zip codes in the country, yet a significant portion of our community is also in poverty.

The diversity of the AAPI community means we have the unenvious task of solving for a seemingly endless laundry list of challenges.

At the same time, the AAPI community’s diversity means we have common ground to share with every marginalized group in America.

We have to put away our prejudices, listen, and welcome the opportunity to connect with those who are different than us.

Sometimes looking outwards and finding allies is exactly what we need to do to solve our individual challenges.

Thank you to Terry Chen, Helen Park, and Hammad Ahmed for providing valuable feedback and contributing to this post.

Calls to Action:

• Support your BIPOC colleagues by including them in conversations inside and outside of work
• Follow @stand.with.asians on Instagram and stay up to date on news and conversations related to the AAPI and all marginalized communities
• Visit http://www.standwithasians.com and sign up for the SWA email to learn about events and activities happening throughout May
• Join the Stand with Asians movement by emailing united@standwithasians.com for volunteer and collaboration opportunities

#diversityandinclusion #equality #blacklivesmatter #standwithasians #standinsolidarity