Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)Heritage Month is in May. Peirce FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is sharing several ways you can celebrate AAPI heritage and honor the diversity in our school community:
AAPI Month FORJ Family Story Time
Save the date for the next family story time: May 16th at 2:30 pm. We will read stories that celebrate Asian heritage and/or feature protagonists from the AAPI community and then create art related to the stories. After the event, we will provide a resource list that includes the books that we read and other relevant books and information. RSVP here.
Get your “Racism is a Virus” AAPI solidarity yard sign
Across the nation, Asians and Asian-Americans are experiencing a frightening surge in racialized violence. The FORJ groups at Peirce and Franklin are distributing yard signs to increase awareness, raise funds, start conversations, and offer support and visibility to Asians and Asian-Americans in Newton and beyond.
Jules Ko Myung, a mom at the Franklin school, designed the #RacismIsAVirus sign after realizing that the #StopAsianHate signs can be scary for young Asian children because of the word “hate.” Peirce is 23% Asian and Asian-American… and racism against any group threatens the health and strength of our community and impacts all of us. Our hope is that the yard signs will raise awareness AND help Asian-American children feel a sense of welcome and belonging in the community, especially as some children are returning to in-person learning for the first time in over a year.
We would also like to raise funds to benefit organizations that defend the civil rights of and provide support to Asians and Asian-Americans: the Asian American Legal Defense and Education fund (national) and/or the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (local). In lieu of payment for the yard sign, we hope you will make a donation to one of the GoFundMe sites in the link below.
Yard signs will be available for pick up at Peirce for anyone who makes a donation through the GoFundMe sites. The first pick-up is this Saturday from 10-10:45 by the main playground. Future pick up dates will be added and additional pick-up details will be provided by email update through the GoFundMe pages. Thanks in advance for your contribution! (If you are interested in displaying a yard sign, but unable to contribute, please see the link for more info.)
See the signs, get the GoFundMe links and learn more here.
Want to Learn or Do More? To learn more, please see the AAPI solidarity section of Peirce FORJ’s resource document: Anti-Racism Actions and Resources – specific to Newton/Boston/Metrowest/MA
Spanish translation: Click hereJapanese translation: Click here