Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. It is a celebration of all Asian and Pacific Islanders that encompasses all of the Asian Continent and from places like New Guine, Fiji, Guam, New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, America Samoa, Tonga, French Polynesia and more. What originally started as a one-week observance in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter blossomed into a month-long celebration of all Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

A statement from THE CATHOLIC RACIAL JUSTICE COLLABORATIVE

Since the start the pandemic, our nation has witnessed an alarming irse in the number of violent attacks directed toward members of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. These incidents, now numbering approximately 4,000 and representing a 150% escalation of such attacks, are deemed attributable to the use racially charged rhetoric associating Asians with the origin of the coronavirus. 

As Catholics, we are called upon to oppose all forms and expressions of racism, and we recognize that all people of color have been subject to racial violence. Consequently we, the members of Catholic Racial Justice Collaborative, condemn these attacks that target the AAPI community, we mourn the loss life that has resulted, and we pledge to stand as allies with our Asian sisters and brothers toward the goal of racial healing and reconciliation.

The Catholic Racial Justice Collaborative is a multiracial group of Catholics from parishes and religious organizations throughout the Archdiocese of St. Louis. We strive to be Catholic voice, heard above the din, urging our faith communities to acknowledge the history of racism in society and in our Church and to challenge its perpetuation. Our hope is to encourage meaningful interracial dialogue, to compel action that leads to racial justice, and in so doing, to more fully live the Gospel

From St. Pius V Catholic Church - Peggy Stein and S. Gen Cassani SSND are members of the Collaborative. 

More information
https://www.catholicracialjusticestl.org 

Heritage Month History
https://time.com/5592591/asian-pacific-heritage-month-history/ 
https://asianpacificheritage.gov  

Ways to celebrate

https://www2.ed.gov/free/features/asian-pacific-heritage.html 

Incarnate Word Family: silent not an option

In support of racial justice...

Series of billboards by St. Louis Catholic Sisters.

University Incarnate Word's students initiative.

Understanding and combating racism from Sr. Walter Maher, vice president of University Incarnate Word Mission & Ministry: https://bit.ly/2BoaEge

Incarnate Word Academy solidarity statement and actions: 
https://www.amormeus.org/en/blog/iwa-solidarity-statement-and-actions-in-times-of-covid-19/

Compassionate action builds our strength and our voices in the face of racism

Compassion is like a muscle. The main idea is developing our muscles and our voices through empathy that comes by lying on the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Empathy can be transformed into compassion, you realize that you can do something. 

Build compassion muscles!  Wherever you are, you get down on the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. You get a picture of yourself and you post it! Please, you can use these hashtags: #CompassionMuscles  #RacialJustice

The campaign has started: 

“As I laid on the ground I cried inside as I thought of the 42 families of the victims that our group prayed for yesterday in the Litany for Racial Justice” Sister Martha Ann Kirk CCVI.  

View this post on Instagram

Compassion is like a muscle. Build the compassion. Wherever you are, you get down on the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. You get a picture of yourself and post it with this hashtag: #CompassionMuscles #RacialJustice The campaign has started: “As I laid on the ground I cried inside as I prayed for Racial Justice”, Sister Martha Ann Kirk CCVI

A post shared by CCVI Sisters for Justice (@ccvi_sisters_for_justice) on Jun 9, 2020 at 2:51pm PDT

Litany for Racial Justice.  

After each of the 42 names, please respond: “You are a child of God.”       

You deserve to be able to walk alone. We remember Clifford Glover. 

You deserve to be able to decorate for a birthday party. We remember Claude Reese.

You deserve to be able to ask the police a question. We remember Randy Evans.

You deserve to be able to cash a check. We remember Yvonne Smallwood.

You deserve to be able to take out your wallet. We remember Amadou Diallo.

You deserve to be able to hold a hairbrush. We remember Sean Bell.

You deserve to be able to party on New Years. We remember Oscar Grant.

You deserve to be able to walk home. We remember Trayvon Martin.

You deserve to be able to play loud music. We remember Jordan Davis.

You deserve to be able to ask for help. We remember Jonathan Ferrell and Renisha McBride.

You deserve to be able to sleep. We remember Aiyana Jones.

You deserve to be able to shop at Walmart. We remember John Crawford.

You deserve to be able to walk from the store. We remember Michael Brown.

You deserve to be able to play cops and robbers. We remember Tamir Rice.

You deserve to be able to run. We remember Walter Scott.

You deserve to be able to live. We remember Freddie Gray.

You deserve to be able to go to Bible study. We remember the Charleston 9; Rev. Clementa Pickney, Cynthia Hurd, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Tywanza Sanders, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lee Lance, Susie Jackson and Daniel Simmons.

You deserve to be able to get a traffic ticket safely. We remember Sandra Bland.

You deserve to be able to spend time with my loved ones at home. We remember Breonna Taylor.

You deserve to be able to have car problems. We remember Corey Jones.

You deserve to be able to sell CDs. We remember Alton Sterling.

You deserve to be able to lawfully carry a weapon. We remember Philando Castile.

You deserve to be able to stand next to your car. We remember Terrence Crutcher.

You deserve to be able to read a book. We remember Keith Scott.

You deserve to be able to leave a party. We remember Jordan Edwards.

You deserve to be able to talk on a cellphone. We remember Stephon Clark.

You deserve to be able to sell products. We remember Eric Garner.

You deserve to be able to relax in your own home. We remember Botham Jean.

You deserve to be able to look out of the window. We remember Atatiana Jefferson.

You deserve to be able to stand outside your apartment complex. We remember Tony McDade.

You deserve to be able to go jogging. We remember Ahmaud Arbery.

You deserve to be able to drive your car. We remember Desmond Franklin.

You deserve to be able to gather with friends in a parking lot. We remember David McAtee.

You deserve to be able to buy something from the corner store. We remember George Floyd.

Leader: We remember all who have been killed in senseless violence and we respond together

Response: You are children of God

Leader: Amen

A litany from the "Prayer Service for Racial Justice" by John Carroll University Campus Ministry on June 2, 2020. Retrieved from “The Living Person’s social media”