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Share your story with us please at advocacy@maasu.org! STAY FIERCE!
titotito shares his thoughts on bullying. SO MUCH LOVE, TITO <3
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Anti-Bullying Campaign
MAASU would like to give you the opportunity to have your voice heard by sharing your personal experiences of bullying. All you need to do is record a short video clip telling your story. In your video, feel free to share your name and what school you go to. If you do not feel comfortable talking in front of a camera, or simply want to remain anonymous, you can write us an email about your experiences, and we will make sure that it remains confidential. Once you have your video clip or written story, please email it to advocacy@maasu.org and it will be posted HERE! Also, like us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/MidwestAsianAmericanStudentsUnion?fref=ts, and follow us on Twitter: @MAASUFightsBack
In order to progress, we must create a sense of unity amongst the Asian community, and it all starts with YOU!Thank you so much for your participation in this campaign!
Here are some links to some of the topics mentioned, as well as other relevant cases:
Harry Lew:
http://main.aol.com/2011/09/09/harry-lew-suicide_n_955381.html
Danny Chen:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/danny_chen/index.html
David Phan:
http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2013/01/david-phans-suicide-sparks-grief-anger-and-call-justice
Teddy Molina:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/10/11118720-family-bullying-by-wolf-pack-led-to-texas-teens-suicide?lite
- MAASU (maasu.org)
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Juliet shares her experiences of bullying. Thank you for sharing! This is exactly what MAASU is about. We want to create a space for Asian-Americans to feel safe and accepted.
Please send us YOUR stories to: advocacy@MAASU.org
Like us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/MidwestAsianAmericanStudentsUnion?fref=ts
Follow us on Twitter: @MAASUFightsBack
The Midwest Asian American Students Union is launching an anti-bullying video campaign! Feel free to submit yours to either their tumblr, their email, or to me and I will pass it along. Tag it with #MAASUFightsBack on Twitter and Tumblr!
Here’s my video.
63 notes (via maasufightsback)
Utah family hopes son’s suicide buries bullyingTaylorsville • They say school officials didn’t handle teen’s situation properly, hope his legacy keeps other gay students from ending their lives.Inside their Taylorsville home, the family discussed for the first time the last moments of their youngest son’s life and what they hope his legacy will be: helping gay students, especially those from minority cultures, handle bullying and better training for educators in dealing with gay youths.Taylorsville • Before 14-year-old David Phan grabbed the 22-caliber pistol loaded with a single bullet and shot himself, he had been suspended from Bennion Junior High, perhaps for bringing a condom to school, the teen’s parents said Saturday.
The parents said district officials mishandled the situation from the beginning, starting with statements made by district spokesman Ben Horsley, who described the teen as having “significant personal challenges on multiple fronts.”
John Mejia, legal director of ACLU of Utah, wrote a letter this week on behalf of the Phan family to Granite School District Superintendent Martin Bates.
“David’s parents have expressed deep concern that since the tragic incident, Granite School District officials, and particularly district spokesman Ben Horsley, have been extremely inappropriate in their public statements about David and his family,” Mejia wrote in the Dec. 12 letter. “We urge you to immediately cease and desist from any further release to the public of any information about David and his family.”
On Nov. 29, the day David committed suicide, his mother, Phuong Tran, said she was called at work by the principal, who informed her David had been suspended. When she arrived and asked for an explanation, Tran said school officials brushed her off, perhaps because of her heavy accent.
Here is what she understood: Another student had complained — had David made a sexual overture? — and when district officials searched David’s backpack, they found a condom, Tran said.
“I asked [the principal] why he was suspending my son,” Tran said. “He told me: ‘We will discuss on Tuesday.’”
Nhuan Phan, the teen’s father, added: “We have a right to know as parents. Nobody told us anything.”
Afterward, Tran took her son home, asked him if everything was all right and if he wanted lunch. After being reassured by him, she returned to work.
They were the last words between the mother and son.
Later, she found a suicide note in his room that read: I had a great life but I must leave.
David walked back to school after his mother left, reaching the pedestrian bridge leading to the school’s campus shortly after 3 p.m. and shot himself as his peers watched in horror.
The family said David’s feelings of desperation could have been building. On the day before he died, during Bennion Junior’s holiday fundraiser, David got a “singing” telegram from a boy, provoking laughter among the students, his parents’ said. While David laughed along with them, his cousin said he was mortified.
David had come out to his older brother and other family members about a year ago, then about three months ago to his mother, and finally, to his father.
David’s family described him as an avid outdoorsman who worked at local gun shows, practiced at local firing ranges and wanted to serve his country in the Army.
Phan remembers how he hugged his son when David told them he was gay and told him he loved him and wanted him to be safe.
After the boy’s suicide, the parents said they felt they were trapped in a revolving door. Inside it, spinning with them, was the death of their youngest son, all the sadness, horror and questions. Outside, was the media storm of questions and school officials’ offensive responses.
They were confused about a statement released by district spokesman Ben Horsley the day after the suicide: “Counselors have further remained in close regular contact with [the boy] because of other issues in his personal life. Despite specific personal inquiries, [the boy] never reported any further bullying concerns and, on the contrary, reported that things were going well.” But David’s parents said they knew nothing of counseling, beyond that given to students about future careers.
“Why didn’t they tell the parents? Don’t they have a right to know?” said Phan, tears running down his face.
On Saturday, in response to a question from The Salt Lake Tribune about whether the school was obligated to inform David’s parents that he was seeing a counselor, Horsley clarified that it was a guidance counselor, not a mental health specialist.
“As an educational entity, our guidance counselors are not licensed for these types of [mental health] services,” Horsley said. “When needed, we make notifications to the family.”
He declined to elaborate on his earlier comment about David’s “significant personal challenges on multiple fronts,” saying the district was withholding that information “for the family’s privacy.”
Now, the Phans and their relatives are talking about the legacy of their son and brother, who they describe as well-loved with a strong family support system, but who could not deal with the bullying and the burden of being a gay Asian student in a school they believe did not support him.
They have enlisted the help of Steven Ha, a Salt Lake City Asian community activist, with ties to both the Vietnamese and gay communities. Ha said he will introduce the Phan family, who want to learn more, to local gay activists and assemble a group to address several issues, primarily suicide prevention for gay-ethnic youth.
“We’re not interested in suing but working with credible sources. That’s how we want David to be remembered,” Ha said.
Those interested in helping can email him at steven.ha.usa@gmail.com.
Ha added that he has received letters from Asian youngsters saying they feel they’re in the same situation as David and have considered suicide, too.
“We don’t want another incident like this to happen,” Ha said, as David’s parents nodded in agreement.
Dương Nghệ Lý, Looking back on racial violence at South Philly High
In December 2009, Asian immigrant students at South Philadelphia High School were targets of racially-charged attacks. Due to the school’s failure to respond, Dương and other fellow high school students organized an 8-day boycott that received national attention.
(via surnameviet)25 notes (via surnameviet)
Please share this post to help spread awareness of the issue of bullying and to help us fight back against bullying. A memorial account has been set up by the family requesting that in lieu of flowers that donations can be made to Anti-Bullying Foundation: In Memory of David Phan. This account is set up with Wells Fargo and donations may be made at any branch or online in reference to the account name (Anti-Bullying Foundation: In Memory of David Phan) or using this account number: 1015981093. The family wants to make it clear that all money donated will go to raise awareness of the problem of bullying and promote the education of anti-bullying and that all funeral costs have been covered by David’s family. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3446897790003&set=a.3416562151631.113425.1797430317&type=1&ref=nf
::VIEWERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED::
(I really do apologize if this offends anybody)
I started crying. This is horrible. That poor boy didn’t deserve to be treated like this. People are animals. I pray that he was alright in the end of it all and I hope all those boys were caught! This is just disgusting. I don’t even know what to think.
I am sick and tired of bullies! When is it going to end? This is disgusting. Absolutely horrible.
This literally makes me sick.
EDIT: YouTube removed it, but to get the low down of what happened: 7 young men (made of both Asian and white young men) attacked a Chinese boy behind a school. He was helpless. You can hear him say “Please no more. Don’t hit me anymore please.”, but it’s apparent that his English wasn’t to great. He could barely defend himself with words let a lot his physical body. The video itself was even film by one of the bullies it seems to add to that.
Asiance released the names of the assailants:
Todd Ramos is wearing the grey and black hoodie.
Ray Long is the white boy with no mask.
Wesley Wu (who deleted his facebook) is wearing the grey hoodie, the main dude that kept hitting him.
Easley Wu is wearing the big puffy jacket with fur hood/blue striped adias pants.
Johnny Li is wearing the blue hoodie/blue snap back on,
Danny Hui is dressed all black/northface jacket/black shoes.
The Chicago police are involved and are currently holding 6 people in relation to the crime. This took place just south of Chinatown near South Princetown Avenue. HOWEVER, the police say that this beating was not racially motivated, but was spurred from an earlier event in which 20 people jumped two teens.
There is a re-upload of the video here, viewer discretion advised!
7 notes (via lady-jei & obscurechan)
I’ve been a follower of her for a long time and in her vid, she opens up about being bullied for her face (read: race) when she was young. Now she’s Youtube famous, has a ton of street cred for being an excellent makeup artist and has a really good take on bullying. Helpful to the rest of the Asians who feel like they’re alone in their situation?
Sikh teenager raps about how Asian Americans are the most bullied in school. Following 9/11, violence and prejudice towards Sikhs extremely increased, leading to harassment, assault, crime, and murder.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Michigan-basedGulshan Singh, 18, felt strongly about countering the widespread bullying of Sikh teenagers in the U.S. “I wanted to do something about it but never knew how to, or never had the means to do it,” said Mr. Singh. In the end, he chose to rhyme about it – and to make a three-minute music video to go with it.
Experts agree that the bullying of Asian Americans, and South Asians in particular, is a major problem in the U.S. and say that 9/11 contributed to an increase in the phenomenon in recent years. “There is a connection between the rise in hate crimes after 9/11 against Asian Americans, such as those mistaken for Arabs and Muslims, and racist bullying,” said Eliza Noh, associate professor of Asian American Studies at California State University, Fullerton. “Sikh Indians are often mistaken for Arabs,” she said. Asian Americans were the ones who were bullied most in the U.S., according to a 2009 survey by the U.S. Justice and education department, cited in a recent news report.
There are other reasons why Asian-Americans might be more vulnerable. “They are sometimes seen by their classmates as being ‘nerds’ for doing well in school or for being ‘teacher’s pets,’” said Adrienne Nishina, assistant professor of human and community development at the University of California, Davis. Asian American students are also more likely at having a harder time dealing with bullying, experts say. “They are not brought up to be psychologically expressive in their culture or they may be afraid of revenge from bullies or they may not know to whom to speak about their problems,” said Jin Shin, associate professor of psychology at New York’s Hofstra University in an email interview.
What happened to Private Danny Chen?
If you recall, Danny Chen was a 19-year old from Manhattan’s Chinatown who died while in Afghanistan. Reports claim that racially charged bullying may have led to his death.
OCA-NY (awesome organization, you should definitely look into it) put together this letter to the Secretary of the Army requesting a public and detailed investigation into his unfortunate death.
October 17, 2011
The Honorable John McHugh
Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20310-0101
Dear Honorable McHugh:
On behalf of OCA-NY, and the undersigned organizations and individuals, we are requesting a meeting with you to discuss the community’s concerns regarding the recent tragic death of Private Danny Chen, a resident of Manhattan’s Chinatown.
Founded in 1976, OCA-NY (formerly known as Organization of Chinese Americans) is a civil rights organization and one of 80 chapters and affiliates nationwide of OCA, a national organization based in D.C. Our mission is to protect and advance the civil, political, economic, and cultural rights of Asian Americans.
Two months ago, Private Danny Chen of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division was deployed to Afghanistan. On October 3, 2011, Private Danny Chen died, but not from combat injuries. He was found dead in the living quarters of the army base where he was stationed in Afghanistan with an alleged gunshot wound below his chin. The community deserves to know the truth in a timely manner as to the circumstances leading to Private Chen’s death and the cause of his tragic death.
Each year, tens of thousands of brave young men and women, including thousands of Asian American sons and daughters are recruited into the army to serve and risk their life for America. These brave young men and women need to make an informed decision before putting their life on the line. They need to know what affirmative steps the army is taking to integrate, support, and protect its soldiers, particularly minorities who are living and training at these bases. Our community needs guarantees from the army before their sons and daughters enlist that they will be respected and protected by their peers and superiors, especially in the living quarters of an army base where they should have an expectation that they are safe among comrades.
We ask that you please contact Liz OuYang, President, OCA-NY, lizouyang@aol.com, (718) 650-1960 or Tom Hayashi, Interim Executive Director, OCA National, (202) 223-5500 to arrange a meeting.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth R. OuYang, President of OCA-NY
To sign the petition, click here.
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