The Sister City relationships is a broad-based, officially approved, long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. A Sister City relationship becomes official with a signing ceremony of the top-elected officials of the two local jurisdictions. Sister City partnerships have the potential to carry out the widest possible diversity of activities of any international program, including every type of municipal, business, professional, educational and cultural exchange or project. Sister City programs are also unique in that they inherently involve the three main sectors in a community: local government, businesses, and a wide variety of citizen volunteers (civil society or non-profit organizations). The Sister City program, exchanges have taken place in virtually all areas of the community – sports, art, culture, education, government and business – all of which have contributed to increased cross-cultural dialogue and understanding.

Our Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is witnessing  an unprecedented rise of violence on individuals of AAPI descent.  The recent murders in Atlanta, Georgia of which 6 of the 8 dead were women of AAPI descent and the continued  targeted beatings and fatalities of AAPI individuals, of which mostly are seniors and women, saddens and angers us.  Although we do not know the exact reasons for these horrific crimes, we do know that attacks on Asians of all backgrounds have increased and we demand that justice be sought against these assailants and killers.  We stand in solidarity with our AAPI community who are raising awareness through the “Stop AAPI Hate” campaign and those who are working to address these violence and tragedies with our local, state and federal leaders.

If you are interested in supporting efforts to address the violence, below is a listing of some organizations that are actively working to fight racism and violence against the AAPI community.

 

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta has created a fund to directly support the victims and their families impacted by the violent acts of March 16. https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-georgias-asian-american-community/ Chinese for Affirmative Action https://donate.givedirect.org/?cid=14711 one of the organizations that has collaborated on the Stop AAPI Hate reporting site. Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus is one of the nation’s oldest organizations dedicated to promoting and advancing the legal and civil rights of AAPIs. Hollaback! Offers trainings and guides to harassment intervention https://www.ihollaback.org/donate/