February 20, 2023 |
On January 28th, members of the AYR group attended the second year anniversary of grandpa Vicha Ratanapakdee’s death. Vicha Ratanapakdee, a victim of AAPI hate, was viciously pushed to the ground in his neighborhood and eventually succumbed to his wounds. The remembrance started with a poem about the hate towards the AAPI community, but then shifted into a story about resilience. Then, Monthanus Ratanapakdee gave a speech about her father.
Later, we gathered in Portsmouth square where Sasanna Yee, granddaughter of Yik Oi Huang led the group through a yoga exercise to center ourselves and reflect. Then we heard from other victims of AAPI hate. They shared their stories on what they faced and how they overcame them. At the end, like the Taiwanese tradition, we wrote our wishes for the next year down and put them in a lantern to send into the sky.