This racial solidarity zine pack includes 2 original zines written, designed and produced by 18 Million Rising. In the wake of a sharp rise in anti-Asian violence in the Bay Area and across the country in 2021, this limited run of zines is being released to raise funds for Oakland Chinatown Coalition’s Chinatown Ambassador Program and funding for Make Us Visible CT, an effort to include Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies in the high school curriculum in Connecticut.
The 18MR team wrote Unmasking Yellow Peril at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in collaboration with the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute (UConn), and Jason Oliver Chang, Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies (UConn) to address and historicize the escalation of anti-Asian violence and hate.
Call On Me, Not the Cops was written during the Black Lives Matter uprisings in the summer of 2020 -- the largest racial justice movement in U.S. history. As Asian Americans, we recognized the need for a culturally-specific roadmap to have conversations with our families about finding safety with each other, not the police.
Originally only released as a digital resource, we've now made this printed collection available for you to share, send, and read with your loved ones. In addition to the original letters, you'll find an updated introduction discussing the sharp rise in anti-Asian violence in 2020 and 2021, as well as links to an additional library of abolitionist learning resources, and a digital download.
8.5 x11, 16 full-color pages, includes 13 languages: Bengali/Bangla, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Sinhala, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Urdu, and Vietnamese. All translations were done by 18MR members, volunteers, and their families to ensure this letter could reach more of our elders.
8.5 x 5.5, 7 full-color pages of forgotten histories, archival images, unique collages, and critical contemporary analysis on Yellow Peril and how to resist it in the time of COVID-19.
100% of profits will support the Chinatown Ambassador Program in Oakland and Make Us Visible CT.
About the Beneficiaries
The Chinatown Ambassador Program is a community-led effort in Oakland, CA reimagining community safety and care for our elders and communities without the police. It was started in 2017 by Asian Health Services and Asian Prisoner Support Committee, led by formerly incarcerated folks, and is being relaunched and expanded currently. Click here if you would like to donate directly.
Make Us Visible CT is an organizing effort calling for comprehensive ethnic studies and equitable and anti-racist education by including Asian American and Pacific Islander studies in high school social studies curriculum in Connecticut. Click here if you would like to donate directly.
Do you live in Connecticut? Volunteer with the campaign to bring a robust Ethnic Studies curriculum to Connecticut public schools.
