This is a repost on behalf of the Women’s Center. Original post can be found here.

The events, activism, discussions, support, and stories that stem from Sexual Assault Awareness Month are some of the Women’s Center’s most significant and special. Take Back the Night (TBTN) is one of the largest events the Women's Center hosts every year. To honor this special event that centers survivors stories and healing and invites our community to dismantle rape culture, we created a virtual TBTN experience.

We invite our community to visit this platform and engage in the visual and audio content. Spend time alone or with others sitting with the reflection questions and action items. Share your thoughts on social media using #UMBCtbtn.

Join the Women's Center on April 20th at 4pm to be in community as we experience virtual TBTN 2021 together!

Thank you to the student who shared their voices to make the experience a richer and deeper experience for the UMBC community. Special thanks to OIA staff, Bryan Barnes and Kevin McGuire, who took a glimmer of idea and turned it into a reality.

To learn more about UMBC's Sexual Assault Awareness Month programming and resources, visit our SAAM 2021 myUMBC post.

This is a repost on behalf of the Asian & Asian American Faculty & Staff Council. Original event post here. 

Please join other members of the Asian & Asian American Faculty & Staff Council for an open conversation on the recent tragedy in Atlanta and anti-Asian racism. We'll hold a space to reflect and to discuss ideas for how to best support our Asian American student, faculty, and staff community.

TODAY, Monday, March 22nd from 5-6pm

Join Webex meeting

ID: 1205902736

Password: JSRRJYmG



(US) +1 202-860-2110 (toll)

Access code: 120 590 2736

This is a repost on behalf of the Asian & Asian American Faculty & Staff Council. Original post here.

On the surge of hate crimes against Asian, Asian-Americans and Pacific-Islanders (AAPI), we want to share updated data and resources with our community.

According to Stop AAPI Hate’s March 2021 national report, 3,795 incidents of discrimination against AAPIs were reported from March 19 to February 28, 2021 via the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center. Below are a few highlights. Visit https://stopaapihate.org/reportsreleases/ for the full national report and other reports.

Verbal harassment (68.1%) and shunning (20.5%) (i.e., the deliberate avoidance of Asian Americans) make up the two largest proportions of the total incidents reported.

Physical assault (11.1%) comprises the third largest category of the total incidents. Civil rights violations — e.g., workplace discrimination, refusal of service, and being barred from transportation — account for 8.5% of the total incidents.

Chinese are the largest ethnic group (42.2%) that report experiencing hate, followed by Koreans (14.8%), Vietnamese (8.5%), and Filipinos (7.9%).

Women report hate incidents 2.3 times more than men.

Businesses are the primary site of discrimination (35.4%), followed by public streets (25.3%), and public parks (9.8%). Online incidents account for 10.8% of the total incidents.

Below is a list of action items and resources to address the current racism pandemic against AAPI.

1. Report Hate Crimes against Asian Americans

https://stopaapihate.org/ (12 languages)

https://www.standagainsthatred.org/report (5 languages)

Local and other reporting sites: https://movementhub.org/get-help/

2. Assistance with legal and social services through the Stop Hate hotline:

(Asian Americans Advancing Justice partnered with Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and their Stop Hate project)

 1-844-9-NO-HATE

3. Know your rights

(1) Legal rights to be treated fairly and without discrimination: Federal and State laws and government sites to file a complaint (organized by states)

https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Stop_AAPI_Hate_Public_Accommodation_Law_Survey_200920.pdf

(2) Your rights if you are stopped by police, immigration agents, or the FBI (Resource provided by American Civil Liberties Union).

https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/know-your-rights-discrimination-against-immigrants-and-muslims?redirect=feature/know-your-rights-immigration#immigration

4. Bystander Intervention training (against harassment)

https://advancingjustice-aajc.org/events

5. Self-defense and Personal safety training

https://www.impactbayarea.org/online_classes

6. Civic Engagement: Collective justice and shared liberation

https://movementhub.org/make-change/

7. Culture Surge: an artists and culture makers’ coalition for justice, care and connection.

https://www.culturesurge.com/about-us

8. Other action ideas: Host a panel discussion, lead a community safety audit, create a survey for research, create Mud Stencils, hold a Chalk Walk, create a Guerrilla-Style Video about Street Harassment, organize a Protest or March, initiate legislative advocacy, host workshops, host a film screening, host Fund raising

https://www.ihollaback.org/holla-how-tos/

9. Donate

STOP AAPI Hate:  https://stopaapihate.org/actnow/ 

Asian Americans Advancing Justice: https://advancingjustice-aajc.org

AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://movementhub.org/donate/

Hollaback https://www.ihollaback.org/

American Civil Liberties Union https://www.aclu.org/

10. Share additional resources with others

https://www.thewechatproject.org/post/stopping-aapi-hate-resources (English/Mandarin)

https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co

https://advancingjustice-aajc.org/covid19

The current list of resources above in Korean:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dWbBGqptvB0Q-UzKpd7S15mx3A2DG-QZ/edit#

The Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff Council (AAAFSC) condemns any form of racism, xenophobia, and discrimination including hate crimes against AAPI. We continue our commitment to support Asian and Asian American students, faculty, and staff on campus and their families and communities.

In solidarity and support,

The AAAFSC board: Tamara Bhalla, Fan Yang, Soonhee Lee, Aditya Desai, Shuyan Sun

IMPORTANT DATES