Gov. Whitmer | Coping with COVID-19

Local Stories | Resources | Share Your AAPI Story

As the U.S. continues its battle against COVID-19, it is also battling a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. In a new report, the nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate reported over 6,600 hate incidents over the past year—an increase of 2,800 from the year before. One Detroit has been covering the responses and stories of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Southeast Michigan—you can find more of our local coverage below as well as links to resources both local and national.

Related Links:

LOCAL STORIES

Examining Michigan’s AAPI Community: A roundtable on the issues, activism and legislative developments

May 18, 2023

Michigan’s AAPI community finds itself at the forefront of advocating for change, with potential new state legislation, efforts to include AAPI history in public schools, and an outpouring of advocacy and activism shaping the present-day Asian American narrative. One Detroit Senior Producer Bill Kubota leads a roundtable discuss the issues.

2023 Detroit Free Press Film Festival features AAPI film series, Freep-produced documentary

Apr 20, 2023

Two Freep Film Festival filmmakers, Suzanne Joe Kai, director of “Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres,” and “Coldwater Kitchen” co-director Brian Kaufman, talk about the creative process behind each of their documentaries.

Metro Detroit Asian American community holds local vigil for Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay victims

Feb 2, 2023

Michigan’s AAPI community gathered in Madison Heights to hold a local vigil for the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay mass shooting victims and those in the community affected by the tragedy.

‘Bad Axe’ film hits the big screen to tell an Asian-Mexican American family’s story in rural Michigan

Nov 17, 2022

Following the breakout success of “Bad Axe,” a documentary about an Asian-Mexican American family navigating COVID and racial tensions in Bad Axe, Michigan, director David Siev and his family talk about the creation of the film and its premiere in theaters across America.

IS/LAND Premieres ‘Invisible Embrace’ Inspired by Japanese Internment Camp Survivors’ Stories

Sep 12, 2022

An archive of oral history interviews with Japanese internment camp survivors has inspired Detroit Asian American artists collective IS/LAND to create “Invisible Embrace,” a performance that provides audiences a space and experience to share, learn and reflect on the experiences of Japanese internment camp survivors. One Detroit Arts & Culture producer Sarah Smith talks with IS/LAND’s Amber Kao.

PBS NewsHour | 40 Years After Vincent Chin’s Death, Activists Work to Keep Legacy From Fading

Jun 22, 2022

Forty years after Chinese American draftsman Vincent Chin was brutally murdered outside a nightclub in Highland Park in 1982, activists from Detroit and across the nation continue to work to keep Chin’s legacy from fading in the midst of new waves of anti-Asian hate seen today.

Understanding the Differences between Hate Incidents and Hate Crimes:

Hate Incident=Hate Speech but no damage to person or property
Call Michigan Department of Civil Rights
MDCR counts incidents: 800-482-3604
StopAAPIHate.org
aapihatecrimes.org

Hate Crime=Hate Speech with damage to person or property
Get to a safe place
Call 911
Call local police; file a report
FBI 800-CALL FBI
AG Hate Crimes Hotline 313-456-0180
hatecrimes@michigan.gov

Local Asian American Organizations:

Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission MAPAAC@michigan.gov
American Citizens for Justice
Council of Asian Pacific Americans ryan@capa-mi.org
APIAVote-Michigan
Association of Chinese Americans 313-831-1790
Japanese American Citizens League-Detroit tbm0306@live.com
Korean American Community Detroit 248-945-9044
MIIndia.com
Philippine American Community Center 248-443-703
Rising Voices of Asian American Families