Grief & Community // Atlanta Shooting
The Atlanta Shooting this past week was yet another reminder of how White Supremacy plays itself out, but this time it was different - it completely galvanized an entire Asian community in ways that tragedy like this never did in recent history.
Reading and watching the story unfold was seeing my worst fears being played out as I saw victims who looked like me and reminded me of loved ones. It was this gut wrenching feeling each time a name was released and a photo shown. The resurfacing of painful feelings that I once thought I healed from or were too small to address surged in my being again, but this time it was like the raging sea and its waves…it came crashing down hard.
And I know it did for many other Asian identified folks too as I read about their experiences of being Asian in America in relation to the shooting. I find their stories in me, and me in their stories.
For the first time in my adult life, I’m witnessing a tide of Asian folks seeking out community and support…to be less alone and to be seen & heard while the world continues to move forward with each passing day. As someone who recently held space for group support and am still attending these spaces of sharing and healing, I’ve never seen this many Asian folks show up in a room and bare their souls.
Seeing this is a testament to the collective mourning and a need to show up and be together during this time. To be in the safety of one another, and to be so raw in our emotions.
If I’ve learned anything about mourning, it’s that it comes with facing our trauma, grief and loss…loss of people, loss of who we thought we were, loss of ourselves and our identity, and re-piecing the world as we now understand it and how we see ourselves in it.
And getting through it takes time, space, and people. For many, it can be a very isolating experience, but in the day and age of the internet, finding community and people you resonate and have shared experiences with is more possible.
For me, healing, or moving from a place of experiencing pain to ease and wholeness, requires moving through the really ugly and disturbing parts externally and internally…including our own nuanced and complex relationship within ourselves and with the world where we live. It’s a lifetime of mindful work…not only for this moment but every moment in my life.
And as we heal and continually lift the veils that have been placed in front of us and remember all of our inherent magic and humanity, can we then truly envision and create a place where we all have a chance to truly be who we were meant to be and live with safety and dignity.
It won’t happen overnight, but like every advances in humanity, it will require all of us to heal, learn & unlearn, and create something better.
Rest In Peace
1. Park Soon Jung
2. Hyun Jung Grant
3. Kim Suncha
4 Ying Ae Yue
5. Xiaojie Tan
6. Daoyou Feng
7. Delaina Ashley Yaun
8. Paul Andre Michels
