There’s a variety of reasons why Asian Americans have been too invisible. Some of it is that the data are not collected or, or that granular data that divides Asians across different subgroups often are not collected. Some of it is being treated as the other, always being a perpetual foreigner, or even as the model minority myth—it’s another way of making invisible the heterogeneity within the Asian population.
There’s been a lot of stigma about mental health conditions, especially in communities of color, because we have centuries of experience of having to pretend we’re okay — even when we’re not — because it kept us safe. Because we’ve had to be so protective has meant that we have not gotten the services that we need and that we deserve.
Congratulations to C3EN partner Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness on receiving a $9 million grant from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott’s charity fund, Yield Giving!
The ecosystem here in Chicago is so unique, and the community development world is such a strong rich world. I want our community-based organizations like GAGDC to play more of a key strategic role just as our great colleges and universities and health systems have.
Everything in life, it’s all a group project—nothing is done best completely and totally alone when there are outcomes that impact us all.
It took me many years to be brave enough to speak honestly or put together what I was seeing and to be able to say, “This has social causation, and part of the social causation is structural racism and economic deprivation”… if I’m proud of anything it was to change the narrative around causation.