Three years ago today, eight people – six of them Asian women – were senselessly murdered in three spas across the Atlanta metro area. For many Asian Americans, this act of violence was a turning point in the national movement for racial justice, with millions taking to the streets to protest anti-Asian hate. At the same time, it was a moment of acute grief, anger, and anxiety.
On the third anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings, we caught up with Sonjui Kumar, who chairs the board at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta — one of the first organizations to respond to the crisis.
Keep reading for our full conversation.
Q: How did Advancing Justice Atlanta respond in the aftermath of the shootings?
A: Advancing Justice’s approach – whether that be working with community organizers, whether it’s voting rights or civic engagement or immigration or folks that are in detention centers – it’s about the person who needs help. We focused on the survivors, the victims, and the families because those organizations stepped up. And it was natural for us to do that. Our allies, which included domestic violence organizations and other community based organizations, who came to the table had the same approach.
Advancing Justice led the way and agreed to raise the money and figure out a way to distribute it. We were able to raise enough to make the families have some form of compensation for what they had gone through. We were able to provide that type of resource without them having to do anything.
We try to always talk about the fact that we are not a model minority – that there’s all kinds of people that make up the Asian American community and that this was really affecting the most vulnerable people of our community. When Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park happened, we were able to use our knowledge and what we learned during our time and just pass that information on very quickly. We created a blueprint for how we would come together in a crisis.
Q: What are the most urgent issues facing AAPI communities in Georgia today?
A: Our mission primarily revolves around advocating for voter rights, voting access, and immigrant rights. We actively work to protect immigrants and their rights, often speaking out against hateful legislation. There are these land laws that are now being passed throughout the country, including in Georgia.
The otherization of folks, specifically Asian American people, that’s the space in which we are continuing to fight. To not be made into somebody or a community that needs to be afraid of and that needs to be protected against. We are part of the community. We are taxpayers. We are, you know, just like everyone else. We were not in the business of anti-gun legislation. We were not in the business of promoting health and wellness. That was not our area, but it became our area because of the shootings.
Q: How did you see the mental health impact of the shootings on not just the victims and survivors, but the general Asian American community? How have you seen the role of art and poetry in the healing of the community since then?
A: Every year since then, our focus on approaching the incident has always been about reflection – honoring the families and not pulling anyone into the limelight that doesn’t want to be there. We let them be heard. Many of the families did not want their names out in the open – we never asked them to be.
There were talented people in the community that donated their time and their artistic process to make sure that this event was remembered in the most solemn and beautiful way. We wanted to honor the families and the victims.
Q: Looking back on the work you did around Atlanta spa shootings, what do you hope its legacy is?
A: I hope it’s remembered for how quickly we came together as a community. No matter what our particular positions were, we coalesced around the idea of comforting the survivors, providing resources to the families – including those who were injured and were dealing with the trauma of that. There were others that were dealing with the trauma that were not even present because they’re closely associated with the area of town or the business. I hope it’s remembered for the generosity of the community.
Q: What makes you feel hopeful about the future?
A: It’s interesting. A lot of times you’ll hear about some crazy thing that happened in Georgia or some other crazy law that we passed or what some very extreme person has said, and I’ll get these texts from my friends asking, why do you live there?
And I’ll say, you know what, Georgia needs? Georgia needs us. Why would we leave? It’s our home. We have built a really vibrant pan-Asian community with a big Korean, Vietnamese, South Asian, Bhutanese, and Cambodian population. We have such a mix of communities and we support each other. We have the largest AAPI caucus in the state legislature. We have young folks running for office. There’s lots of reasons to feel hopeful.
We’ve made the margin of difference in recent elections. Lots of coalitions were built during those elections and the spa shootings were smack in the middle of all those elections. It’s all in a way interrelated for the community finding itself – finding its voice. Unfortunately, the shootings came in the midst of all that and became part of the fabric of what has happened to us over the last few years.
If you are able, the team at Stop AAPI Hate invites you to lend your support by making a donation to organizations like Raksha, P.E.A.C.E, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta, which helped surviving individuals and families in the aftermath of the Atlanta spa shootings. Today, they continue to lead important work dedicated to community healing, racial justice, gender justice, and workers’ rights.
Looking back on Atlanta: Q&A with Sonjui Kumar