Last Saturday, over 150 people attended a candlelight vigil in Boston for the victims of the mass shootings in Monterey Park where 11 people were killed (including 10 Chinese immigrants) and Half Moon Bay, California, where seven immigrant migrant workers (five Chinese and two Mexican) were killed. The event was organized by the Chinese American Citizen Alliance Boston (CACA Boston), the Chinese American Heritage Foundation (CAHF), and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England with the support of more than 60 organizations throughout New England.
Among many other elected officials, Mayor Fuller attended the vigil, sharing her support on behalf of the City of Newton for the Asian community as it mourns the victims, and calling for the passage of “sensible gun laws.” “As the Mayor of a City with a large, thriving, engaged Chinese community, I join with the people of Newton to mourn those lost. We support our Asian and Pacific Islander neighbors who are feeling the shock and trauma of another tragedy, which comes on the heels of a spike in anti-Asian hate. As the Mayor of Newton, as a mother, I am appalled by the continuing toll of gun violence. Again, I speak out to demand that our nation move beyond discussion and act to stop these tragedies by passing sensible gun laws across our country.”
Newton resident Wilson Lee, President of the CACA Boston, said he and his wife, Esther, “see our role as building a bridge to bring not just our own people together, but also bringing African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, Jewish Americans, Islamic Americans, and the LBGTQ community as allies to support each other locally and nationally.”
Ward 3 School Committee member Anping Shen attended the event with fellow Chinese American Association of Newton (CAAN) members and stated, “As a Chinese American and Chinese American Association of Newton founding president and current member of its board of directors, I am profoundly saddened by these two tragedies in California. They are particularly horrible events occurring during the Lunar New Year celebration, a most joyful and delightful holiday season for our families in the Chinese and Asian communities. I deeply mourn and pray for the victims and their families. I will continue to join all our advocates to fight for restrictive gun control, to raise awareness of social and emotional well-being of our community members, especially those who have been seriously impacted by their challenging life environment, among other factors.”
Wilson Lee also stressed the issue of mental health, calling it “a REAL silent killer in the AAPI community.” He said, “This has always been an issue that our older generations do not want to admit mental health is a problem. We need to work collaboratively and engage the advice of religious leaders, social workers, and medical and healthcare professionals on how best we can help to identify potential problems and how we can best be of service. He added, “CAHF is working closely with the Committee of 100 and Columbia University on The State of Chinese Americans in 2022. We just finished the survey last month, which includes a number of mental health-related questions and has over 6,300 responses.”
