The Power of Activism on Instagram

They say a picture paints a thousand words and artists all over the world have taken to their brushes, sketching their dissent against racism and acts of violence towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Their message is clear: Asian Americans should not be subject to violence and injustice. Moreover, their images are correcting a racist and dangerous myth that ties Asians to the Covid-19 virus.

These powerful and notably feminist images are sparking conversations and a social movement to unsilence the issue and take a stand for the rights and dignity of Asian Americans. Social shares have had an exponential impact on rallying more people, businesses, and communities around the cause. 

Here are some powerful images that are seeding global activism on Instagram.

Anna Rogacheva

"Hate crimes and coronavirus-related discrimination against the Asian community have increased since the beginning of the pandemic. As an artist, I would like to raise awareness of this issue occurring across the world and to support the #drawadottogether campaign." - Anna Rogacheva

IG: @rogacheva_illustration

Julia Kestner

"We cannot allow white supremacy to pit us against each other or let "oppression Olympics" distract us from the real problem at hand. We are not each other's enemy; white supremacy is." - Julia Kestner

IG: @juliakestnerdesigns

Kent Yoshimura

"Even in our recent history, we've had our immigration restricted in the Chinese Exclusion Act, been displaced from our homes through Executive Order 9066, and singled out as harbingers of the "Chinese Virus" or "Kung Flu." The novelist James Baldwin once said, 'Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.' Now more than ever, we must face this challenge - not for conflict but for harmony." -Kent Yoshimura

IG: @kentaro

Ckam.designs

“Knowing that at any moment it could have been any of my family members is scary. My parents came to America for a better future, not a future where they live in fear.”

IG: @ckam.designs

F. Margarita

"Last time I had a bad day, I just cried in my bed. I didn't go murder Asian women." - Margarita

IG: @mf.visualarts

Nadia Fisher

“We have to speak up, show up, and stand by one another. Together, we will dismantle white supremacy.” - Nadia Fisher

IG: @ariadelsole

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

“We need everyone in this fight, whether you’re an ally standing in solidarity or an Asian American fighting for your right to live with respect and dignity.” - Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

IG: @alonglastname

Phoebe

“It’s unfortunate that we still have to endure hate in a world filled with so much beautiful potential. Sharing some words that I personally heard growing up within the Asian American community.” - Phoebe

IG: @creativebearrr

Michela Negri

Translated from Italian: “No one talked about it in Italy... The news didn’t make it onto our newsfeed as if racism isn’t something we care about. We can’t look away, and instead, we look closer at our own country and realize that even here, racism exists. I invite you all to fight against the plague of racism that is upon us.” -Michela Negri

IG @meriodoc

Watch this: #STOPASIANHATE Spoken Word by SAMMAY

"March 17, 2021 2:06PM" is performed by SAMMAY (Spiritually Awakened Matriarchal Magick Alchemizing You), a San Francisco-based Filipinx American artist whose work explores intergenerational trauma, embodied healing, and ancestral memory. As a daughter of the Asian diaspora, she invites us to sit in the discomfort of complexity and simultaneously swim in an ocean of nuance - in response to the heightened violence against the Asian community. 

This work was commissioned by Seismic Sisters. Visual art on set by Cece Carpio.

---

About the Artist:

SAMMAY (she/they/siya) is the daughter of Yolanda Peñaflor Dizon; granddaughter of Salvacion Orencillo Peñaflor and Carolina Agdeppa Dizon. Born from a collective dream where the ancestors danced, drummed, and sang around ceremonial fire in the mountain tops of the arkipelago - she is a choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, and cultural producer of Bikol, Kapampangan, and Ilokano descent who bridges the traditional and contemporary in centering embodied storytelling as a vehicle for collective healing and liberation. Through multimedia dance theatre, she invokes rituals for remembering and decolonizing - creating to honor the tapestry of indigenous epistemologies embedded in our urban landscapes. Raised on Tongva Land/LA County and a settler on Yelamu/San Francisco, her practice is rooted in the fundamental knowing that dance is the medium that connects the earth and ancestral realm - the passageway to transmute intergenerational trauma across cultural lines and geographical borders. SAMMAY is the Founding Artistic Director of intercultural multidisciplinary arts festival URBAN x INDIGENOUS and Core Member of acclaimed street dance theatre company Embodiment Project. She has been featured by Dance Mission Theater, CounterPulse, Kearny Street Workshop among others and was the first-ever Featured Artist for the United States of Asia America Festival 2018.

To follow their journey through the diaspora: www.sammaydizon.com.