2021 was a year of deep transformation for Asian Americans.
“Our communities weathered multiple storms, losing loved ones to COVID 19, the murders of massage parlor workers, increased white supremacist violence in our local Chinatowns, and much more. 2021 was a year of facing down innumerable demons. However, this year wasn’t a sudden moment of awakening, it was a tipping point.
We gathered to mourn our losses and seek comfort in our communities, and we organized like never before. As we came together we found that collectively, we already had the solutions to heal and to fight for deeper change. Because, the truth is, the pain and abandonment experienced by our communities didn’t start with the pandemic. These feelings stem from generations of people surviving the trauma inflicted by poverty, imperialism, climate disaster, xenophobia and racism. That’s why we witnessed so many new people looking to join a movement for radical change.
Today we are organizing under new conditions. The isolation caused by COVID-19 and the rise in anti-Asian violence has increased the immediate need for digital organizing skills. Here at 18MR we’ve always believed in the power of organizing online, which we know is thanks to years of hard work by disability justice organizers who created most of the digital organizing tools we rely on today…”
– 2021 Highlights Report, 18 Million Rising Staff
2021 HIGHLIGHTS
CULTURAL WORK ORGANIZING
This past year 18MR produced a library of creative media for political education that reached over 160,000 people.
18MR uses art, culture and technology as our way of door knocking in those digital neighborhoods to create community with people who are looking to be part of a movement for radical change. Our work with artists and arts organizations have visibilized Asian American-led environmental justice work, and projects like Fertile Ground, Call On Me, Not the Cops and Unmasking Yellow Peril gave our members tools to to talk with their families about moving towards abolition and understanding our stake as Asian Americans in fighting for liberation. As a result of strategic use of digital platforms, the projects have spread across the internet and across communities and continue to be used as community resources for workshops, discussions, and curriculum building.
Digital Organizing
In 2021, 18MR worked with over 15 community partners on 12 campaigns and projects, connecting our national membership to issues and grassroots organizing in real time. From calling for the pardon of Lam Hong Le, a Vietnamese refugee facing deportation, to working with 25+ community partners to stage a virtual Facebook walkout for platform accountability, 18MR uses digital first organizing to bring hyperlocal organizing to a national audience and support grassroots organizations like Make Us Visible CT, Oakland Chinatown Ambassadors program, and Southeast Asian Coalition Village. 18MR’s rapid response work includes digital campaigns such as Abolish the Filibuster, this Abolitionist Pledge, and taking on VICE to stop the exploitation of Cambodian genocide for media profit.
Skills Building
In 2021 our skills building trainings and workshops skilled up over 500 organizers, students, and people excited and interested in joining the progressive movement. All of 18MR’s public programming has either been free, or a pay what you can model to support accessibility regardless of income level.
Our partners ranged from formal institutions and organizations, such as Harvard, CUNY, and Asian American Advocacy Fund, to grassroots organizers and middle school students. 18MR designed and led Digital Organizing 101 and Media Based Organizing trainings and youth workshops on anti-Asian violence, the history of Yellow Peril and reimagining safety from an anti-racist lens. Our expertise and leadership was recognized and shared broadly in the media during a time where digital organizing with a racial justice lens was sorely needed.
