Video: Toshiko Hasegawa on standing up to hate during tremendously challenging times

The Cascadia Advocate
March 19, 2021

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Editor’s note: Last year, at NPI’s 2020 Spring Fundraising Gala, we were honored to have Toshiko Grace Hasegawa as one of our featured speakers. Toshiko’s reflections on standing strong against hate during tremendously difficult times are just as worth watching and hearing today as they were almost one year ago when she recorded them, especially given this week’s horrific murder spree targeting Asian Americans in Atlanta, Georgia. These are moments when we must do all we can to unite our country behind the progressive values we hold dear.

Meet Toshiko Hasegawa

Toshiko Grace Hasegawa, M.A. is the Executive Director of the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.

Toshiko is a life long resident of Seattle, Washington. She currently resides and was raised in Beacon Hill as a fourth generation Japanese American. She went on to attend Garfield High School in the historic Seattle Central District.

She has a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from Seattle University. Toshiko also received a bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Spanish Language and Literature as an undergraduate student at Seattle University.

She has earned certificates in effective business writing, grant writing for non profits and protecting human research participants.

This week, Toshiko announced her candidacy for Seattle Port Commission, a countywide office. She will be seeking the seat currently held by Peter Steinbrueck. You can learn more about her priorities on her campaign website.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Further reading

• Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Many Say More Policing Isn’t the Answer (Time Magazine)

• Anger And Fear As Asian American Seniors Targeted In Bay Area Attacks (NPR)

• Yellow Peril: 19th-Century Scapegoating (AAWW)

• Why it’s time to retire the term ‘Asian Pacific Islander’ (Seattle Times)

• Fifty Years Later, Former UC Berkeley Students Celebrate the Asian-American Movement They Began (KQED)

• The Return of “Yellow Peril”: Anti-AAPI Rhetoric and Policies Leading up to the 2020 Election (Stop AAPI Hate)

• Model Minority Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks (NPR)

Take action: Stop racism against Asian Americans

These nonprofits offer forms for reporting instances of racism and hate crimes:

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice

• Asian Pacific American Advocates

• Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON) — a joint endeavor with the Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University

Support this collection of fundraisers if you’d like to put your money to work to stop Asian hate and help victims of the murders in Atlanta.

Need a backgrounder on hate crimes? This guide, published in 2006, is a good starting point for people unfamiliar with this difficult topic.

Download OCA’s COVID-19 toolkit to learn how to avoid even unintentionally perpetuating and reinforcing harmful stereotypes and false narratives.