Illinois officials are expected to join at least two groups during vigils Saturday for the victims of the Atlanta shootings this week, calling on people to take action against anti-Asian attacks across the U.S.
At least three Illinois groups will host virtual vigils this weekend in prayer and bringing demands before state government concerning Asian American equity.
At 11 a.m., United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations will unite with Asian American organizations across Chicago for an hour-long virtual vigil for the families of women killed in Georgia. To register, click here.
“We condemn the Anti-Asian hate, gender-based violence, and white supremacy that led to this violent loss without accountability in the United States for years," Inhe Choi, executive director of the Hana center, said.
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Joined by Illinois' lieutenant governor and other officials, the state's Asian American Caucus will hold a virtual vigil at 1 p.m. "to remember the lives tragically lost in Tuesday’s senseless shooting in Atlanta, and to unite together to confront the xenophobic and racist hate behind the violence."
To register, click here.
Rev. Jesse Jackson announced he would join leaders Sunday at 11 a.m. at the First Korean Methodist Church in Wheeling to call for an end to attacks on the Asian community.
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“It was a massacre, and it should be categorized as hate crimes,” Rev. Jackson said of the fatal Atlanta spa shootings of six women, four of whom were of Asian descent. “These shooting should be a hate crime. We should embrace and protect the Asian community. They should not standalone.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris called for the U.S. to unite against hate and speak out against violence targeting Asian Americans in an address in Atlanta on Friday.
The public remarks came after the president and vice president met with Georgia Asian American leaders in the wake of the shooting rampage in the Atlanta area that left eight people dead, including six Asian women.
While law enforcement is still investigating the suspect's motive, both Biden and Harris were clear: The shootings come amid a rise in discrimination and violence toward Asians and Asian Americans, and the country must work together to address it.
"Hate and violence often hide in plain sight. It's often met with silence," Biden said. "Our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit. We have to speak out. We have to act."
"It's on all of us, all of us together to make it stop," the president said, emphasizing that "words have consequences."
Biden urged Congress to pass hate crime legislation to help combat the rise in violence against Asian Americans during the Covid pandemic and the Violence Against Women Act.
