After several years of advocacy, the Asian American Pacific Islander Literature class has finally started at Berkeley High School. The class is taught by Matthew Laurel, an English teacher and Academic Support Coordinator.  According to Laurel, the class was championed during the pandemic, at a time when solidarity in the AAPI community was critical, given

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and with the pressing issue of violence and discrimination against Asian communities across the country, celebrating Asian cultures is especially important.

Recent controversy surrounding Doctor Seuss’s racist and caricatured portrayal of East Asians in his books has led to deeper questions being posed about xenophobia in American culture and the representation — or rather, misrepresentation — of Asian Americans in the media.

The March 24 Berkeley Unified School District school board meeting included conversations about school reopening in the fall, possible reopenings later this school year, and the spike in violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community that has been observed over the past months.

Asian American and Pacific Islander citizens have been targeted more than ever in the past year due to the blame they have unjustly received for the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sunday March 28 from 2 PM to 4 PM, the Asian American Pacific Islander Youth Rising rally was held at Aquatic Park in Berkeley. It began with a series of speeches, and ended with a march to the San Francisco Bay Pedestrian Footbridge to display banners and signs.

Anti-Asian sentiment has skyrocketed in recent months, though it has been a consistent issue for much longer. Especially in the wake of a virus seemingly having originated in China, fear of and racism against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community has fueled numerous hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.