My First Protest: Asian Americans and Activism

Bao Phi wrote a recent blog post in the Star Tribune, which was a compilation of several local and national Asian American activists writing about their first protest. His definition of “protest” is broadly defined as “an action to stand up for what you believe in”, and does not necessarily mean picketing or marching. His post seems to strike a nerve with some readers, based on the comments it has received, but I thought it was a worthwhile effort to make us think about whether we’ve been activists in our own lives, and what that means. My first protest was purely an accident. I happened to be in Washington D.C. on my senior trip, sponsored by my high school. It was the same day that Jesse Jackson was marching on Washington as part of the Rainbow Coalition. While I was probably too young at the time to understand the full implications of the protest, it certainly got me thinking about activism and protests. I’m certainly no activist the way Bao Phi is, but his blog is a good reminder we can all be activists in little things we do every day. Whether it’s just correcting someone when they use a term out of ignorance or signing a petition to support immigration equality, it doesn’t take that much.