LOS ANGELES — Shan Pooviriyakul will help drive out Asian hate on Friday.
Seeing the anti-Asian sentiment across the nation, Pooviriyakul, a recording artist from Los Angeles, wanted to do his part to channel the negative energy into something positive.
“All of us are deeply hurt with everything going on,” Pooviriyakul said. “People are angry, sad, hurt, and I wanted to channel that into love and positive energy.”
On Friday, Pooviriyakul is organizing a car rally to raise awareness about the anti-Asian attacks and racism happening across the nation and support the Asian American community.
More than 150 cars are expected to participate, he said.
The rally will begin at 9 a.m. at the Greek Theater, and participants will drive through Los Angeles’ Asian enclaves, including Thai Town, Historic Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo, and Chinatown. The rally will end in front of Los Angeles City Hall.
The rally comes a couple of weeks after a deadly shooting at spas in Atlanta killed several Asian women. The shooting is seen as the culmination of a historic rise in attacks against Asian Americans during the pandemic. According to the nonprofit organization, Stop Asian Hate, there have been more than 3,700 hate incidents against the Asian American community from March 20, 2020, to February 28, 2021.
“The number of hate incidents reported to our center represents only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that actually occur, but it does show how vulnerable Asian Americans are to discrimination and the types of discrimination they face,” the report states.
The rally also coincides on the same day as Asian American community leaders call for a #StopAsianHate Virtual Day of Action and Healing. Asian American leaders worldwide ask the public to post #StopAsianHate on social media to show support for the Asian community.
“If we all join together and raise our voices against anti-Asian racism, we can keep our communities safe,” organizers of the StopAsianHate campaign said.
Pooviriyakul said he organized the car rally to empower the community and stand against all forms of racism.
“People feel alone and angry, and there’s a lot of fear,” he said. “I think seeing all these people rallying and driving out together will empower people and show strength and let them know that they are not alone and that they are being supported.”
Lyle Del Mundo, a board member at the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, said he plans to bring his family to the car rally.
“I’ll be there to stand in solidarity with the entire community,” Del Mundo said. “Asian or not, racism needs to be abolished.”