The Asian Pacific Islander Initiative hosted a town hall on Sunday to discuss recent crimes that have impacted the Asian community, and solutions on how to prevent violence moving forward.
The event was held at the San Diego Police Department’s Multicultural Storefront on University Avenue. One of the organizers, JoAnn Fields, who is the government and public relations director with the Asian Pacific Islander Initiative, rallied together community members, elected officials and local business owners to be a part of the discussion.
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“We’re going to write the concerns, we’re not just going to talk about it, we’re going to document it and we are going to seek action,” Fields said as two people took notes on pieces of large paper titled "concerns" and "possible solutions."
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Every chair in the room was quickly filled with representatives from various community organizations including America’s Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Union of Pan Asian Communities, among others.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was also there, alongside State Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber and San Diego Council President Sean Elo-Rivera.
Mayor Todd Gloria spoke to the tone of the moment and said, “When I talk to a lot of our AAPI community leaders, there’s a sense of fear, there’s a lot of concern and there’s a desire to try to understand how we can get past this and get back to something that’s far better than this.”
And, that same desire is what brought many of the town hall’s attendees to the event.
“Unfortunately, violence like this brings us together, because we share that same fear,” said Gil Ontai, one of the attendees at the town hall.
Ontai added that there needs to be a greater level of culturally-appropriate support for those in and around San Diego.
“We need to look inside our own communities,” he said. “There’s a lot of quiet suffering going on, especially in API communities where we tend to cover that up.”
A suggestion that was brought up repeatedly was a community center for people to comfortably gather. Multiple attendees mentioned this as a way for experiences — good and bad — to be shared and addressed, if needed.
The Asian Pacific Islander Initiative says this town hall was only the first step in trying to find a new path forward. They plan to host more events like this one in the near future.
