Background
In an effort to heal Asian and Asian American communities from racism, AAPI Equity Alliance is leading the development and implementation of Healing Our People through Engagement (HOPE), a program fostering healing, hope and community connectedness.
Our Approach to Healing Asian and Asian American Communities in LA
“A first generation immigrant participant was able to reveal an incredible amount of pain that she was expressing for the very first time. Tears were shed as she shared how the microaggressions she faced — being outcast and made fun of for her cultural differences and her accent — affected her mental health.”
With the leadership of Dr. Anne Saw, Associate Professor of Clinical and Community Psychology at Depaul University, and the support of Dr. Grace Chen and Dr. Sherry Wang, we developed a culturally-centered, community-based group intervention utilizing a Radical Healing Framework that…
- Attends to the distinct needs and strengths of different Asian and Asian American communities.
- Addresses specific ways one experiences – and can heal from – anti-Asian racism.
A Safe Space for Community Voices
Focus groups and interviews conducted in the Cambodian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Filipino communities helped to inform the development of the HOPE Program curriculum. Our first round of support groups launched in the spring of 2024 with 50+ participants, and a second group is planned for the Spring of 2025. Initial findings from this first round of support groups found that the…
- Curriculum raised awareness and understanding of what racism, radical hope and healing are.
- Program had a positive impact on participants’ life satisfaction, sense of connection and feelings of hope.
“Our culture traditionally does not emphasize sharing feelings and vulnerabilities, making it difficult to talk about experiences related to racism. One participant initially expressed distrust and hopelessness. After seeing how others shared their stories she felt encouraged to share her own story and said it was the first time she felt accepted in a group."
A Radical Hope for Our Future
“Radical hope allows for a sense of agency to change things for the greater good—a belief that one can fight for justice and that the fight will not be futile” (French et al., 2019, p. 13).
Our work is just getting started. The vision is to expand the HOPE program to additional Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities for both adults and youth so that we may all begin the journey towards radical healing.
The foundation of the HOPE program is rooted in the Psychology of Radical Healing Framework. Developed by a team of psychologists of color, the framework encourages research and practice that promotes healing, rather than merely coping, with the traumatic impacts of racism.
Radical healing is about becoming whole in the face of ongoing racism through connecting with others in our community, drawing strength from our community and culture, and engaging in individual and community actions that promote our collective well-being, resilience, and positive change.
“A big concern for fourth and fifth Japanese American generations was a loss of history,” Wang said. “One of the participants shared how their grandparents survived the internment camps and she fears the loss of that history because it is not being…passed on.”
Partner Organizations
This work was made possible by the California Department of Social Services through the Transformative Grants program. The program supports organizations with a track record for transformative impact in the areas of hate crime and hate incident survivor services, prevention, and interventions over a service term of 36 months.
