JubilAsian is an annual celebration hosted by Northwestern University’s Multicultural Student Affairs office as part of the May’s APIDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American) Heritage Month. JubilAsian is a celebration of the vibrancy, diversity, and resilience of the APIDA community at Northwestern and beyond. Each year, JubilAsian is planned by a dedicated committee of NU APIDA students who help shape its theme, goals, and structure.
This year’s JubilAsian theme is Boundless Solidarity.
Our Theme Statement
Follow us on Instagram @ JubilAsian2020
Our Closing Letter
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to JubilAsian 2020 and engaged with us over this past month. We honor the importance and necessity of the work you have put in to care for, connect with, and be in community with one another.
As JubilAsian 2020 comes to a close, our theme of Boundless Solidarity remains more important than ever. Boundless Solidarity means more than just overcoming physical distance and separation; it is about recognizing that our histories of struggle towards liberation are intertwined and connected. The same systems of white supremacy and oppression that led to anti-Asian violence in response to the COVID-19 pandemic also underpin the long history of state-sanctioned violence targeting Black communities.
We recognize that racism and state violence show up in vastly different ways for APIDA and Black communities, as well as for different parts of the APIDA community; that Black folks exist within the APIDA community; and that anti-Blackness exists within APIDA communities. We hold these multiple truths in order to move us forward with nuance and awareness, rather than let comparison hinder our engagement or sow further division.
Boundless Solidarity means we show up alongside Black communities in the fight for justice, interrogate and challenge anti-Blackness and racism within ourselves and our communities, and work towards collective liberation.
Below is a list of educational resources to continue building out your solidarity. Look through them, read them, and share them.
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A Different Asian American Timeline: This timeline places APIDA history in the context of other marginalized peoples, and helps us better understand the way our struggles and movements are interconnected.
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The Secret History of South Asian and African American Solidarity:
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Black and Asian American Feminist Solidarities: A Reading List
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Letters for Black Lives: Letters for Black Lives is a set of crowdsourced, multilingual, and culturally-aware resources aimed at creating a space for open and honest conversations about racial justice, police violence, and anti-Blackness in our families and communities.
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20+ Allyship Actions for Asians to Show Up for the Black Community Right Now
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18 Million Rising’s Black History Month Reading List for Asian Americans
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The Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit represents the work and thinking of 15 grassroots organizations with Asian American bases living in the most precarious margins of power. The toolkit is broken up into three parts: racial justice training, organizations in racial justice movement moments, and resources.
We encourage you to continue practicing Boundless Solidarity in whatever ways make sense for you, whether that is attending a protest, contributing to community bond funds, engaging in reflection and self-work, having conversations with friends and family members on combating anti-Blackness, helping out with community clean-up efforts, signing petitions demanding justice for victims, sharing information and resources, taking part in campaigns for police accountability, and/or supporting Black-owned businesses. Here is a list of resources that includes many ways to take action, educate, and find your place in this moment.
There are so many ways for you to continue to engage in the spirit of Boundless Solidarity, and you are not alone in your efforts. We hope you continue to find strength and inspiration with the APIDA community and MSA - we are here for you.
In the spirit of healing, we acknowledge and honor the Potawatomi, Odawa and Ojibwe Tribes as well as the Menomonee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations; the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.