"Stop Asian Hate"
For this piece, I wanted to focus on the “Stop Asian Hate” movement/hashtag from earlier this year. Despite only becoming a trending hashtag this year, the message is endlessly relevant. As a person of Chinese/English heritage, I’ve experienced hatred and racism towards Asian people my whole life— from primary school kids to high school teachers, from family, friends, clients and weird dudes at parties. As a mixed race person, I’ve also felt it from other Asians, questioning or making fun of me for not being Asian enough.

Unfortunately, this has only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the surge in anti-Asian racism that followed. My heart breaks for all the Asian people who have been attacked and abused by cowardly racists, at home in Australia and across the world.

It seems obvious to say but: Anti-Asian racism must be called out! At every level! From primary school playground insults, to played-out stereotypes in film and TV, to the brazen assaults we’ve witnessed in public spaces. Together, we must work towards racial equality, through anti-racism education in schools, supporting Asian and minority owned businesses and being advocates for the civil rights of all non-white people. 

"You are Worth More than your Productivity"
For my lettering piece around the theme of “kindness”, I wanted to focus on being kind to ourselves during these strange times. With a lot of folks working from home and/or being in lockdown, the line between work and life has blurred or disappeared completely. This had led to weird feelings about not being able to do as much as work as we once could pre-pandemic, or to connecting our work productivity directly to our happiness and sense of self.

It’s important to remember during these strange times, and always really, that our worth is not based on our productivity, especially in relation to work. Our worth comes from our actions and words, towards others and towards ourselves. As we live through a variety of crises, it’s important to be kind to ourselves, give ourselves time to rest and relax, and to know where our worth is truly based.