{"id":276222,"date":"2026-04-20T01:48:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T01:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/276222\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T01:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T01:48:21","slug":"mayor-barbara-lee-proclaims-april-9-as-100-black-men-of-the-bay-area-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/276222\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Barbara Lee Proclaims April 9 as \u2018100 Black Men of the Bay Area Day\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Edward Henderson <\/p>\n

When Aurelle Garner stepped out of her car one summer evening and saw a group of youths marching down her street, her stomach dropped.\n<\/p>\n

What had begun as slurs hurled at her and her transgender children at a local park had escalated to violent pounding on their front door. Garner said that, before that incident, local law enforcement had repeatedly minimized her reports of harassment.\n<\/p>\n

It was not until she contacted the Legal Department at The LGBTQ Center Long Beach that her family finally found help.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where we\u2019d be if it weren\u2019t for their help,\u201d Garner, who lives in Southern California, said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t just give legal advice. They helped us navigate a system that had otherwise dismissed us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\"Aurelle<\/p>\n

Aurelle Garner, who received services from The LGBTQ Center Long Beach (Sponsored by AAPI Equity Alliance) to aid her transgender children. (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)<\/p>\n

That support exists because The LGBTQ Center Long Beach does not work in isolation.<\/p>\n

\"Mazda<\/a>TrendingMazda CX-70 Advanced Safety & Surprisingly Affordable #shorts<\/a><\/p>\n

The Center partners with the AAPI Equity Alliance under California\u2019s Stop the Hate program<\/a>, a statewide coalition aimed at preventing hate and supporting survivors.\n<\/p>\n

As the Los Angeles County Regional Lead, AAPI Equity Alliance works with the Center and dozens of other community-based organizations to connect people to legal aid, mental health services, and support. The programs also work in tandem with CA vs Hate,<\/a> the state\u2019s anti-hate hotline and virtual reporting system that connects people across California with organizations like the LGBTQ Center Long Beach \u2013 that provide support services\n<\/p>\n

Garner\u2019s experience illustrates the kind of harm that often falls outside the narrow legal definition of a hate crime but still leaves families traumatized and unsafe. It also shows how AAPI Equity Alliance\u2019s leadership in the Stop the Hate ecosystem translates state funding and policy into real, on-the-ground support.\n<\/p>\n

\"Patricia<\/p>\n

Patricia Roque (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)<\/p>\n

In May 2022, Patricia Roque said she and her parents were attacked after a late-night stop at a fast-food drive-thru in Southern California. After hitting their car, the other driver pulled alongside them and mocked them using a racist Asian accent. Then, he threatened to kill them. The situation escalated when the man returned while the family was waiting for police and assaulted Roque\u2019s father, fracturing his rib and choking her mother before bystanders intervened.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police arrived long after it was over,\u201d Roque told California Black Media (CBM). \u201cBy then, the damage was already done.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The following day, Roque\u2019s family was connected to the Filipino Migrant Center (FMC), a community-based organization that has received Stop the Hate funding and works within the broader AAPI Equity Alliance network. FMC provided immediate support \u2014 helping the family navigate legal options, organizing emergency financial assistance to cover medical bills and missed work, and offering emotional and community care while the criminal case unfolded.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the process is long and complicated. When you need help right away, that delay is a huge barrier. FMC was there immediately,\u201dRogue said.\n<\/p>\n

The criminal case did not result in the accountability the family hoped for. But Roque said the support she received transformed her relationship to her community and to advocacy.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this, I wasn\u2019t involved in organizing at all,\u201d she said. \u201cThrough this process, I realized my voice mattered. FMC helped turn something traumatic into a way to support others and push for change.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Stories like Garner\u2019s and Roque\u2019s are part of a much larger reckoning that began at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country experienced a surge in harassment, discrimination, and violence fueled by racist rhetoric.\n<\/p>\n

\"Filipino<\/p>\n

Filipino Migrant Center stands in solidarity against Anti-Asian Violence (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)<\/p>\n

In response, AAPI Equity Alliance partnered with San Francisco\u2019s Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University to launch Stop AAPI Hate in March 2020. Since then, the project has collected more than 9,000 reports nationwide documenting incidents ranging from verbal harassment and workplace discrimination to physical assault and child bullying.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople tend to think about hate only when it turns violent,\u201d said Kiran Bhalla of AAPI Equity Alliance. \u201cBut there are everyday acts of discrimination that people endure constantly. Without some kind of recourse, that harm just keeps going.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The data helped spur unprecedented action in California. In 2021, the State Legislature passed the $165.5 million Asian Pacific Islander Equity Budget, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Of that total, $110 million was dedicated to victim services, education, and outreach. In August 2023, California invested an additional $40 million to expand California\u2019s Stop the Hate program<\/a> to serve a broader range of communities affected by hate and discrimination.\n<\/p>\n

Today, the program supports roughly 100 nonprofit organizations statewide. As Los Angeles County Regional Lead, AAPI Equity Alliance coordinates grantees, facilitates cross-community collaboration, and helps ensure services reach those most impacted.\n<\/p>\n

A recently released survey<\/a>\u202festimated that approximately 3.1 million Californians directly experienced hate, with Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders, Black or African Americans, and other communities of color, including Asian Americans, among those most likely to experience hate.\n<\/p>\n

Black Californians, however, remain the most targeted group when it comes to reported hate crimes.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Nearly 48% of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults in California reported experiencing a hate incident in 2024, according to Stop AAPI Hate research. Most incidents were not criminal, leaving survivors with little recourse through the legal system.\n<\/p>\n

That gap is precisely where AAPI Equity Alliance and its partners focus their work. The Stop the Hate framework prioritizes non-carceral responses, recognizing that policing alone often fails survivors and can further harm Black, brown, and immigrant communities.\n<\/p>\n

Instead, the work centers on data and research, policy advocacy, community care, and public education. Through school-based programs, legal advocacy, emergency assistance, and survivor-centered services, the network aims to interrupt cycles of harm before they escalate.\n<\/p>\n

For survivors like Garner and Roque, that support has made the difference between enduring trauma in silence and finding a path toward healing and collective power.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people experience hate, there\u2019s often a profound sense of isolation,\u201d Bhalla said. \u201cThis work helps people get back to school, back to work, back to their lives. It reminds them they\u2019re not alone.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Get Support After Hate:\n<\/p>\n

California vs Hate<\/a> is a non-emergency, multilingual hotline and online portal offering confidential support for hate crimes and incidents. Victims and witnesses can get help anonymously by calling 833-8-NO-HATE (833-866-4283), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.\u20136 p.m. PT, or online at any time. Anonymous. Confidential. No Police. No ICE.This story was produced in partnership with CA vs Hate. Join them for the first-ever CA Civil Rights Summit on May 11, 2026. More information at www.cavshate.org\/summit.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

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