As a result of COVID-19, hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased rapidly over the past few years. In 2021, anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City alone increased by 361% according the NYPD.
To protect the Asian American performers of the live theater community, the Asian American Performers Action Coalition, also known as AAPAC, has partnered with the Indie Theater Fund/IndieSpace.
They will work together to create a safe transportation fund for Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander performers.
This fund will provide grants towards taxi fares and car services for these performers to travel safely to and from the theaters they work in.
These grants will launch with $35,000 and be distributed in $250 batches worth about 10 car rides with the ability to reapply based on availability.
The American Theater Wing, the Actors Fund, and the Dramatists Guild Foundation will provide initial funding for these grants.
Further donations will also, in part, come from tax-deductible contributions made through PayPal.
The first priority, according to AAPAC member Pun Bandhu in a public statement for Playbill News, will go to performers “working Off-Broadway or Off-Off-Broadway who do not have institutional support and who feel like they have no choice but to use mass transit,” citing them as “the most marginalized” out of those this fund look to aid.
WJPS teacher Ms. Marks said, “I think the deeper problem of intolerance and ignorance is at the heart of this issue. Education and conversation – varied viewpoints engaging in a civil discourse – would help alleviate some of this negativity.”
WJPS teacher Ms. Bonanni said, “I think that maybe more visibility for the fundraising effort would be helpful.”
There is hope to see more of the theater community acting against the unjust and violent acts of Anti-Asian hate crimes in the future.
“NYC Taxi Ford Taurus” by JLaw45 is marked with CC BY 2.0.
