Detroit Evening Report, March 16, 2022: Community vigil marks year anniversary of Atlanta spa shootings
Executive Director of APIA Vote Michigan Rebeka Islam speaks during a community vigil March 16, 2022, at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.
More than 50 people gathered at Hart Plaza this morning for a community vigil honoring the 1-year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings. In March 2021, a gunman killed eight people, including six people of Asian descent. Rebeka Islam is the executive director of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote Michigan. She says there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to racial justice, especially amid a recent spike in violence against Asian American women. She says Detroit has played a big role in Asian American activism. Forty years ago, Chinese American Vincent Chin was killed after two autoworkers mistook him for being Japanese and beat him to death. Islam says Chin’s murder became a rallying cry for Asian Americans. After activists pushed for it, his case was the first time that federal hate crime laws were used in a case involving an Asian American victim.
Other headlines for March 16, 2022:
- Comerica-Hatch Detroit Contest returns, deadline to apply is May 12
- Jefferson-Chalmers community is bringing back “Jazzin’ at the Vanity” festival
- And in Detroit sports:
- NCAA Men’s College Basketball tournament begins tomorrow
- U-M, Detroit Sports Commission hosting 2022 NCAA Men’s Wrestling Championship
- Detroit Lions to hold in-person cheerleading auditions for the first time in two years
Listen: Today’s top stories from the Detroit Evening Report.
