Hate crimes in California in 2022 was at an all-time high, with a jump of 20% from 2021. [https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Hate%20Crime%20In%20CA%202022f.pdf]

While overall, anti-Asian hate crimes/incidents have gone down in number following the easing of the pandemic and its accompanying anti-Asian rhetoric, it is still alarming that there were almost 10,000 reported cases between 2020 and 2021 alone. [https://archive.vn/qO57S] These stats illustrate that Asians are easily vulnerable to attacks; a single spark of hate can still ignite a prairie fire.

It's not a time then for complacency. Or to even entertain (the premature and mistaken) relief that the tensions are over. As the recent beating of 75-year old Filipino American Amadeo Quintara in his own garage in Las Vegas by a white man shows, [see Corin Lujan's "Against Hate and Loathing in Las Vegas], hate is a living, breathing organism that will always be a threat, no matter how much we wish it away.

With this issue, Positively Filipino begins a partnership with the State of California and its agencies, the California State Library, the Department of Social Services and the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate campaign. Through a state grant, PF will take an active role in providing historical and current information about anti-Asian hate crimes, assist in the documentation of incidents, and disseminate strategies on prevention and de-escalation. Our Act Against Hate section in the magazine and social media will be a valuable community resource for everyone who supports the struggle against hate, racism, discrimination and violence against Asians.

Have you or someone you know experienced an instance when you felt targeted and afraid? Tell us about it at actagainsthate@positivelyfilipino.com. When did it happen? How did it happen? What did you do about it? It may not be something monumental -- murmured curses about your ethnicity, a deliberate bumping that threw you off-balance, being refused service, being sneered at during your daily walk -- all these little slights that we often just ignore, add up. And to keep silent gives the perpetrators the green-light to proclaim their bigotry.

So let us, as a community, raise our voices against hate in whatever form. Together we can stop, prevent, document, and de-escalate ethnic tensions while making sure that we ourselves are free of anger and prejudice.

This week, we also begin a series on Bridge Generation personalities, as profiled by historian/chronicler Peter Jamero in his monthly blog called Peter's Pinoy Patter. First up, Don Velez, 85, whose woodworking products are available on Etsy.