Several candle-lit bags lined a stretch of Locust Walk Tuesday night. Written on each of these bags was a specific hate crime and its victim.
The candlelight vigil, hosted by several Penn organizations for Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, was planned initially to take place on College Green but later was moved to Houston Hall due to the rain. The event featured a series of speakers, including both local activists and students.
Each speaker represented diverse backgrounds, ranging from Anuj Gupta -- a Penn Law and Fels Institute for Government student, who is also the student chapter leader of Project-IMPACT Philadelphia -- to Lee Carpenter, a gay rights lawyer. A common theme of awareness of hate crimes and unified activism was emphasized throughout the night.
"Based on the color of our skin... the length of our beards," Gupta said, "we face suppression of rights, deportation, physical abuse and sometimes even death."
Gupta stressed to the audience that the incidence of hate crimes in America "cannot be fixed overnight," but rather through the creation of "a unified voice," which can be heard by participation in the political process and also by "holding our political leaders accountable."
"Nobody's going to do this for us" Gupta said. "It is strictly up to us."
Carpenter is not a racial minority but still deals with the ramifications of hate crimes.
"I don't know what it's like to walk around with my difference on my back, in my face everyday," she said, but as an anti-violence attorney of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights, she deals repeatedly with victims of crimes perpetrated due to the sexual preference of the victim.
And from their recounts, she has learned that "people who hate don't just hate one kind of person, they hate you because you are not like them."
"I think this shows we have a lot in common," Carpenter added, again stressing the night's theme of unity. "We've got a coalition... and if you believe there is a commonality, you should take action."
The vigil concluded with an open mic session. Students offered reactions to hate crimes and their own advice for the eradication of this problem.
"Even within our own communities we have our discriminations," College junior Shivano Naidoo said. "It's very important for us to start there... within our own groups."
Although the audience was small, comprised of approximately 30 students, those who attended said the event was especially meaningful.
College junior Clarence Tong, vice chairman of political affairs for APAHW, said of the vigil, "I was so moved... there are very few things I've seen at Penn that have really inspired me."
Tong also helped to organize the event and said in choosing the speakers, "I wanted a diverse group of speakers to represent all the groups hate crimes are pertinent to."
Speakers included Hiro Nishikawa, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, and Muslim cleric Imam Nurideen as well as several students.
