Girl, 13, Rallies Hundreds Against Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in the Bay Area

Ashlyn So, a middle school student and an emerging fashion designer, gathered hundreds of people from her community for a “Stand for Asians” rally in San Mateo on Feb. 27 at Mateo Central Park at 1 p.m., according to ABC7.

“Many people reached out to support this cause and to help out the rally, help organize it, and that lets me know that our community is good,” So said.

Local officials like Belmont Mayor Charles Stone, San Mateo City Councilwoman Amourence Lee, and Millbrae City Councilman Anders Fung attended So’s rally organized by the Millbrae Anti-Racist Coalition, NBC Bay Area reported.

“It heartens me that there are so many people who came out today to support raising awareness about anti-Asian violence,” Dawn Lee from the Anti-Racist Coalition said.

So told her mother, Angela Wu, she wanted to start a rally in response to the rising number of anti-Asian crimes across the country.

“I just thought this isn’t OK; I have to do something about this,” So said.

Her mother showed full support for her daughter, wanting to do it together.

“We’re open to whatever ideas that she has, and (if) she’s serious about it, then we’re going to go for it, we’re going to do this together, we’re going to figure this out together,” Wu said.

Cities in California, and other states such as New York, recently saw a string of violent attacks against elderly Asians. In Oakland, a man was arrested after pushing three elderly Asians to the ground, including a 91-year-old man.

Feature Image via ABC7 News @ashlynso_ (left), @millbraearc (right)