03/20/2021
Six Asian American Massage Therapists were murdered in hate based crimes in Georgia this week that left eight people dead. These were hate crimes targeted at Asian American Women. They were victims of hate crimes. They had families and friends, they were loved, they are sacred, they were community members, they were massage therapists and much more. May all of the victims lives be honored, may they be mourned and they must be respected.
My social media feeds should look a lot different as a massage therapist that’s a member of professional organizations and numerous Facebook groups for the profession.
All of the names have not been released. At the time of this post Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng are two of the massage therapist who’s names were released.
Even for those groups and organization who have posted many loosely acknowledged that these were in fact hate crimes, that these women were targeted because of their race. This field has so much work to do.
This country has a long history of violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Many isms, prejudices, and objectification are part of why this happened. The racist and misogynist responses, reactions and victim blaming is deplorable.
While the wellness industry continues to grow and profit off a long rich history of Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT), Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine and more. Asian, Black, Indigenous and other communities of Color have had their practices culturally appropriated, stolen and rebranded to the extent that too many practicing forget/ignore or don’t know where the practices come from. From Reiki to yoga, to the numerous types of massage many people here in the United States often picture a White women before they picture a person of color as a practitioner. Frankly it’s sickiening.
As a teacher and clinical supervisor I teach students and interns about safety in our field. Students and interns while eager to practice worry about their safety in this profession, this fear is real. For Asian American Pacific Islander Women as well as other Women of Color there is an additional threat of violence as this country is complicit in violence against women of color. Poplar culture continues to perpetuate stereotypes about our bodies, about this field and the lie that we are for comsumption.
The history and current practices of colonization, cultural appropriation and white supremacy has to be talked about in our field. How are we helping people with their wellness while steeped in toxicity? There is much that has to be done in our field and in this country.
As an ally, as a practitioner and educator I will continue having the hard conversations and pushing the spaces that I am in. I know that my liberation is bound to that of my siblings of color.
Our massage colleagues were taken from their beloveds they deserved better.
My heart is heavy, I am angry and sadden.
To address anti-Asian racism we must see the intersectionality.
