Finding power together
Asian American women in Dallas area form group designed to offer support, empowerment in face of racist violence
DALLAS — On a recent Sunday, the sound of fists striking their targets filled Flag Pole Hill Park as about 20 Asian American women and their guests practiced self-defense basics.
Each clawed punch, elbow strike and knee thrust grew increasingly smooth and self-assured as they trained with instructors from Chamberlain Studios, a local martial arts studio.
The Dallas Women of Asian Descent group has offered support in the face of increased anti-Asian violence fueled by political rhetoric during the pandemic. Asian women have reported 2.3 times more hate incidents than Asian men, according to a recent Stop AAPI Hate report of close to 3,800 incidents since March 2020.
And after a mass shooting in Atlanta — where six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent — the group’s members have found solidarity in no longer being alone.
“It’s a space for us to be able to connect over shared values and experiences,” said Amy Tran-Calhoun, a lead organizer. “Sometimes, you just want to be in community with people who get it.”
At Flag Pole Hill Park, the women also recognized how rare it was to share space with fellow Asian Americans willing to make mistakes, learn and grow together.
“This is making us not feel stupid that we don’t know self-defense,” said Kim Cummings, who works in human resources at a children’s hospital. “Being able to channel our ancestors’ strength and resilience is important.”
The idea for Dallas Women of Asian Descent germinated after a panel hosted by Dallas Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation, a racial equity nonprofit, in September 2020. Over Zoom, the panelists discussed race, racism and racial equity in the Asian American community.
Afterward, moderator Stephanie Drenka reflected on how sharing even a virtual space with other Asian Americans was refreshing. It made her feel seen and understood — a visibility that had been lacking even before the pandemic.
Tran-Calhoun, a panelist, was feeling the same thing. When she moved to Dallas in 2014, she struggled to connect to the communities she wanted to be a part of — especially in nonprofit education, where she found her co-workers were reluctant to talk about race. The panel was an opportunity to create the community she and other participants were looking for, so they decided to meet monthly.
The group started small, with about five women, but it grew through word of mouth. Their conversations ranged from developing the mission, vision and values of the group, to unpacking the experience of being both Asian and a woman in America.
“It was something that I didn’t even realize that I wanted. Every time we have these meetings, it’s very validating,” said Sophia Kwong Myers, a charter school administrator.
The group has had some growing pains. The Asian American community is not a monolith, and the diversity of the group has led to long conversations about colorism, the “model minority myth” and allyship with other communities of color. But tensions, as uncomfortable as they may be, are welcome, Tran-Calhoun said.
“It’s very much a space that’s built out of a labor of love,” she said. “I want it to be our thing that we develop and envision together.”