To Our Courageous Friends and Supporters,
On one of the dark days after the Capitol Insurrection and as anti-Asian hate was surging, I received an invitation from NIOT Board Member Grande Lum to tune into a virtual concert he was hosting at his college. Grande shared his feelings of loss and sadness at the death of Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84 year-old Thai man who had just been killed in a hate crime in San Francisco just a few blocks from where he had grown up. As the string duo, ARKAI, began to play a traditional American song after Grande’s story, I was filled with both sadness and hope; and my husband and I were mesmerized by their performance. Music-Art-Stories, these are the threads that connect us and inspire us to keep us going in hard times.
Please join us June 25
Not In Our Town Virtual 25th Anniversary Benefit Concert
4PM PT | 5PM MT | 6PM CT | 7PM ET
Register at niot.org/25
Your support has made it possible for us to counter hate and racism with people all over the country and around the world.
I hope you join us on June 25 to celebrate 25 years of community action and stories of hope and change.
Sending warm regards. Thank you for taking a stand against hate.
Patrice O’Neill
CEO/Founder Not In Our Town
