Awkwafina has pledged to donate her quarterly music sale profits to help small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic in New York City’s Chinatown.
What We Know:
- Nora Lum, known professionally as actress and musician Awkwafina, shared on Instagram that she will be donating to the grassroots organization “Welcome to Chinatown” along with two other initiatives, including rapper China Mac’s movement #TheyCantBurnUsAll. China Mac said the slogan #TheyCantBurnUsAll formed after an 89-year-old Asian woman was set on fire earlier this year in Brooklyn.
- In Awkwafina’s post, she shared about her own family’s deep history with New York City, citing her grandfather’s restaurants in the Bronx and Flushing, Queens. She then goes on to say how deeply it has suffered from the coronavirus pandemic, not only from the economic toll it has taken on businesses, but also the rising rates of xenophobic hate crimes on the Chinese community.
“To see what the pandemic has done to my city, and especially it’s Chinatowns is devastating,” she wrote. “With a rising rate of xenophobic hate crimes, and an economic standstill leading to closures of legendary New York staples that I grew up with, I owe it to my family to help struggling businesses during this time.”
- Co-founder of Welcome to Chinatown, Jennifer Tam, said Awkwafina’s contribution will be critical in helping fund its grant program, The Longevity Fund. The Longevity Fund was created to help 40 local businesses sustain their operations and to combat financial loss due to the Covid-19 crisis. “Chinatown is very multigeneration and has a very rich history. It’s a culturally significant enclave for Asian Americans,” Tam said.”When Awkwafina shared her personal story and posted that she was donating, it was a pleasant surprise for us, but it aligns with the core of the Welcome to Chinatown mission.”
- Since it’s launch six months ago, Welcome to Chinatown has funded $5,000 for 10 grantees, including all kinds of small businesses, among them restaurants, grocery and retail stores, health markets, a dance studio, a bakery, and a physical therapy clinic. Tam and her co-founder, Victoria Lee, shared they were compelled to start the movement after they witnessed their neighborhood suffer because of the virus and the xenophobia that came with it.
- The city’s Commission on Human Rights reported that 42 percent of complaints filed in March and April were specifically anti-Asian, with a drastic increase of Anti-Asian hate crimes. A website, “Stop AAPI Hate,” which includes a tool to self-report harassment, discrimination, and violent attacks, reported in mid-May, nearly 1,900 incidents of anti-Asian discrimination across the country. In August, the NYPD announced the formation of an Asian hate crimes task force.
- Tam also shared that they noticed the potential for an inequity gap for immigrant and minority-owned small businesses who weren’t going to benefit from federal loan programs like the Paycheck Protection Program. A report in April from the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending found that about 75% of Asian-owned businesses stood virtually no chance of receiving loans under the program through mainstream banks or credit unions.
Awkwafina’s fame began her viral music videos. She is best known for her movie performances in The Farewell and Crazy Rich Asians as well as for co-creating and starring in the Comedy Central series Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens.
