By Brian Dunlap

Last month Maylin Tu posted on Facebook about the pitch she submitted to ROCK PAPER RADIO’s Asian and Black solidarity project, #AZNxBLM. This project is a call for “solidarity and creative awareness-building” as it says on their website, in light of the surge of Anti-Asian violence, and “[sought] to fund a collection of original art and writing that responds to the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes with determination and humanity.”

As a writer who grew up in both Main and Beijing, Tu knew as soon as she heard about the project, that “I needed to pitch.” Now based in L.Á., where she writes mostly about pop culture, religion and identity, Tu said, “For weeks I had been overcome with emotion seeing members of the Black community standing up for us. It was like I couldn’t stop crying.”

“The day pitches were due (thanks, lifetime of procrastination), in a burst of bravado I reached out to Steph Cha, author of the book Your House Will Pay based on the story of Latasha Harlins.” The novel’s fictionalized account of the tragic 1991 shooting of the Black teen by a Korean convenience store owner, was the tipping point in the racial tensions between L.Á.’s Black and Asian communities, that helped set the stage for the L.Á. uprising a year later.

However, for Tu, “her book had been on my mind ever since I heard her speak about Latasha’s murder and the shame she felt as a Korean American.” Thus, Tu “wanted to explore the messiness, betrayal, healing and heartbreak of solidarity.”

Thankfully “Steph emailed me back,” about Tu’s proposal “and said, yes, I’ll do an interview, go ahead and pitch.” ROCK PAPER RADIO eventually accepted her proposal. “So, thank you Steph Cha,” she said, “for saying yes (sometimes all it takes is one person). And thank you ROCK PAPER RADIO.”

Keep an eye out for ROCK PAPER RADIO’s #AZNxBLM collection and especially for Maylin Tu’s feature on San Fernando Valley native and author Steph Cha. You can learn how this current climate of Asian hate has influenced Tu’s creative process by signing up for their newsletter at RockPaperRadio.com