Black & Asian Solidarity with Alicia Garza and Shaw San Liu

Activists from the Asian diaspora who were inspired by the original Black Panther Party

Today on Black Diplomats we’re honored to host Alicia Garza, one of the three co-founders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and Shaw San Liu, Executive Director at the Chinese Progressive Association. They’ve known each other for many years, after meeting as on-the-ground organizers from their respective communities who were looking to find solutions to common problems.

Host Terrell Starr asks them about the recent spate of racist violence against Asian people, the way divisions are sown in communities of color for economic reasons, how COVID has impacted their work, and what it will take to reimagine safety in our society to include everyone.

This is a very powerful episode of Black Diplomats about building bridges across racial boundaries to create a better world for us all.

Thank you for listening!

Alicia Garza

Alicia believes that Black communities deserve what all communities deserve -- to be powerful in every aspect of their lives. An author, political strategist, organizer, and cheeseburger enthusiast, Alicia founded the Black Futures Lab to make Black communities powerful in politics. In 2018, the Black Futures Lab conducted the Black Census Project -- the largest survey of Black communities in over 150 years. 

Alicia is the co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, an international organizing project to end state violence and oppression against Black people. The Black Lives Matter Global Network now has 40 chapters in four countries. She also serves as the Strategy & Partnerships Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the nation’s premier voice for millions of domestic workers in the United States. Additionally, Alicia is the co-founder of Supermajority, a new home for women’s activism. 

Shaw San Liu

Shaw San Liu is the Executive Director at the Chinese Progressive Association. In her 14 years at CPA, Shaw San led the development of grassroots organizing and leadership development programs with the Tenant Worker Center, which includes services for low-wage Chinese immigrant workers and tenants living in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She also spearheaded campaign and alliance building to advance policy on labor and economic issues in the Bay Area.

She co-founded the Progressive Worker Alliance, an alliance of low-wage worker centers in San Francisco and has extensive experience with labor and community organizing.