WATCH: Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang and Hoon Lee Urge Support of #StopAsianHate in Digital Video Series

Today, Jess McLeod (Resident Director, Hamilton Chicago), Arianna Afsar (Singer/Actor, Hamilton/Netflix's Wedding Season), Eric Keen-Louie (Producing Director - La Jolla Playhouse), and Lauren Yee (Playwright, Cambodian Rock Band) announced the launch of a celebrity digital video campaign aimed at raising awareness about the dramatic rise in hate crimes against the Asian American community. The series was coordinated in collaboration with Parag Parikh (Director, South Asians for Biden) and playwright Stefani Kuo.

Watch videos from Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang and Hoon Lee below:

The campaign is one of numerous initiatives and events taking place on March 26th, including a Worldwide Vigil honoring the memory of the eight victims - six of them Asian American women - of the tragic mass shootings in Atlanta, GA. March 26th has been promoted as the #StopAsianHate National Day of Action and Healing by Asian American Congressional leaders and civic organizations. It marks the anniversary of the day the first U.S. law on naturalization - the Naturalization Act of 1790 - was enacted to limit citizenship only to "free, White persons."

The videos give voice to the victims of anti-Asian hate crimes and feature prominent AAPI artists, including Kelly Marie Tran, Constance Wu, MILCK, Lea Salonga, David Henry Hwang, Representative Grace Meng (D-NY), Isa Briones, Jon Jon Briones, Jake Choi, Midori Francis, Daniel K. Isaac, Brooke Ishibashi, Adam Jacobs, Arielle Jacobs, Zoe Jensen, Francis Jue, Michelle Krusiec, Hoon Lee, C.S. Lee, Ken Leung, Paolo Montalban, Preston Mui, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Chef Nini Nguyen, Courtney Reed, Conrad Ricamora, Vincent Rodriguez III, George Salazar, Isabel Sandoval, Chantal Thuy, Tamlyn Tomita, Sam Tsui, Jenna Ushkowitz, Charlotte Mary Wen, Jeff Yang, and Hudson Yang.

According to the Center for Study of Hate & Extremism, the number of hate crimes against Asians rose by 150% last year, even though overall hate crimes dropped by 7% over that same period of time. The research released by reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate revealed nearly 3,800 incidents against Asian Americans - 68% towards women - have occurred since the start of the pandemic on March 19, 2020.

To expand awareness and foster solidarity, McLeod and Afsar have teamed up with Gingger Shankar (Composer, We Will Rise) and Erin Cook (VP, Jensen Communications) to enlist the support of South Asian artists such as Sendhil Ramamurthy, Manish Dayal, Nina Davuluri, Karen David, Sheetal Sheth, Rizwan Manji, Reshma Saujani, Sonal Shah, Nik Dodani, Nisha Ganatra, and Parvesh Cheena, who will amplify the video series through coordinated and informative social media messaging of their own. Shankar and Cook produced and directed the South Asians for Biden celebrity digital video campaign last fall, in support of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Day of Action and Healing is the beginning of a much broader conversation on ending Anti-Asian hate crimes and racism in America.

For more information visit: www.asianamericandayofaction.com