Diane Choi was eating phở at Vung Tau in Lincoln with her best friend, Tania Castillo on March 20 when the Atlanta spa shootings made national headlines.
She was reading about one of the victims- a Korean American single mother survived by her two sons.
“I was able to hold a mirror up to my life, to see a reflection of my family within theirs because I grew up with a single mother as well,” Choi said.
Choi and Castillo attended many protests during summer 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“Diane and I are like a duo, it's not like anything is impossible when we bring it to the table,” Castillo said.
Choi looked at Castillo at the restaurant and said, “Let’s do it.”
Two days after the conversation at Vung Tau, Choi and Castillo created a Facebook event
for the first Stop Asian Hate peaceful protest at the Nebraska State Capitol on April 10.
Choi said the protest is much more about the Asian community; it's about uniting all of the communities together.
Growing up in a predominantly White neighborhood in South Lincoln, Choi said she did not have anyone to relate to at a cultural level.
Her beauty standards at school were blond hair and blue eyes. Students would make fun of her features which were different from her white peers.
“Honestly I don’t remember a time in my life when I wasn't bullied for my appearance. It goes all the way back to first grade, people stretching their eyes and be like, ‘Ching Chong,’” Choi said.
For lunch, Choi’s mother would usually pack her rice, kimchi and kimbap (Korean rice rolls) in a brown sack. One day after coming back from school, she told her mother to stop cooking home-cooked meals.
“She could see that I was genuinely ashamed of my culture,” Choi said.
Reflecting on her experience, Choi wants others to see someone who is proud of their culture, to have that representation, and feel accepted in their community.
Acceptance- it was the biggest thing Choi wanted from her peers.
Choi’s dad passed away when she was five from stomach cancer, and her mother had to raise three children on her own.
“I didn’t have that big of a relationship with her growing up because she was so busy trying to financially support our family,” Choi said.
Castillo’s mother passed away from cancer when she was in second grade, and the two related to growing up in a single-parent household.
“Tania was the one that actually introduced me to the counselor I had back then,” Choi said.
They reconnected in freshman year of high school when Castillo invited Choi into her diverse friend group. Castillo recalled her first impression of Choi and noticed that she did not express her emotions freely.
“She was pretty monotone sometimes. We used to make this meme in our friend group that she was like a robot,” Castillo said.
As they got close, Choi saw the beauty in Castillo’s Colombian and Peruvian roots.
“Honestly, seeing her so prideful of the country that she is from, speaking Spanish with her family, and being so shameless of where she comes from, that also rubbed off of me. I really want to embrace my culture too,” Choi said.
Choi and Castillo are extroverts and love reaching out to communities. When the topic of organizing a protest came up, they were set on making their vision a reality.
“I don't think we truly realize how much work it was going to be because we were eager to do it,” Castillo said.
Choi implemented her artistic skills into protest work. She looked up the hashtag #StopAsianHate on Instagram for design inspiration and created posters for the event. She also painted on Castillo’s car to promote the event.
Over the weekend of April 3, Choi worked on a 26-foot long banner that protestors could carry during the march. She outlined the phrase “Stop Asian Hate” with a pencil, then traced it with black paint.
On the other hand, Castillo sat facing her laptop, and called and sent emails to organizations asking about the resources they could provide, and their availability on the day of the event.
“We became friends with some of the organizers of the Black Leaders Movement, and they were one of the first people we reached out to,” Castillo said.
On April 5, the two stood at the front steps of the Nebraska Union to hand out roughly 400 flyers.
“When people see it, it puts a pressure on them, and we want that pressure because they might come,” Castillo said.
With only three weeks to make it a successful event, Choi has been prioritizing the protest more than school work. Despite that, her friends and family’s support has been encouraging for her, and her professors have been understanding of her situation.
“It’s kind of crazy how far we've gone through. It’s really going to sink in the day of,” Choi said.
Click here to view more pictures of the protest.