MINNEAPOLIS — In The Heart of the Beast theater was protected by prayer from the very beginning of the event. Monks led the crowd in prayer, and held silence.
Despite this event being a non-denominational event, Pastor Jenny Sung found it holy.
"I was in my apartment and I started seeing it trending on twitter, and I just couldn't believe it," Sung said, recalling where she was at when she first heard about the deadly shootings in Atlanta.
Sung said it became pretty clear, pretty soon, she was not okay.
"It felt like every violent thing that had ever happened to my body as an Asian American woman just came back tenfold," Sung said. "I honestly didn't know what to do. I sent an email to my work at the time, saying I'm not OK, and I meant it."
Since then, Sung said she's been seeking space. She said she also noticed a lot of Asian Americans had a hard time asking for help.
"A lot of people are saying, things like, 'I have something that's bothering me but it's not that big of a deal, there are so many worse things that are happening,'" Sung said. "And what happens is we start denying our own humanity."
"When we stand together it doesn't negate from someone's story," Pastor Christine Belfrey said. Belfrey said when Sung called her about Wedneday's event, she knew she wanted to be there.
Belfrey said all it took was one call from Pastor Jenny for her to show up to this event, because pain is something felt by all.
"My brother's story is my story — my brother was in the area and space when George Floyd was murdered," Belfrey said. "His story was my story, it's not to negate from either one. My sister who is Asian — her story is my story still. So when Jenny and other friends call me up and tell me what they have gone through, I know first hand as a witness, who has experienced all things racism, being Black and woman."
This kind of community care is something Sung said she's needed this whole time.
"Two of my really great pastor friends said, 'hey Jenny can I hold you and pray with you right now?' and I just broke," she said. "That was the moment I got to be held by them, after doing this thing where we hold others."
"Once we can just acknowledge the fact that we all hurt in these different ways, it's not a competition, but that we can just give voice to it," Sung continued. "I feel like breaking the silence is just that — it gives us an invitation to see each other as human again."
RELATED: A year after metro Atlanta spa shootings, there is a lingering mental health toll on Asian Americans
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