by Jason Jong

Inspired by the Movement for Black Lives and agitated by the surge of hate crimes experienced by Asians across the country in 2020, Sacramento native and conceptual artist Angie Eng developed Right On! Social Justice Art Walk, a civil rights art project highlighting landmark Supreme Court cases which evidence systemic and institutional discrimination based on class, race, ethnicity, gender, and ability.

Fueled by a commission from Stop Asian Hate, an initiative of the Center of Humanities at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Eng previously mounted a silent art procession in Boulder, Colorado in October 2022.
On March 25, 2023, a growing ensemble of Sacramento organizers, participants and supporters will recreate and expand on this effort in the artist’s hometown.

Community members are invited to share in this powerful action, combining civic engagement with purposeful cultural representation, and having an ultimate goal of transforming hate into compassion through education, awareness, and activism.
For the Sacramento project, Eng has partnered with Jason Jong, Sacramento community advocate and recent recipient of the Sacramento Bee AAPI Change Makers award, to punctuate the art walk with a cadre of musicians who will add traditional Asian percussion and wind instruments to the social justice art performance piece. Musicians will be interspersed with 125 art walk participants – community members and representatives from over forty local AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) organizations.

The procession will assemble at 12:00 p.m. in front of the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse at the corner of 5th Street and I Street. With a slow and intentional pace, the group will weave through Downtown streets and head towards Capital Mall. The cast will pose in silence at each block, forming a living billboard with their bodies, then returning to the Courthouse, where walkers, musicians, and observers will congregate for a culminating moment of solidarity and unity through sound.

WHO: Right On! Sacramento Organizing Committee
WHAT: Right On! Social Justice Art Walk
WHERE: Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse, 501 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
WHEN: March 25th, 2023, 12:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

For more information, visit the project web page: https://angieeng.com/right-on-political-art-action-to-stop-asian-hate/