{"id":11393,"date":"2021-05-24T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=11393"},"modified":"2021-05-24T15:33:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T19:33:10","slug":"be-confident-my-asian-friends-a-commentary-on-asian-representation-in-pr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2021\/05\/24\/be-confident-my-asian-friends-a-commentary-on-asian-representation-in-pr\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBe confident, my Asian friends.\u201d A Commentary on Asian Representation in PR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As I reflect on\u00a0Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month<\/a>, I want to introduce you to another way to think about the #StopAsianHate conversation. I was born in Xi\u2019an, China. Every time I saw a foreigner on the street who looked very different from me, I was genuinely curious about that person\u2019s life story, language, experience and what brought them to my hometown. Even though I was young and knew very few English words, nothing really stopped me or the foreign friend from starting the conversation. We were very open and welcoming to the new things that were not common to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a disruption of people meeting face to face. People may be getting more introverted with age<\/a>, and most communications now online\/digital<\/a> while many can be anonymous<\/a>. Online blog posts and events like a Twitter chat are good ways to explore the world and listen to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2021, I launched a Twitter chat, Standing Together: Asian Voices in Communications<\/a>, which highlighted the voices of people of Asian descent who lived or are living in the U.S. Today, In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, I want to highlight some Asian communications students\u2019 thoughts, including mine, on our representation in the PR industry of the U.S. I will also share my thoughts and what I learned from my Chinese friends who worked in PR in China, as I shared on this PRSSA podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Asian Students Think About Their Representation in PR<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I tried to imagine myself being very successful in the PR field in the U.S. and it was difficult. I asked my Asian American and International PR friends, they resonated with me. Not that we are not confident, but a lot of famous and successful PR people in the real world or on the television do not look like us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some other thoughts regarding our representation in PR I collected from my Asian friends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n