Statement on Anti-Asian Violence
The name KAYA comes from the Filipino kaya mo, meaning “you can”. For our co-founder Kim, it's a phrase her mom always told her growing up, and a piece of Pinay culture she’s deeply proud to represent in KAYA’s identity. Our founder Marc is Chinese - French - American. One of our first engineers, Jon, is Chinese - American. Our visual designer, May, is Japanese - American. We come from immigrant families who came in search of opportunity. Some of us grew up in small towns where we were the “only ones.” Some of us grew up in the Bay, where we thought we were safe.
We are KAYA. We are climbers. And we are “having a bad day.”
We are hurt by the violence being perpetrated against Asians. We are horrified when we see our elderly shoved, punched, and killed. We are disgusted by the fetishization of Asian women. We are frustrated with the demasculinization of Asian men. We are maddened worrying about our parents and grandparents simply walking to the grocery store. Infuriated, wondering if the walk to the gym or the crag is going to include someone yelling “Go Home Chink” or spraying “Kung Flu Virus” bullshit our way. We are hurt when oppression and violence are leveraged against any people because of their identity.
There were 122 incidents of anti-Asian American hate crimes in 16 of the country’s most populous cities in 2020, an increase of almost 150% over the previous year, according to data compiled by California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. And these are just the ones that have been reported.
We are proud of our heritages, our colors, our languages.
When we launched The Climber’s Pledge last year, we acknowledged the struggle of being “other.” There are many forms of otherness, and the Pledge was and is a commitment to examine the roots of exclusion, and dismantle the systems and ideas that make people feel less human. That work is quite obviously, painfully, far from done.
Tag in whomever might need to hear this today. We are with you.
💛- Team KAYA