Safe Space Meeting for AAPI Attorneys and Law Students
March 14
12:30-1:30 PM
We are drawing close to the anniversary of the 2021 shootings in three Atlanta spas, where 6 women of Asian descent were shot and killed in March 2021, and the brutal assault which led to the death of Yao Pan Ma in April 2021. As we recognize these horrific acts of anti-Asian violence, and the fears from the more recent killings of Michelle Go and Christina Yuna Lee in New York City, the Mass. SJC Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being acknowledges that these and other attacks and racism against members of the Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community have likely impacted the well-being of AAPI attorneys and law students in Massachusetts. In collaboration with the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, the South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston, and Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Massachusetts (LCL), the Committee will host a second virtual "safe space" meeting via Zoom on Monday, March 14, from 12:30-1:30 pm EST for AAPI attorneys and law students to come together, discuss the impact of these events on their personal and professional lives, and support each other more generally during this challenging time.
This meeting will not have a set agenda and will not be a presentation, but will instead be an open gathering to share and support each other as both AAPI individuals and members of the legal profession. Additional details include the following:
Lawyers and law students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds are welcome to attend the meeting. However, we request that attendees outside the AAPI community attend with the goal of listening.
A mental health clinician from LCL will attend the meeting to provide guidance and input if needed/asked, but not to lead the conversation or give a presentation.
Attendees are welcome to attend the meeting anonymously if preferred by using a Zoom name of "Anonymous" and not turning on their cameras or speaking, contributing only by chat. However, such attendees will need to obtain the Zoom meeting information from the Committee (email heidi@lawyerwellbeingma.org) or another registrant.
If you are interested in further meetings like this, either for AAPI lawyers and law students or for other populations within the legal profession, let us know, and the Committee would be happy to support the development of similar programming in the future.
Additionally, the Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network (APIs CAN) is hosting another virtual event that same day, Monday, March 14, from 6-7pm EST, honoring the memory of those whose lives were lost in the Atlanta spa shootings. This event will place healing, care, and peace at the heart of our remembrance, and share various community-centered solutions to join and support. Register for that program here: https://bit.ly/AtlantaSolidarity314.
