The other day I drove into Manhattan and I ran into a big march up lower Broadway. A thick blanket of protestors marched peacefully and powerfully. I got out of my car and stood on the corner to cheer them on. A white woman got up close to take video of me clapping and later a young black woman doubled back to hand me a white rose. I wondered what brought me this attention. Was it merely because I was showing support?

This morning I asked my mom if she wanted to go to the LA protests with me. I wasn’t sure what she was going to say or if I was dishonoring her by asking this question because of our family’s painful memories connected with the LA Uprising decades ago. In the ‘92 Uprising, we lost our family business, which led to bankruptcy and set off a series of devastating circumstances in our family’s history. But surprisingly, my mom responded, “Of course, we must go. I was going to ask you to go together.”

I have a lot of thoughts about participating in the protest yesterday. I also want to make it clear this is the perspective as an Asian American male.