Carbondale community members gathered outside the bodega in Lenus Turley Park March 21. to mourn in the wake of the Atlanta Ga. shooting.

Members of the Sunrise Movement in Carbondale organized the vigil, commemorating the victims.

The spa shooting took place March 16, three massage parlors were targeted and six of the eight victims were Asian women. 

Their names were Delaina Ashley Yaun, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng.

More than 20 people gathered in Carbondale’s Lenus Turley Park, across the street from an Asian massage parlor. 

Organizers distributed candles, and the crowd held for a moment of silence as part of the event.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Subash Kharel | @pics.leaks

Diane Ashley, Erin Ashley and Jay Mize pose with candles at the Asian Lives Matter event organized by Sunrise Movement Southern Illinois on Sunday, March 21, 2021, at Lenus Turley Park in Carbondale, Ill.

The Sunrise Movement is a political organization advocating action towards stemming climate change, which some of its members feel disproportionately harms Black and Brown communities.

“It’s really important we find solidarity across class, across racial boundaries,” Marcella Sevy, a member of Carbondale’s Sunrise Movement, said.

Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose 149% between 2019 and 2020, according to CSU’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

“There is a big asian community in Carbondale, and I don’t see a lot of people coming to the surface about some of these issues,”A.J. one of the event’s organizers said. 

Approximately 5% of Carbondale’s population is Asian, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

“We wanted to hold this space not only for the victims, but for their families as well” A.J. said.

Staff reporter George Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]

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