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Poncey-Highland restaurant 8ARM is planning to host a benefit on Tuesday, March 23, in support of Atlanta’s Asian community following the murders of eight people last week — six of them women of Asian descent — at three separate spa businesses in Cherokee County and city of Atlanta.
The fundraising benefit kicks off at 7 p.m. with more than a dozen local restaurants, breweries, pop-ups, and artists setting up stations around the parking at 8ARM, including Sweet Auburn BBQ, chef pop-up Korean Fusion, Ginya Izakaya, Ruby Chow’s, Talat Market, and SoBa. 8ARM owner chef Nhan Le also owns Soba and Octopus Bar in East Atlanta Village.
Attendees can order from the various food stations and take food to go, or find a seat outside on the parking lot patio or outdoor bar. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the evening benefits nonprofit organizations Asian Americans Advancing Justice and National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
The past year has seen a significant rise in anti-Asian attacks, since the pandemic began in March 2020. Asian-owned businesses across the United States, including Chinese restaurants and entities in various Chinatowns, have been the targets of vandalism, bigoted prank calls, and dramatic drops in sales. Attacks have been exacerbated as former president Donald Trump and other prominent politicians continually referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus,” “Wuhan virus,” and “kung flu”.
A recent report released by nonprofit group Stop AAPI Hate cites nearly 3,800 incidents of hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. between March 19, 2020, and February 28, 2021. Asian-American women reported twice as many incidents of hate as men.
Benefit for Asian Lives, 8ARM, Tuesday, March 23, 7 p.m. Free to attend. Bands, DJs, art, food. Masks required. Takeout available.
