Early this year, the Chinese Immigrant Families Wellness Initiative (CIFWI) under the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC) started our pilot program Asian American Racial Healing & Mindful Transformation (AARHMT) to address racial trauma in the AAPI community. In the U.S., AAPIs have the lowest mental health service utilization rate across all racial groups. They are also much less likely to discuss mental health issues with family, friends, physicians, or specialists. More recently, these issues are also compounded by anit-Asian violence. If left unaddressed, this trauma will be passed down to generations, affecting not just the AAPI communities, but everyone's. This program is one of the first community-based and mindfulness-centered programs to address racial trauma for AAPIs nationwide. In this program, participants tend to their repressed race-based wounds and unlearn their internalized racism, including anti-Blackness, which has plagued the Asian community for a long time. AARHMT creates a safe space for millennials who identify as Asian American to heal from racial trauma through virtual forums promoting a wellness framework of mindfulness, resilience, self-compassion, and social support. The short film will tell the story of our 10 participants as they embark on the journey of racial healing for the very first time.
