Race has shaped our lives throughout history and continues to do so to this day. As many in America and in Chicago seek new awareness about race, it is important now more than ever to be educated on and to shed light on modern racism, particularly amid a spike in anti-Asian discrimination and hate crimes.
In the videos below, members of the Asian American Pacific Islander communities in the Chicago area recount personal incidents of racism and microaggressions they've experienced. Several discussed both how these events have impacted them and how we can move forward.
Watch, learn and empower others.
For complete coverage of NBC 5's ongoing Race in Chicago series, click here.
Kahmora Hall is a drag queen who competed on season 13 of "RuPaul's Drag Race."
Hall says she's experienced microaggressions in drag competitions, specifically highlighting a competitor who once said it "must be so easy" for her to perform, alluding to stereotypes perpetuated about Asian men.
"One of the things I've been trying to use my platform to combat, to show that no, Asian men are not all feminine, we don't all look alike. We don't all have the same experiences, and that's what I really want to try and educate people," Hall said.
Hall organized a photo shoot with several other Asian drag queens in Chicago to "prove that we all come in different shades, we all come from different backgrounds."
"That's the beauty of it," Hall said.
