By May Peralta | @lesjoursdemay

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has surely brought new social challenges to the world. The use of racist and xenophobic rhetoric, for example, has lead to an unleashing of hate targeting Asian communities around the world. As Human Rights Watch explains, the increase of racist statements by politicians and misleading media reports have coincided with the increase of attacks against Asians and people of Asian descent. 

To combat the upsurge of this anti-Asian sentiment, Human Rights organizations have urged governments to take action by strengthening policies, supporting communities, and creating a legal framework that protects people from hate crimes. In such context, on April 12, UNESCO and the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched Live Together, a social media relay challenge aimed to fight the wave of discrimination, racism, and hate crimes exacerbated during the pandemic. 

High-profile diplomats and activists have already participated in this initiative, but on June 2, Johnny, a member of NCT, became one of the first celebrities to join the campaign. Nominated by Lee Geun, the Chairman of Korea Foundation, Johnny took to Instagram to share three pictures, explaining the purpose of this challenge and encouraging people to promote such an important cause. 

 

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A post shared by Johnny Suh (@johnnyjsuh)

Other than Johnny, the protagonist of Penthouse, Kim So Yeon, and the actress and former member of SES, Eugene have joined the campaign and we expect to see more stars doing it in the future. 

To learn more about this initiative and how to get involved, you can follow Live Together on Instagram.

In the meantime, you can also Shop For Change With These Fashion Brands Advocating For Mental Health.

Thumbnail Courtesy of @johnnyjsuh on instagram.