MSG Approved
[Mo-no-sodium Glut-a-mate] [Me-ss-age A-ppro-ved]

In Spring 2021, Asian hate crimes in the US reached an all-time high. The #StopAsianHate movement was gaining traction— racial issues that the Asian community had always faced were finally being addressed. Soon after I flew back home to Auckland, New Zealand, I was asked to participate as a speaker for the upcoming rally.

Much like the tired narratives around Asian communities and their traits, MSG has always gotten a bad rap. Turns out, a man wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, complaining of numbness after eating at Chinese restaurants, which began the narrative around Asian food being unhealthy and its people being a virus (article).  

MSG Approved is an organization that fights for the human rights of Asian communities around the world, centered around raising awareness and fact-based education. After raising $3080 from the initial rally for select organizations, our goal was to strategize around growth.

Public anti-racism displays— especially in New Zealand, was still a foreign concept. Posting trendy clothing on social media, however, was already an exisiting behavior by Millenials/Gen-Z.