Bullying, and especially race-based bullying, is pervasive and persistent. It’s woven into our culture and hides in plain sight as a common occurrence, threatening to be accepted as normal. Because of this, it’s difficult for us to identify what bullying actually is and when it happens. When we have the tools to name it, it’s often shrouded in shame, ultimately giving bullying more power to fester and grow as it negatively affects our mental health.
When one of us is hurting, we are all affected. But when we normalize safer, more respectful ways to treat each other, we all benefit.
That’s why we’re hosting a virtual, statewide Week of Action during May’s Mental Health Awareness Month and AAPI Heritage Month.
Week of action
May 7-13, 2023
Week of Action
May 7-13
From May 7th to May 13th, we’re banding youth, educators, parents, and other allies together to elevate the issue of race-based bullying and support solutions from those who are closest to the problem: young people. During this week, you’ll find us across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, our virtual community, and the web as we inundate the state with youth voices and calls-to-action.
Join Right Our Story during our Week of Action by taking part in these four critical actions:
Live Event
Right Our Story for
AAPI Youth:
A Conversation on
Race-Based Bullying
May 8 | 6pm to 8pm PT
We’re fortunate to be joined by some of the most powerful and vocal AAPI youth activists in the state, like Mina Fedor—the founder of AAPI Youth Rising—to talk about the rise of anti Asian hate during the Pandemic and the impact on the mental health of AAPI youth. Together, we’ll envision solutions for both individual and community care with our future leaders and changemakers.
Partners: AAPI Youth Rising, Dear Asian Youth, and the Asian Mental Health Project
WATCH NOW
During this week, Right Our Story is co-hosting two LIVE events, a video premiere, and social series with youth leaders, youth organizations, and mental health experts across the state. The LIVE events will offer conversations about how we can mobilize young people to address race-based bullying in their communities and ways to support AAPI youth with the rise of AAPI hate.
Our video premieres will actually create a space for healing through art, storytelling, and other tangible skills youth can use to support their mental health. You can find more details and register for the events below:
Virtual Events
Live Event
Youth Rise Up and Lead: Conquering Race-Based Bullying Together
May 10 | 6pm to 7:30pm PT
In partnership with the Youth Leadership Institute, we’re co-hosting an interactive virtual event centering youth leadership with a focus on race-based bullying. The main event will be a youth panel composed of youth activists speaking about their experiences with holding leadership roles and the importance of having diverse young leaders at decision-making tables. For youth interested in leading the way on this issue, this event is for you as some of the best youth organizers in the state share their expertise!
Partners: Youth Leadership Institute, Right Our Story’s Youth Advisory Council, and the HOPE Coalition
WATCH NOW
Video Premiere
Draw Our Story
May 9 | 5 pm PT
Hundreds of you have shared your stories of bullying—whether you’ve experienced it, witnessed it, or even participated in it. Now, we’re bringing your stories to life through art. Join us on YouTube as we ‘draw our story’ to show the complex, beautiful, and transformative roles we all play.
To get notified when this video premieres, set a reminder or ring the bell for notifications:
Click Here
Social Series
#Howicope
May 7th to May 13th
Find us on Instagram and TikTok every day during the week of May 7th to May 13th as we share resources and tools for coping with race-based bullying—no matter what role you’ve played. Instead of just talking about mental health we’re actually creating space for healing.
To watch this series, follow us on
Instagram + TikTok
To begin to change the narrative on race-based bullying, we need to know where and when bullying is happening.
The Bullied Button is a new resource to log and count incidents of bullying, when and where they occur. Bring the Bullied Button to your school, club, or faith-group and empower your peers to start logging incidents as they happen. Because they count. You count.
Using the Bullied Button Shareables, get the tools you need to share the Bullied Button online and at school to lead the way for change in your community with the click of a button.
Share the Bullied Button
We'll use the numbers from the Bullied Button to educate, organize, and reinforce the importance and urgency of this issue with decision-makers across our state.
Let your social media community know about the Bullied Button. Download and share these Bullied Button graphics now (or make your own!).
Ask your teacher if you can share this flyer in your homeroom, and put it up around campus (like the bathroom!) or in your community, like a coffee shop.
Join Our Community
Our work doesn’t stop after the Week of Action; in fact, it’s just begun.
To contine the conversation, the storytelling, and the organizing for a world without bullying, join us in the Right Our Story Community.
It’s a safe space dedicated to young people who are committed to creating cultural change around bullying—especially race-based bullying. In the community, you’ll find opportunities to connect with peers, hear real stories from people who have been part of bullying instances, provide and get support, and ways to take positive action.
During the Week of Action, we’re flooding the digital airwaves with stories from our peers to illustrate the urgency of race-based bullying, all the ways it takes shape, and the need for action. To do this, we want to hear from you. Your story not only helps to drive this action, but it can foster a collective responsibility for solutions and hope for those who feel alone in their experience.
Your story is the domino that invites others to do so, creating a ripple effect through our state during the Week of Action.
Share how you’ve experienced bullying. Share how you’ve seen bullying happen in your school or community. Or share how you may have bullied someone else.
Post your story on social media with #RightOurStory or share with us here for us to post on our channels (with permission—anonymously, if you want!). This campaign is youth-led, so we need your stories, in your voice.