"Sunrise" co-anchor Gia Vang has added fashionista to her duties. The journalist, who joined the KARE morning team in 2019, has helped launch a line of hats, sweatshirts and T-shirts that bear the words "Very Asian." It's part of campaign to fight racism and raise awareness.
The movement started after Michelle Li, an anchor at the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, filed a report on what people eat on New Year's Day. At the end of the segment, she mentioned that she eats dumpling soup, adding: "That's what a lot of Korean people do."
Shortly after the piece aired, a viewer left a voicemail at the station, criticizing Li for being "very Asian" and telling Li to "keep her Korean to herself."
Li shared the recording on social media. It has garnered more than 3 million views.
Her followers included Vang, who immediately voiced her support. The two of them, along with Vang's partner, decided to launch a clothing line. Sales began this past Tuesday. Within the first 24 hours, they had 1,300 orders. Items will be available at least through
Tuesday at veryasian.us. All proceeds go toward the Asian American Journalists Association.
Vang, one of the highest-profile Hmong-American TV personalities in the country, chatted Thursday by phone about why she stepped forward.
Q: How do you and Michelle know each other?
A: We reached out to each other after the Atlanta shootings in March 2021 in which six Asian women were killed. We've stayed in touch on different things since then. When Michelle posted that voice mail on Instagram, I thought, "Lord" and "Not surprised." I was really hurt along with her. I sent her a message apologizing for what she had to hear. We both wanted to reclaim the words "Very Asian." She said, "Do you think it could be a T-shirt?" I gave her a resounding, "Yes."
