Asian American feminism, politics, and pop culture
Cross-posted from JookTime (go here for more information about 2 year old Jeremy Kong’s search for a perfect bone marrow donor match, and join the #170in7 campaign)
httpv://youtu.be/14dd-t6p4So
The #170in7 bone marrow cyberdrive in memory of Janet Liang has only been live for a little over 24 hours, and already we’ve seen an incredible response from the community. As of late Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, we had still more sites partner up to help spread the word — bigWOWO, Kimchi Mamas, and Remembering Vincent Chin.
And on top of that, as of yesterday, we’ve already hit nearly 10% of our donor goal!
Help save a life today and be one of the 170 in 7. Registration is free for the donor, convenient and secure. Here’s how:
- Click on the link: http://join.bethematch.org/TeamJanet. Fill out the forms to request a free, do-it-yourself cheek swab kit.
- Tweet about it using #170in7 to be counted! Click the button to send a Tweet to your followers: Tweet
If you don’t have a Twitter account, send an email to jenn [at] reappropriate [dot] co to be counted!
For more info, check out this post.
If you’re already registered, please help spread the word by tweeting with #170in7!
Here’s a list of latest #170in7 posts from around the blogosphere:
Tuesday’s Posts (Sept 18):
Wednesday’s Posts (Sept 19):
Last week, I was saddened to hear about Janet Liang’s death. I had been inspired by Janet’s battle against leukemia, and in the wake of her passing, I thought it would be nice for the community to create some sort of movement in Janet’s memory: a cyber vigil, perhaps. A small symbol of how we bloggers are more than just commentators — that we can do good.
It started as a perhaps silly sort of notion (a bunch of bloggers coordinating posts to try and ask for readers to do some real-life good) tossed out to a small network of Asian American bloggers through Facebook, but it quickly germinated into what became the 170 in 7 campaign. Overnight, blogs far bigger than mine (Angry Asian Man, 8Asians, ChannelAPA, AARisings, and many others, just to name a few) committed themselves to the campaign. From there, the campaign took on a bit of a life of its own as bloggers threw in ideas about logistics and ironed out the details.
After spending a weekend putting information together and reaching out to the Helping Janet campaign (and AADP organizers), I woke up this morning with butterflies in my stomach. Would this come together? Could we coordinate something like this? Would we see any sort of response from the community?
24 hours later, I’ve been overwhelmed, inspired, and a little humbled by the positive responses we’ve had. Four more sites — Jook Time, Cheekswab.org, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, and the incredible ladies at Disgrasian — signed on as partners. Everywhere I turn, there seems to be buzz within the Asian American blogosphere about the 170 in 7 campaign. And, as planned, we pulled off a flurry of coordinated posts today announcing the 170 in 7 campaign across the Internet and through Twitter.
I have no idea if we will hit our goal of registering 170 new bone marrow donors in 7 days (although I totally hope we will). But, I think this campaign is already a success — we have done so much in just a single day to raise awareness about leukemia, bone marrow donation, and the incredible impact awesome community heroes like Janet have on our community.
Today, I feel so heart-warmed. Our community is awesome.
Janet Liang, a vibrant 25 year old UCLA graduate and a leukemia patient who spent years championing leukemia awareness and Asian American bone marrow registration, passed away last week. In Janet’s memory, this site is partnering with a network of other prominent Asian American sites to host 170 in 7: A Bone Marrow Cyberdrive in Memory of Janet Liang.
About
Leukemia is a type of blood cancer and the most common cancer to affect children and young teens. Treatment to save a leukemia patient’s life often requires a bone marrow transplant from a “perfect match” donor – a donor whose blood matches a recipient’s blood for 10 separate genetic markers.
Unfortunately, Asian American and other non-White leukemia patients are much less likely to find a “perfect match” donor than White leukemia patients. This is because Asian Americans and other minorities are significantly underrepresented in Be The Match, the national bone marrow registry used to search for and match potential bone marrow donors with recipients.
Janet made it her mission to register Asian American bone marrow donors, and thanks in part to her efforts, at least 18 bone marrow matches were made to recipients nationwide. However, last week, Janet passed away without finding a perfect match for herself. Today, many other Asian American leukemia patients are still waiting to find their perfect match, like 2-year-old Jeremy who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. To celebrate Janet’s life and her legacy, we want to register 170 new potential bone marrow donors in Janet’s name in just 7 days.
Be one of the 170 in 7:
Registration is free for the donor, convenient and secure. Here’s how to be one of the 170 in 7:
- Click on the link: http://join.bethematch.org/TeamJanet. Fill out the forms to request a free, do-it-yourself cheek swab kit.
- Tweet about it using #170in7 to be counted! Click the button to send a Tweet to your followers: TweetIf you don’t have a Twitter account, send an email to jenn [at] reappropriate [dot] co to be counted!
And that’s it! Less than ten minutes of your time can help you save a life!
Donor FAQ
In about one month, a cheek swab kit will be sent to you in the mail, along with instructions and a pre-paid return envelope. Follow the instructions to swab your cheeks and return the kit. If you are matched (only 1 in 540 registered donors are ever matched), you will then be contacted and asked if you would like to donate your bone marrow. Registering is not a commitment that you must donate; it is only to help match recipients with potential donors.
Most donors are never matched. But if you are matched and if you do choose to donate your bone marrow, that donation is likely to save a young person’s life.
Other Ways to Help Out: Donate to AADP and/or to the Liang family
Donor registration is free for the donor because AADP and other non-profit organizations cover the costs of donor registration through charitable donations. If you are unable to register as a bone marrow donor, please donate to AADP to help fund registration costs for other donors, or to the Liang family (PayPal account using helpingjanet@gmail.com as the recipient, or checks payable to “Janet Liang” sent to PO box 1526, Pleasanton CA 94566).
Other Ways to Help Out: Spread the Word
If you are already registered, please help spread the word about the 170 in 7 bone marrow cyberdrive through Twitter and Facebook. If you would like to join your site to this partnership or if you would like more information about the 170 in 7 bone marrow cyberdrive, please go here.
Partnership
170 in 7 is a partnership between the following: 8Asians, AARisings, Angry Asian Man, Asia Pacific Arts, Asian American Donor Program (AADP), bigWOWO, ChannelAPA, Cheekswab.org, Disgrasian, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Jeff Yang (columnist, Wall Street Journal Online), Jook Time, JozJozJoz, Kimchi Mamas, Racebending, Reappropriate, Remembering Vincent Chin, Rice Daddies, Schema Magazine, V3Con, and a special partnership with Team Janet and Jeremy Needs You.
To add your site to the list, please go here.
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About the Drive
170 in 7 will be running from September 17, 2012 to September 24, 2012. Our goal is to register 170 new potential bone marrow donors in 7 days in memory of Janet Liang.
To Partner
We would love to add more partners to this week-long bone marrow donor cyberdrive. To join, please contact Jenn for more information.
To Spread the Word
Please Tweet about the campaign using the hashtag #170in7. The following buttons and banners are available for use with this campaign: 150 px, 168px, 200 px, 500 px.
Please return to this post for aggregated and updated information on the campaign.
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Janet Liang Memorial Posts:
Monday’s Posts (Sept 17):
Tuesday’s Posts (Sept 18):
Wednesday’s Posts (Sept 19):
Thursday’s Posts (Sept 20):
Friday’s Posts (Sept 21):
Just found out that Janet Liang, the brave young woman whose battle with leukemia inspired my own registration in the national bone marrow donor registry, has died. After spending the last several years searching for a perfect bone marrow donor match, and helping to register countless new bone marrow donors, Janet received a partial match transplant last week.
Although I only knew Janet through her online persona, Janet was an inspiration. She faced her cancer with courage and optimism, and funneled her energy to register countless folks in the national bone marrow registry, Be The Match. Recently, she received the Spirit of Hope award from A3M.
Janet, we may not have known one another, but I have been indelibly touched by your incredible spirit. You were a beautiful person, inside and out, and the world seems that much greyer without you.
For those of you who haven’t yet, please register to be a bone marrow donor at Be The Match. Bone marrow matches correlate strongly with shared racial identity between donor and recipient, and yet Asian Americans and other minorities remain profoundly underrepresented in the national donor registry. The registration process is simple, painless, convenient and free — and could one day save the life of someone with cancer.
Also, I’m going to take this moment to highlight a great Canadian non-profit organization whose name is oddly appropriate today: Fuck Cancer.
