2020 - It wasn't easy, but it was ESEA

2020 was a year of many things: the pandemic, Biden winning the US election, Brexit, Tiger King and more. But out of a year that brought so many challenges, something fantastic happened - the ESEA community and allies have come together stronger than ever.

We started in July with the launch of the petition against the use of ESEA images in coronavirus related media by Viv Yau, which has now accumulated over 16,000 signatures. This campaign was hugely supported by the community and allies and was promoted by notable figures such as Benedict Wong, Katie Leung and Anna Saccone.

This, along with friends from End the Virus of Racism (EVR), helped us catch the attention of Sarah Owen, MP for Luton North, who has been a huge ally of the community. Sarah brought the petition to parliament, by raising the first ever debate on racism against ESEA communities.

Sarah also helped us secure a meeting with Caroline Dinenage, DCMS Minister, Cabinet Office External Affairs Team and Online Harms, to discuss use of BAME and specifically ESEA  images in paid government social media posts addressing coronavirus. In 2021, we aim to continue this partnership and work with the government marketing department to be more cognisant of the negative impact this misrepresentation has on our community. 

In September, we unleashed our labour of love - this website. Behind the scenes we have worked so hard to create a positive, educational space for ESEA voices to be heard. We have had the honour of inviting our friends and members of their community to talk about topics that are important to them. It has created debate and discussion and solidified our community. We are keen to provide a platform for all voices, so we are always open for pitch ideas. If you have something you are passionate about, let us know!

Since September, we have amassed over 12,000 page views, and over 6,000 unique visitors on www.besean.co.uk. Our most popular article was our ESEA Christmas gift guide and we hope you enjoyed supporting independent ESEA businesses over the Christmas period and beyond. Following the success of this guide, we’ve also just published our Lunar New Year gift guide, so be sure to check it out if you haven’t done so already.

Opportunities to highlight our causes and extend our reach included invitations to speak in a panel at UCL/SOAS on the effect of the pandemic on ESEA communities and at the first Asians@Amazon UK event to discuss our work. 

In December we also hosted our first mini event - a casual Congee Sunday chat on Zoom in collaboration with Little Yellow Rice Co. This gave us a great chance to chat about memories, our favourite congee toppings and spearheaded the #TeamRice vs #TeamNoodle debate!

Social media has also been huge for us. We have accumulated almost 2,000 followers on Instagram and over 600 followers on Twitter, and we’ve consistently found that our community is as engaged and passionate about our causes as we are. More importantly, it has been a space for us to continue our discussions, hear the voices of the community and make friends. We particularly enjoyed our #ESEAFestiveJoy takeovers and you told us you did too so look out for more of these in 2021!

We also have almost 200 newsletter subscribers and an ever growing network. In 2021 we want to give more opportunities to our network so watch this space!

We are hugely proud to see the positive moves that are being made by the community. End the Virus of Racism, who we work closely with, raised the necessary funds to create a charity dedicated to supporting the ESEA community. It thrilled us to see the blossoming of many social media profiles and hashtags dedicated to spotlighting our incredible community, including Asian Leadership Collective, Being Brasian, The MSG Pod, British Chinese Biz and #ESEAEATS, among many others.

As we look to 2021, we have huge ambition to keep besea.n growing and flourishing. We want to continue to amplify your voices and support the ESEA community. We want to continue giving people a platform to talk about what is important to them, host more events (look out for more information on our Lunar New Year event coming soon), and work with the Government, public institutions and businesses to provide positive representation for our community. 

At the start of January, at our first annual general meeting, we also officially became a small charity (yay!), and the founders have all become trustees. You can read our mission statement here.

“We want to end our round up of 2020 with the most important part - a huge thank you. This community has become a place of strength, friendship and joy for many, and we are so proud to be a part of it. None of our achievements would be possible without you, we hope you join us as we progress into 2021 and beyond.”

Love and solidarity always.

besea.n founders

Amy, Charley, Karlie, Izzy, Mai-anh and Viv.