Red Canary Song is an American

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

that advocates for the rights of Asian and migrant massage parlor workers. The coalition works to provide

political representation Political representation is the activity of making citizens "present" in public policy-making processes when political actors act in the best interest of citizens according to Hanna Pitkin's ''Concept of Representation'' (1967). This definition ...

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...

, collective organizing for migrant massage workers, and protection from violence by police and police impersonators across the United States and within the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

History

Red Canary Song was founded in November 2018 by Kate Zen, Athena G., Red S., and Julie X. following the death of 38-year-old

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

massage worker Yang Song on November 25, 2017 when she fell four stories to her death during a police raid. As of 2021, the group is currently based in Flushing, and directed by Yin Q. and Esther Kao. Red Canary Song was created shortly after Song's death to support her family and fight for

police accountability Police accountability involves holding both individual police officers and law enforcement agencies responsible for effectively delivering basic crime control services and maintaining order, while treating individuals fairly and within the bound ...

. The coalition currently strives to address the hypersexualization and

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

that massage workers are likely to fall victim to, as made apparent by the

2021 Atlanta spa shootings On March 16, 2021, a shooting spree occurred at two spas and a massage parlor in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Eight people were killed and a ninth was wounded. The suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, was taken ...

. Red Canary Song advocates that shutting down massage businesses is not the proper means of ensuring massage workers a better quality of life. Rather, the solution lies in recognizing the rights and dignity of these workers. While Red Canary Song supports all migrant massage workers, the coalition does not wish to impose the assumption nor the identity of

migrant sex work Migrant sex work is sex work done by migrant workers. It is significant because of its role as a dominant demographic of sex work internationally. It has common features across various contexts, such as migration from rural to urban areas and from d ...

ers upon anyone.

References

{{authority control Feminism and history Feminism and prostitution Feminism and sexuality Third-wave feminism Feminist movements and ideologies Asian-American history Asian-American issues Violence against women in the United States Anti-Asian sentiment in the United States Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States Non-profit organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 2018 2018 establishments in New York City

History

See also

References