Dear Asian women living in America, until this week, though I'd often tried, I wasn't

able to bring myself to tell my parents to watch out for the upsurge in anti-Asian attacks.

In part because I can't bear it that they move to this country mostly from my brothers

and my sake.

This is Rough Translation from NPR, I'm Gregory Warner.

What you just heard was from an essay in Vanity Fair, read by the writer Aroquan, entitled

A Letter to my Fellow Asian Women Whose Hearts Are Still Breaking.

It's about the shooting in Atlanta last week, where a 21-year-old white man killed eight

people, six of them women of Korean and Chinese descent.

And it's an essay that explains how that shooting compelled her to break a silence with

her own parents.

Our producer, Justine Yen, shared this essay with our team, and how much she related

to being a translator in her own family, and her parents' first line of defense against

the outside world, and how confusing that role had become at a time of increased anti-Asian

attacks when the stakes have not speaking, feel so high.

Justine had lots of questions about the silences of people around her that she hoped the writer

could unpack.

And so Justine called her up, and we present you this interview.

I can say that even though the interview is about violence and a warning they discuss

racist attacks, this content will not be suitable for all listeners, it is also an interview

that's filled with warmth and joy, and even tips, I would say, like hard and fast tips

to break the silences.

...