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Grandma who fought off attacker donating $1 million in donations to stop anti-Asian racism

Grandma who fought off attacker donating $1 million in donations to stop anti-Asian racism
via GoFundMe and Dennis KPIX / Twitter

One of the most disturbing images of the recent scourge of racist attacks on elderly Asian-Americans was the aftermath of the attack on Xie Xiaozhen, 76, in San Francisco. Xiaozhen was punched out of nowhere by 39-year-old Steven Jenkins.

Xie suffered two black eyes in the attack but fought back with a wooden stick, leaving the much younger Jenkins with a bloody mouth.

Footage of the altercation taken by Dennis O'Donnell quickly went viral, making Xie the brave face of resistance to anti-Asian racism.



A cartoon of her courageously wielding a stick by a Chinese artist has gone viral and spread across the world.


On the day of the attack, Jenkins also assaulted Ngoc Pham an 83-year-old Vietnamese American man. Pham fell in the attack, broke his nose, and may have fractured some bones in his back.

Jenkins faces six charges, including two counts of elder abuse, according to a news release Heavy from the San Francisco Police Department and records on the San Francisco County Jail website.

Xie was understandably shaken up by the fight, initially saying that she'll never leave her house again. Her grandson, John Chen, set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $50,000 for her, but the campaign took off, earning over $946,000 by Wednesday.

On Monday, Chen reported that his grandmother's health and spirits were improving. "When we visited our grandma yesterday and today her overall mental and physical health has improved," he wrote on the GoFundMePage. "Her eye is no longer swelled to the point of not being able to open it. She is now starting to feel optimistic again and is in better spirits."

The grandmother has decided to donate all of the money that's been raised for her to the Asian American community to fight back against racism.

"She said we must not summit [sic] to racism and we must fight to the death if necessary," Chen wrote. "She also stated multiple times to donate all the funds generated in this GoFundMe back to the Asian American community to combat racism. She insists on making this decision saying this issue is bigger than Her."

The grandmother's generosity and commitment to fighting back against racism mirrors the courage she showed by standing up to her attacker.

The San Francisco attacks came the day after a gunman murdered eight people, six of which were Asian, on a shooting spree at massage parlors in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hate crimes against Asian-Americans were up 149% in 2020 according to The Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism at the University of California, Berkeley. It's believed that the crimes are a racist reaction to the COVID-19 virus which began in China.

Angelina Jordan blew everyone away with her version of 'Bohemian Rhapsody."


At Upworthy, we've shared a lot of memorable "America's Got Talent" auditions, from physics-defying dance performances to jaw-dropping magic acts to heart-wrenching singer-songwriter stories. Now we're adding Angelina Jordan's "AGT: The Champions" audition to the list because wow.

Jordan came to "AGT: The Champions" in 2020 as the winner of Norway's Got Talent, which she won in 2014 at the mere age of 7 with her impressive ability to seemingly channel Billie Holiday. For the 2020 audition, she sang Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," but a version that no one had ever heard before.

With just her Amy Winehouse-ish voice, a guitar and a piano, Jordan brought the fan-favorite Queen anthem down to a smooth, melancholy ballad that's simply riveting to listen to.

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Their first PSA offers a simple strategy for managing big feelings.

The Sesame Street gang is here for kids' mental well-being.

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There's a reason Elmo's check-in hit people so hard. There's something viscerally comforting in the familiar faces and voices of our favorite childhood characters. Over 50-plus years creating high-quality shows for kids, Sesame Workshop has gained and retained people's trust and confidence, so engaging with Sesame Street characters feels safe and cathartic.

The folks behind Sesame Street have always incorporated kids' feelings and emotions into it educational programming, but a new initiative is taking a direct approach to mental health awareness. Teaming up with Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Sesame Workshop and the Ad Council have launched the "Love, Your Mind" campaign with a kid-friendly PSA.

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Dog turns down his owner's pets and the internet is laughing.


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All eras are "advanced" for their time, but imagine being dropped off in the 50s as someone from the year 2023. A recent post by Historic Vids on Twitter of a 1956 commercial advertising a refrigerator, however, has some people thinking that when it came to fridges, maybe they were living in the year 2056. I don't typically swoon over appliances, yet this one has me wondering where I can purchase a refrigerator like this.

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via Pixabay

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The woman, 38, met her husband Sam, 47, ten years ago, when his daughter, Leah, 25, was 15. Five years ago, the couple got married after Leah had moved out to go to college.

Leah’s mom passed away when she was 10.

Last year, Leah became pregnant, and she wanted to keep the baby, but her boyfriend didn’t. After the disagreement, the boyfriend broke up with her. This forced Leah to move back home because she couldn’t afford to be a single parent and live alone on a teacher’s salary.

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Health

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Canva

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But one answer dominated the list of responses. It came in various wordings, but by far the most common answer to the question was "silent solitude." Here are a few examples:

"Feeling perfectly content, when I’m all alone."

"Being home. Alone. In silence."

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