For the author, it was critical to place Miu, an Asian American mother and fugitive poet, at the forefront of a protest movement in her book. It was, in a way, a nod to the awareness that Asian American women more generally have long had around violence, preceding the rise in anti-Asian hate during the pandemic. Research previously showed that 21% to 55% of Asian women in the U.S. report having experienced intimate physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetimes, according to the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. “As an Asian American woman, I feel like I’ve been aware of the possibility of violence for most of my life. “In the case of PACT, it’s the idea that there’s a right way to be American,” Ng said.

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