>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. >> good afternoon. thanks for joining us. i'm julian glover. you are watching "getting answers." everyday we talk to experts about issues and get you answers in real time. today we continue to raise awareness about suicide prevention month and connected a life saving resources out there. we will also be hearing from the american foundation of suicide prevention. we will talk about the warning signs and personal stories of losing a loved one.

we work to bring you a better bay area, and that includes how we can be better allies. we want to tell you about a new book called asian-american histories of the u.s.. it features a diverse group of voices of immigrants, refugees, and u.s.-born asian americans. joining us live now is the author of the book, dr. catherine choy, a professor of ethnic studies and associate dean at uc berkeley. thank you for joining us here. >> thank you. it's a pleasure to be here. >> we are so happy to have you here with us on this wednesday. talk to us about the title of the book, "asian-american histories of the u.s." you are emphasizing multiple histories. why is that? >> well, the reason why i did that is to make the point that asian americans are not a monolith. we are the fastest growing group in the u.s.. at this point, in 2022, it is a community that is comprised of about 24 million people, from over 20 countries in east asia, southeast asia, and the indian

subcontinent. and so, i wanted to honor the diversity, the heterogeneity of our community. and acknowledging that there are multiple origins of asian-american histories was a way to do that. i emphasized that in the title. >> that is such a great point and so true of all races and ethnicities, that no one group is a monolith. no one group has a monolithic way of thinking. we are all diverse, individual, with very rich histories, too. i want to talk about the emphasis you put on three themes in the book -- violence, erasure, and resistance in asian-american histories. why did you choose to feature these particular things? what is the significance there? >> well, even though asian americans, as we have emphasized, are not a monolith, and are incredibly large -- an incredibly large and diverse

group, there are still experiences that bring us together. among those have to do with the themes that i highlighted in the book, violence, erasure, and resistance. so, i highlighted violence, in part, to reckon with some of our present-day issues, regarding the search in anti-asian hate and violence alongside this deadly pandemic we are still going through. i also wanted to point out that when you learn about asian-american histories, we can learn that this is not new, in terms of the racial and medical scapegoating of asians and asian americans as disease carriers. yet, here we are, and we see this surge over the past several years. this is why the theme of eurasia -- where the theme of erasure comes in. despite our long-standing

history, the book covers nearly 200 years of history of asian migration and labor and committee foundation, even though this might that long-standing history, many of us, the general american public, still know so little about asian-american experience. and that is still often viewed sort of at the outset of american history rather than being an integral part of u.s. history, that it is. erasure comes up in other forms, as well, the use of labels, war, secret army -- labels, like secret war and secret army. or, for example, the redevelopment of asian-american historic places and communities. one example would be the historic korean american

community in the early 20th century, but getting to the theme of resistance, asian americans have historically contested this erasure, this omission of their experiences in u.s. history. one way was to designate the camp in riverside, california as an important part of both american as well as korean american history. >> history that so many people are not familiar with. if we don't know it, we are certainly doomed to repeat it. something you touched on there. i would like to talk about how you really structured the book. chapter one features the year 2020, 1 that so many folks will never forget. chapter by chapter, you kind of go back in time as far as history is concerned, to earlier years. and asian-american history but truly all of our history, because it is all of our history. why did you decide to structure the book in this way? >> well, i decided to use a

nonlinear backwards approach, that as you pointed out, the first chapter begins with 2020, then ends with 1875 and the conclusion with 1869. i did this different kind of approach because i think it emphasized a couple of major points in the book -- one is that asian-american history is complex. where and when we enter, given the diversity of our experiences and histories, is really complicated. so rather than trying to present this very straightforward history, in which you go from point a to point b, this nonlinear approach honors particular years. 2020, 1975, 1968, for example,

and then uses each year as a touchstone for many different events and asian-american experiences. each chapter goes actually back in time, then forward to the more present-day. i found this to be, for me, and i hope for the readers, an engaging and distinctive way of of thinking about very different experiences. >> experiences we will be able to learn more about when we go get dr. choy's new book here. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. it was great to be here. >> coming up -- a string of violence in oaklands and a new call for something to be done about it. in oakland city council member joins us live her

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>> welcome back. thanks for sticking with us here on "getting answers." we want to dig into the unsettling string of violence we saw in oakland this week -- for people shot and killed, others, injured by gunfire, including a seven-year-old, all within 24 hours. we want to give you an idea of where the shootings have happened. monday night after sunset, a woman shot and killed in the fruitvale district, less than an hour later, two men were killed in a shooting outside of the restaurant on telegraph ave., just feet away from an islamic center, and on tuesday in the middle of the afternoon, a person was killed near city hall on 14th and broadway. today we are learning about at least two of the victims, getting a look at the chaos that claimed their lives. we do want to let you know -- you may find the video we are about to show you disturbing. but it is important for us to see this. we have surveillance video of the drive-by shooting, outside of the, restauran -- outside of the restaurant.

you can see a white car drive up and someone just starts shooting. police think there may have been more than one shooter in the vehicle. one of the victims use on the screen is 27-year-old isam and bilal, a beloved member of the oakland islamic center. so many broken families, searching for answers. many asking the question, why my loved one? what can be done to stop this violence? joining me as district five oakland city councilmember, representing fruitvale. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you, certainly, when it comes to public safety in oakland, we have an emergency and we have to recognize that we have to reach out to further cooperation from law enforcement agencies, that we have here in oakland, from the sheriff's department, highway patrol, in cooperation with the oakland police department. i have parents calling me daily. they are afraid of having their

children walk to school nowadays, because they are afraid their children are going to get lost, not be able to return home. so the reality is -- we need greater cooperation, greater enforcement, within the streets of oakland. because the reality is, the shootings, the robberies, the killings are increasing, i grew up here in east oakland and oakland all my life and certainly recognize nc what is -- currently happening -- and see what is currently happening. it will take cooperation within law enforcement. to be able to address the issue. and be able to work with the neighborhood and the other social agencies that are on the street dealing with violence prevention. that's one of the actions we will be proposing. to be able to get the city council in cooperation with alameda county, because in reality, i am a taxpayer, i

prefer the sheriff, the highway patrol, and the police department, and i deserve their safety here in the city of oakland, and that is the bottom line, where we are today. >> the bottom line is, you have said what you are calling this wave of violence a state of emergency here in oakland. we know one of the plans you are calling for is for the california highway patrol to step in, help patrol the streets in oakland. in your vantage point, why do you think additional officers are the solution here? how will they make the streets safer? >> i think that we at one time did have the cooperation with the other law enforcement agencies. including the housing authority. we have many police agencies here in the city of oakland. that the taxpayers are paying for. but it takes cooperation. right now the reality is, the sheriff cannot talk to the police, the police cannot talk to the sheriff, i am

communicating with the fbi because we have other issues dealing with human trafficking and so forth, that they need to be on the streets of oakland, like they used to be, to be able to address that problem. but the bottom line is, i've got to make sure that my schools are safe. and the school district is reaching out to me to see if there's any way that i can get the police department to not only deal with the traffic speed around the schools, but also deal with some of the incidents, when it comes to activity within the student body. we are trying to work on that avenue as well. the bottom line, for any city and every government, public safety is the number one priority. and we need to address that and get back to meeting those needs here in the city of oakland. >> public safety, the sense of feeling safe, that you can go out and about without fear of being shot in one of these ridiculous drive-by shootings like we showed video of not long ago. as you mentioned, students and

children -- so many of them are usually around the plaza. when the shooting took place just yesterday, things of that nature, i want to make the case here for your constituents as to why additional officers will make folks safer. we know there was significant pushback last year when the oakland mayor called an chp to help patrol the streets, as we were seeing yet another wave of deadly violence, too. if you can speak directly to your constituents, some not oppose this idea, why is this the solution? do you think additional officers could have prevented the violent 24 hours that we had seen -- have seen? >> having grown up here, many of us meet pushback. you can feel sorry for me, you know, try to help me in different ways, but i need the discipline and the pushback -- it is not ok for me to get to caught up in the drug scene, i sent the fbi here two weeks ago to do a major sting operation,

where they arrested people in a market, laundering millions of dollars to central america and mexico, because they are selling drugs here in the city of oakland. for me, growing up here, i still remember the drugs when they hit in east, oakland in the 1960's and their families and neighborhoods were never the same after that. as a neighborhood, we need to be able to, one, be responsible for the children that we have, and secondly, we responsible for our neighbors in our neighborhood. also be able to support those that need to be cited, than that is what needs to happen in the city of oakland. do i need to enforce the laws? definitely we do. our population is changing dramatically. i have many people coming into the city. that perhaps have had different experiences in other places. but we need to enforce our traffic speed as well as the violence, and yes it is not ok

for you to get caught up in the gang activity, because that's also grown. and groups are forming groups to make sure that they protect their own neighborhood. >> councilmember, we only have a couple minutes left and there's more ground i want to cover with you here -- very quickly, yes or no, do you believe additional officers will make folks and oakland safer? >> absolutely. it takes the cooperation of the officers here. we just need to work together, as a community, and deal with the violent issue we have in front of us, to make sure our children continue to be safe and healthy and get to school and back. >> earlier today california attorney general rob announced the launch of the california department of justice, the first of the nation for gun violence prevention -- how do you hope this office will be able to assist in local gun violence prevention efforts and hopefully stop some of the crime that we have been seeing --

violent crime, we should say, from happening? >> it's not about what we say, but what we do. the reality is, i've just got a brother that came out of the prison system, is in san francisco right now temporarily -- so the issue is, when it comes to gun violence, absolutely. but then at the same time, we as a father, mother, brother, and sister, we need to be responsible for those of us that are in the neighborhood, high school age, or above that, be responsible for the activity and behavior we are permitting. so at the end of the day, law enforcement is necessary, but at the same time, the family and the neighborhood also need to be held accountable and responsible for the behavior we are allowing to happen in our streets. it is not the first time. it may not be the last time. and we have lived it. but it will take cooperation between law enforcement and the

neighborhoods. >> it certainly takes a village. very quick question -- only 30 seconds left to go -- we know the unemployment rate in alameda county, 3.2%, well below the state and national averages. but we know with inflation it is still so hard, to suffer so many families to make ends meet. how do we address the root causes of crime we are seeing happening in oakland and all across the bay area? how do we create better safety nets, to help folks before they perhaps turn to crime? >> that is where government working together, from city hall, the city county -- the city, the county level, to the school system, right now in the state of california and the u.s., i don't see the cooperation between governmental bodies. that is what we were elected to do. sometimes the council cannot talk to the county on the county cannot talk to the council, and we need to come together. in law enforcement.

to make sure we on our community. -- honor our community. and earn our paycheck. that is the only motivation we need, to get the job done and work together. that is what is missing here in the state of california and the u.s.. >> it is certainly we want to see you and everyone else involved to be successful in, tamping down the violent crime, the gun violence we are seeing in oakland and all across the bay area. councilmember gayo, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. >> thank you for your time. >> up next -- a story of loss and learning. the bay area leader for suicide prevention talks about the risk factors, warning signs, and what we can all do to curb the stigma. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. the three what? the three ps? what are the three ps?

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lifeline. the number is 988. we will also put a number at the bottom of your screen throughout the segment, so you can find it easily. joining us with more insight on this important topic this month end all year round is jasmine t., the bay area's board chair of the american foundation of suicide prevention. thank you so much for being here. >> [no audio] >> we might be having some audio issues. hopefully we get you in just a second pair would why is it prevention such an important mission to you personally? can you tell us your own story of loss, i believe dating back 25 years now? >> yeah, actually, i lost my cousin, this will mark the 25th anniversary of my cousin's suicide. she was also my foster sister. we were all in eighth grade. we had lost a friend of ours, cindy, first.

then we lost karen, my cousin. and that was a really isolating experience. the stigma then was so much stronger than it is now. a lot of people just didn't know how to talk about it. people didn't know how to help all of us students. they did their best. but it was definitely hard, to to deal with the stigma. and it brought me to my career. in suicide prevention. it's really important to me, to really try to decrease the stigma and make sure that people have the language to talk about suicide and are able to seek help when they need it. >> can you talk to us about how your personal experience really inspired you to get into this career? like you said, in the eighth grade, you didn't really have the resources that you needed. folks were not really comfortable enough to talk to you about it.

what do you hope that you had been as an eighth grader that could have made the journey of acceptance and growth easier for you? >> part of it was just having access to different services. and different education programs. actually, my first instance of being involved with the american foundation for suicide prevention was in 2011, i had just searched -- since my cousin died in 1997 -- had searched everywhere i could for some kind of community. and i was able to find our out of the darkness community walk in oakland, california. i went there. it was an incredible experience, where i found other people who had been through similar circumstances, even people who

had not but they just felt they needed to uphold the cause of suicide prevention and it was the first time i did not feel alone. that is something that i wish i had had access to then. i think it would've been really helpful, for all of the adults and school staff, and as the community we were in, to have other education programs, to help them with the language needed, just kind of what signs to look for, how to support. >> on that note, we just saw some of the video of the walk you were talking about. truly, it looks like a sense of community. so many people have been done a similar road joining together,. can you tell us about some of the signs folks should be on the lookout for, especially when it comes to teens and younger kids? >> absolutely. we talk a lot about having depression and an anxious mood,

an increase in irritability were noticing a a change in the way that somebody dresses, or their sleeping habits, eating -- we also talk about increase in substance use. we don't talk about online warning signs, for social media and different things like that. like posting captions, hashtags, or emojis that are overtly sad or negative, things like that. >> such important signs to be able to look up for. jasmine, thank you so much for being here sharing those signs and also your personal story. we appreciate it. >> thank

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>> thanks so much for joining us here on "getting answers. we will be here every weekday at

3:00 p.m. on air and on livestream, answering your questions in real time. "world news tonight" with david muir's next. see you back here at 4:00. tonight, former president trump, three of his children, and the trump organization all sued by new york's attorney general for $250 million. accused of, quote, staggering fraud. new york state attorney general letitia james accusing the former president and three of his adult children of falsely inflating the value of almost all of their major properties by billions. the a.g. demanding the trump's be banned from doing business in new york. tonight, the investigation referred to the manhattan d.a. and the irs for potential criminal charges. how the former president is responding tonight. the war in ukraine. vladimir putin and his nuclear threat tonight. and president biden on the world stage responding today. what biden said about nuclear war. and what he says putin's real goal is when it