Women start Black & Asian collective to bridge gap between Philly communities

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- It began with a small group of women gathering monthly at Black and Asian-owned businesses to discuss the relationship between the two groups.

Now, a Philadelphia grassroots effort for racial harmony has blossomed into a mission to bridge the gap between two communities that have a history of strife.

"These are things that we can either just ignore and say 'okay, well this happens,' or you can create intentionality about doing something about it," said Karla Ballard.

So, Ballard founded the social enterprise organization Ying, and Esther Castillo founded the Black and Asian Solidarity collective.

The pair got more women of color involved and with good food as a connector. They had challenging conversations and confronted the biases in their own communities.

"We can do a lot together and heal our city," said Castillo.

"Do you feel there's a lot of strife right now in both communities?" asked reporter Christie Ileto.

"I'm going to say yes," said Ballard.

"You're seeing this now obviously with the 76ers development happening now in Chinatown. We are excited to bring a different narrative to that because what we'd like to highlight is where we are actually in union with each other.

"Why is it so important to keep the conversation going and not just have these one-time annual events happening?" asked Ileto.

"Without these relationships, we can have all the fun, but we can't initiate change on the ground. So it's not just us. It's not just Esther and Karla," said Castillo.