Aid for Aki Maehara's Post-Attack Surgery

I am a friend of Aki Maehara, a 71-year-old Vietnam Vet and College Professor who teaches History of Race Beliefs and Racisms in Colonial and U.S. History; Asian American Studies; Chicano Studies; African American Studies; Black Psychology; Research Seminars on Pacific Islander experiences; Vietnam War, French and US wars; Geography; World History; US history; and Native American Studies at East Los Angeles Community College.

He became a target of a hate crime that happened on April 29, 2025. He described the incident: "While biking back to my house, I saw headlights behind me. I turned to check and saw a car coming right at me. I turned toward the curb to find a driveway to avoid being hit. I heard someone yell, "F'ing chink!" As I got hit, I heard, "Go back to Chink-land." As I laid on the ground, he drove away. I sustained a concussion, cheek bone fracture, neck injury, swelling and bruising from my face to my upper chest, bruised ribs, hips, thigh and ankle and torn-open elbow. I had tensions from a former housemate who had ties to white supremacist groups & had received threats from an individual in these hate groups. The Montebello Police Department is investigating this as an "attempted vehicular homocide."

After 3 days of hospitalization, Professor Maehara had to go home and care for himself. Another friend helped him to raise funds with which he was able to pay for his dental bills and hire a home health aide who assisted him with his bandages, food preparation, medication, and laundry to ensure his injuries stayed clean.

All of Prof. Maehara's teeth were cracked when he hit the concrete and he experiences severe pain when chewing food. He requires full upper and lower implants to address this health problem. The cost is between $52K to $62K in the US and only $22K in Mexico for the same quality. Treatments on his teeth at that time temporarily fixed his pain and problems but were not enough.

It is a shame how some people treat heroes like Professor Maehara who fought for this country. He never thought he would be beaten and hated so badly by someone on American soil that he fought for. No one deserves to be beaten just for being who they are, let alone someone like Professor Maehara who was willing to die for his country when he went to war.

Please donate to help his rehabilitation and healing. Your support is greatly appreciated by Professor Aki Maehara, who deserves love and empathy from our communities.

Blessings,

Odno Damdin