Jack Liang

Jack Liang (born August 24, 1991) is an Asian-American entrepreneur, model, and anti-racism activist. He co-founded Coral, a consulting and development studio based in Los Angeles. Liang is widely recognized as an anti-racism activist and is best known for leading and organizing Rally Against Hate, the largest-ever recorded Asian-American rally.
==Early life and education==
Liang was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Due to China's one-child policy, his parents relocated from China to the United States in the late 1980s so they could have two children. His mother was a seamstress, while his father was a Chinese restaurant cook. In America, they endured severe discrimination and ill-treatment for being Asian, and as a child, Liang was subjected to extreme street violence. He turned to basketball and track and field sports to fit in, gain respect, and express his emotions.
Liang began working at an early age. When he was ten, he shoveled snow and distributed automobile service cards for Puebla Express. While in high school, he worked as a courier for American Clerical Service and as a sales associate for Aldo Shoes.
Liang's life changed when his closest friends got involved with gangs and were imprisoned. To avoid the same fate, he became a basketball player. He desired to become a professional basketball player, but a severe knee injury prevented him from achieving his goal. From then on, he decided to focus on his studies. 
Liang enrolled at BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College). During his time there, he worked as a sales supervisor at Victoria's Secret Soho, where he held the national and daily records for credit card sales. Liang later entered New York University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in science in 2014. While attending NYU, Liang took up various internships as a marketing, SMB, product management, and private equity intern at Vitamin Water, Goldman Sachs, IPC Systems, and Robeco Investments, respectively.
==Career==
At 19, Liang started working as a party promoter and signed up with his first modeling agency. Liang is one of the few Asian-American models with contracts with five major modeling agencies in four states. He has been featured in Men's Health, shot with Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima, walked for Versace and YSL, and shot campaigns for Moncler, Nike, and many other brands.
Liang's first full-time job was as an associate at Allrecipes.com, where he worked for a while. Then, he quit his associate job and opened a restaurant called "The Pokéspot," using the skills he had learned as a party promoter. The restaurant was a huge success, and within two years, Liang was a co-owner of seven restaurants and mostly in charge of marketing and partnerships. After that, he became a sought-after marketer and started as a consultant for restaurants and small businesses all over the country.
In 2018, one of Liang's campaigns caught the eye of Facebook's SMB product team, and they reached out to him for consultation. Liang took advantage of the opportunity and shared his ideas with the team. This led to him being hired by the company as an SMB ad specialist on Instagram's product team and as a startup advisor for Facebook. In addition, he often gave talks and taught strategies for Facebook Boost.
After nearly three years working at Instagram, Liang left to pursue a higher purpose – vindicating and empowering the Asian-American community.
==Anti-racism activism==
In 2021, Liang started planning marches, events, and speeches at schools and groups all over the country to bring attention to hate crimes against Asians and to promote ways for the AAPI community to work together. After a few months, he decided to use his marketing and advertising skills to organize the largest Asian American rally in the US called "The Rally Against Hate." It took place on March 16, 2022, in Columbus Park, New York City, and more than 10,000 people showed up. He then set up "Times Square Takeover," a rally where many people, including Rihanna, marched down Broadway. Stop Asian Hate was lit up on all the billboards in Times Square during the rally and was heard all over the world. Liang would plan many more rallies after that, such as Voting for Justice, Stop the Mega Jail, Save Afghan Lives, and more. He was arrested in April 2022 for protesting the building of the world's tallest mega jail in Chinatown, New York City. Before construction began, Liang and "the Chinatown 10" knelt in front of the bulldozers to show that the community did not want this multi-billion dollar project and that it would cause irreversible damage to the area.
Liang collaborated with his friend Theodore Lu and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang to build the first-ever decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) for social activism. Their GoldenDAO project employs web3 technologies for social good.
Liang, an award-winning activist, continues to disseminate his message in boardrooms and on the streets, urging people to overcome bigotry, practice forgiveness, and work together to combat injustice.
==Awards and recognitions==
* Liang has been awarded the New York State Senate Proclamation Award.
* Liang has been credited as one of the Top 50 Unsung Heroes by Asian Hustle Network.
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
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Category:1991 Births
Category:American entrepreneurs
Category:American models
Category:American anti-racism activists
Category:People from New York City