I Am Who I Say I Am
I Am Who I Say I Am
Unlearning Silence
As a young teen, the creative media I was consuming was fairly standard: teen drama shows (mostly white main casts), sitcoms in New York (mostly white main casts). But I started with Chinese influences. Hóu Gē, the Chinese cartoon about the Monkey King, was this stack of DVDs in white plastic sheaths that towered over me on top of our DVD bookcase.
An Act of Rebellion
When a white woman talks about her experiences, she is applauded by her vulnerability and living her truth; When Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) start speaking about their experiences, they’re constantly overlooked.
The Price of Their Satisfaction
I asked my Amma, every year, around the time of my birthday, about what it was like when I was born. She would roll her eyes in annoyance, scolding me for constantly asking her, but nonetheless she would repeat once again, in Tamil, “On June 16th, you were born and my life had changed forever.”
Persona
Stepping into the building I call school, I face an internal conflict every single day. “Be me or be me?”
How I Lost My Creativity
My dad is always described as the joker of the family. From the stories, I’ve heard he seemed like a bit of a cheeky teenager. A bit of a rebel. He wasn’t really interested in school. His parents (my grandparents) knew that. Despite that, he went to study engineering at a technical college.
Exposure 19
To some people - most people, actually - we all look the same, eat the same thing, speak the same language, and come from the same place.