I Am Who I Say I Am
I Am Who I Say I Am
A Year of Reflection
Cultivating my writing career has been a great privilege during one of the worst years in the 21st century. I would not have been able to do this without my beautiful community, which continues to grow each day. If it wasn’t for the amazing people in my life, I wouldn’t have found these opportunities or have the mental fortitude to show up every day ready to kick life in the ass. Living through a global pandemic had me appreciate my life more and forced me to move out of my comfort zone because everything was uncertain.
It Starts with Teeth
You go upstairs and look at yourself in the mirror; your waist has turned inward and your stomach has flattened— age has done what no amount of starvation ever could.
She fusses over you like you’re a fragile doll— pushes food your way constantly and watches you eat with nervousness instead of resentment.
You know she’s scared for you, but for the first time in a long time, it feels like she’s calling you beautiful.
Not Your Business: The Problem with White Businesses Selling Asian Culture
In this article, I’d like to address the problems with White businesses that make their profit by selling Asian culture. White people making it their business (quite literally) to represent and commodify Asian culture is shockingly common: from creating and dominating an entire market around sacred Yoga practices that originated and proliferated in Southeast Asia.
How Math Cost Me My Identity
I’ve never been very good at math, but the fundamentals of multiplication have inadvertently carved my understanding of racial identity. At the root of it, elementary school teachers are to blame for drilling the basic rules into my head, to that corner where instinct unintentionally overcomes intuition.
The Legacy of a Pregnant Nun
*Trigger warning this piece depicts sexual assault and suicidal ideation
The musky air with a faint hint of fish sauce greeted us when we got to my Tito Jose’s house. The property consisted of four houses, a small garden, and a few farm animals. Last time I had been here I was probably eight years old.
Identity
Sometimes when I consider my journey with identity, it makes me cringe - so much of my time, stress, energy has been expended on my dwelling on it. I feel like this is a typical staple of the young diaspora community, most notably children of immigrants