Thanks for posting a note about this essay, which I had missed. I read it with great fascination. The few photos you have of your grandparents are so precious. Yes, it's wild to think that your paternal grandma had bound feet, isn't it? My own grandma was made to start the process of foot binding but somehow she got out of it before her bones were cracked. Sadly, I have no idea what exactly she went through as she was reticent about her past. Photography was a rare luxury even I my parents' generation, so it's been super difficult to reconstruct my family history. But reading your family lore always brings fresh inspiration to me to dig deeper even if much of my family history is unavailable in the forms of written or photographic records.
Mutual gratitude, Louisa. When so much is hidden, the message we're bequeathed is that IT DOESN'T MATTER/NO ONE WILL CARE. Asian Americans are just beginning to climb over this wall of silence to tell their stories. It takes a tremendous amount of detective work and deduction to challenge our learned ignorance. This is why AAPI Heritage Month matters.
And of course all of this is an object lesson as the Aryan forces of American Tyranny move to crush all evidence of non-white history in this country. When they cancel knowledge of history they cut us off from ourselves and each other. The ultimate paradox is that TRUMP IS TAKING HIS CUES FROM CHINA and following their playbook to erase the true story of our country and our people.
"The wall of silence"--I'm glad you named it. I have felt it all along but lacked the words to properly describe my experience. Part of me was conditioned to believe the "silence is golden" and "wise people are quiet" thanks to my traditional education. But we cannot afford to be silent because our culture is facing erasure and our very existence is being threatened. Yes, that's why AAPI Heritage Month matters! I'm organizing a series of events at my workplace to celebrate this month and also to educate people of our culture and history.
Oh, the "Aryan forces" to crush non-white history in the U.S. are so despicable! It is certainly the greatest irony that Trump is following the authoritarian playbook from China--one that was well used especially during the Cultural Revolution--to play out his own version of a Cultural Revolution in America. The regime's word choices make me cringe as they reek of propaganda speak in the days of Mao.
Thanks for posting a note about this essay, which I had missed. I read it with great fascination. The few photos you have of your grandparents are so precious. Yes, it's wild to think that your paternal grandma had bound feet, isn't it? My own grandma was made to start the process of foot binding but somehow she got out of it before her bones were cracked. Sadly, I have no idea what exactly she went through as she was reticent about her past. Photography was a rare luxury even I my parents' generation, so it's been super difficult to reconstruct my family history. But reading your family lore always brings fresh inspiration to me to dig deeper even if much of my family history is unavailable in the forms of written or photographic records.
Mutual gratitude, Louisa. When so much is hidden, the message we're bequeathed is that IT DOESN'T MATTER/NO ONE WILL CARE. Asian Americans are just beginning to climb over this wall of silence to tell their stories. It takes a tremendous amount of detective work and deduction to challenge our learned ignorance. This is why AAPI Heritage Month matters.
And of course all of this is an object lesson as the Aryan forces of American Tyranny move to crush all evidence of non-white history in this country. When they cancel knowledge of history they cut us off from ourselves and each other. The ultimate paradox is that TRUMP IS TAKING HIS CUES FROM CHINA and following their playbook to erase the true story of our country and our people.
"The wall of silence"--I'm glad you named it. I have felt it all along but lacked the words to properly describe my experience. Part of me was conditioned to believe the "silence is golden" and "wise people are quiet" thanks to my traditional education. But we cannot afford to be silent because our culture is facing erasure and our very existence is being threatened. Yes, that's why AAPI Heritage Month matters! I'm organizing a series of events at my workplace to celebrate this month and also to educate people of our culture and history.
Oh, the "Aryan forces" to crush non-white history in the U.S. are so despicable! It is certainly the greatest irony that Trump is following the authoritarian playbook from China--one that was well used especially during the Cultural Revolution--to play out his own version of a Cultural Revolution in America. The regime's word choices make me cringe as they reek of propaganda speak in the days of Mao.
Tomorrow I’m posting a conversation with Daniel Tam-Claiborne, author of the new novel Transplants. I think you’ll really enjoy it, Louisa!