Identity

Help “identify problematic tropes and representations...”

Am I a problematic trope? I have been reading Jenny Pak's book about Korean women and their roles in adjustment and acculturation when...

Flower Girl: What flower picking represents to a city girl

The second time I visited Martha's Vineyard for summer vacation, we happened upon a flower picking farm and I couldn't believe that such...

Maybe Only Rich White People Should Attend Rich White Colleges

The defense for not race mixing...in small white liberal colleges. When I told my parents I wanted to go to a small school in Vermont, I...

Not Ornamental

When I order fried chicken wings from my neighborhood Chinese take-out, am I falling under the spell of colonialism? Or am I just...

Existence in the Diaspora?: I Want to Resonate With You

What does it mean to exist in the Diaspora? It means to be in and of the world. I came to the US when I was two years old, and then sent...

The Korean American Experience Told with Wit, Humor and Poignancy

My second book of poems was chosen by Amerie's Book Club (ABC) as their Monday Selection on Instagram. Amerie is an African...

What I learn while doing laundry in the laundromat or rice is not indigenous to Mexico

I like to read whilst I do laundry at our 15th street laundromat. I found a New York Times Styles mag from November 2021 (sometimes I...

Reading Your Words Out Loud

The act of reading your words out loud, the words you've been gestating in your soul, heart and brain for days, months, years (or even...

School Daze: When being a minority and in the minority at school jeopardizes your sense of self

I went to the wrong school for college. Why did I think a very white, exclusive small college in a very white small town in a very white...