I wear my identity on my sleeve
Because it is all too often forgotten
I wear my identity on my sleeve
Because I fear one day,
I too shall forget
I wear my identity on my sleeve
To yell from the rooftops
This is who I am
But I forget how inseparable I am
From my identity and culture
Ocean Vuong once said, “Even if I were to write the word the that is still an Asian American the”
My identity is
inseparable from my
culture, inseparable from my
ancestry, inseparable from my
heritage.
Everything I touch, leaves a mark
Every mark, touched by who I am.
Though schools and institutions,
Peers and mentors
Nations and its leaders
May ask me to lay aside my identity,
An identity that threatens:
Their version of the story,
Their version of their nation,
It’s history and culture
The intersection of my culture
My identity
In this nation,
with its history,
it’s heritage and its culture
Cannot be undone.
A self weaving tapestry.
Tear a thread
and it mends itself
Burn it down
And like a phoenix
it emerges from the ashes
Erasure is impossible
So long as I breathe.
Editors: Joyce S., Chloe M., Leandra S.
Photo Credits: Dadu Shin