I’m an immigrant. I was born in Hong Kong, but after the Tiananmen Square Massacre and Hong Kong’s looming transfer back to communist China, my parents said f* this sh*t and brought 3-year-old me to Portland, Oregon. We had relatives here and were sponsored over legally, and soon I received my U.S citizenship. I grew up in a white, white suburb attending super white schools and I didn’t even know I wasn’t white until middle school. I even have freckles. I grew up to be an educated, well-traveled, Asian American woman with a tech job and a steady record of Caucasian boyfriends. I always do my taxes and donate to local causes, recycle, volunteer, go to church (sometimes) and vote. I grew up with the privilege of trusting my government and lawmakers to do the right thing. I spent years as an expat overseas, and was okay with the overall global impression of Americans: loud, lack of fashion sense, opinionated, somewhat socially awkward, and proud to be American.
But lately, I haven’t felt so great about being American. I mean I am, but over half the country…sigh. We somehow ended up with a new leader, one that has no respect for women, wants to literally build a wall, unreasonably banned refugees and immigrants for being Muslim, and can’t even tweet with proper grammar. I work in social media and can I just say that the past week has been one of the most emotionally devastating, mentally draining weeks of my life? Now he’s putting people in power that definitely have an evil agenda in place. It’s not funny.
I need to be brutally honest. I know pretty much nothing about politics. I won’t even pretend that I do. Banana farmers in Costa Rica know more than I do, because it affects them directly. I’ve surfed off the privilege of being arrogant for so long because I’ve lived a fairytale life far away from poverty, injustice and war. I loved Obama but honestly I don’t think my day to day life would have been much different if we had McCain or Romney for the last eight years instead. Yeah, heavy sentence but think about the last ten days since Trump’s been in office. I’m ashamed to admit that it took the horrors of past weeks to force me into paying attention and learning because this shit is fucked up and I cannot stay silent any longer, I am PISSED. I see it everywhere, from Lyft drivers to coworkers and friends around the world, Trump has gone too far and the fire is roaring back. It’s not only about politics anymore, it’s about humanity.
Also, I’m glad that everyone is expressing themselves on social media and using it as a medium for support and organizing movements, but maybe we should stop wasting time arguing with people that disagree. I have not seen a single change of heart via Facebook comment wildfires or twitter feuds. I totally get it, my blood boils when I see hateful comments too. My normal instinct (pre-election) is to keep everything on my social channels PC and with a twist of weird humor, because you know, personal brand and brands we represent and shit. My normal instinct now (post-election) is to throw out a ton of these: 🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽 But the reality is different for both sides, and I wish we weren’t divided. Actually, I see many arguments among parties that believe in the same thing but have different approaches. I just saw an ex of mine post something really mean on his Facebook on how destructive, violent and unproductive protests in Portland are, and that we should go overseas to volunteer instead. I had just gotten back from handing out La Croix and high-fiving people at the peaceful protest downtown, but I won’t say anything because we do not need more conflict. (Breathe, Kalong, BREATHE) In fact, I reached out to a friend of mine whom I know supported Trump through the elections, but he did not meet up with me to chat. It’s hard, but the last thing we need is more hate and we cannot hate our fellow Americans because there’s no room for that right now, or ever. Instead, try to understand and listen. Love, because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8) And seek help in patience and prayers. (Al baqara — 45)
I did the Women’s March in SF, donated to ACLU (IRC and Planned Parenthood next), and have been attending peaceful protests. I’m staying constantly updated on the news (TRYING), and I’m learning how to best resist Trump. I’ve braced myself for this to be a lifestyle now, because I’m proud of being an immigrant, and I’m happy to stand up with everyone else to block Trump’s way.
