Just Filipino

It may seem trivial. After all, most teenagers go through phases, but this was much more than a phase like goth or emo. In my mind, I thought I was leaving up – that if I only surrounded myself with whiteness, bathed myself in it, I would be spared from the struggles of my ancestors. Turns out, I was wrong. Denying my culture didn’t protect me from racism, but it did isolated me from a community that would have validated my feelings, stood behind me, and made me stronger.