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.
Tag Archives: filipino
Mother Tongue
My mother has been speaking to me in Tagalog. She must think I understand. She must have forgotten that she never taught me how to speak it so how can I understand? They didn’t want me to have an accent. I had an accent because they had an accent. They gave me their accent. WhatContinue reading “Mother Tongue”