In mainstream liberal media, there’s no shortage of stories about heroic immigrants who rescue people from burning buildings or save their classmates during a school shooting. We applaud these people for their acts of bravery and compassion, and more often than not, we put forth their stories as examples of why immigrants are great for our community. Coming from an immigrant … [Read more...]
Stop using mixed race people as symbols of interracial unity to ease your white guilt
This piece was first published in Danish magazine Friktion and is republished with permission. Dutch beer company Heineken has recently faced backlash for its “lighter is better” ad, where a bartender with light skinned Latino appearance slides a beer past three dark skinned Black people towards an Eurasian woman, with whom he shares a wink, before the slogan “sometimes … [Read more...]
When White People are Silent in the Situations of Injustice, They Have Chosen the Side of the Oppressor
Right now there's a narrative sweeping the activist psyche: white people as a segment of society are oppressive and if we are not directly abusive or oppressive ourselves, our ignorance and silence means we are enablers of abuse and oppression. As a white woman and a mother, I along with many others, have resisted such a narrative. Not only because to be defined as abusive … [Read more...]
The (Anti) Black A** Roots of America’s Islamophobia
The Body Is Not an Apology’s goal is to share the myriad ways human bodies unshackle the box of “beauty” and fling it wide open for all of us to access. Our goal is to redefine the unapologetic, radically amazing magnificence of EVERY BODY on this planet. When we do, we change the world! Join the movement and become a subscriber … [Read more...]
Across a Sea of Whiteness: 3 Ways I Connect with Black Women in White Spaces
I’ve been living in a mostly white New England state for over seven years now. Prior to moving here, I spent eight years living in a less-white, but still white-as-hell Midwestern state. I moved to these places for school, and then for a job. For the past four years, I’ve made a conscious choice to stay in this white New England state – even took on a career change to … [Read more...]
7 Ridiculous Things Not to Say to Mixed Race People
What Does it Mean to be Mixed Race? I am mixed race. There are many ways to be mixed race -- the dictionary defines it as people whose parents or ancestors are from different ethnic backgrounds, but the definition can vary based on context. For the most part, mixed people have the right to define their own identity and their relationships with their varied ancestry, but the … [Read more...]
The Difficulty of Portraying Softness While Existing in a Brown Body
It is almost close to impossible to portray genuine softness within a cisheteropatriarchal capitalistic society without it becoming a commodity or lifestyle that can be marketed and sold to us. We are taught from an early age that our emotions hinder us. This is because our society as a whole thrives on an unrealistic portrayal of intimacy and love. We are taught that to be … [Read more...]
Undoing the Silence: 5 Myths that Uphold Mental Health Stigmas in Latinx Communities
It was after three years of struggling with my mental health when I came to terms with needing to see a therapist. I was coping with regular anxiety attacks, situational depression, and untreated trauma. My reluctance to seek out professional help was due to a number of reasons that could be narrowed down to one thing: the stigma that comes with admitting to mental … [Read more...]
5 Ways ‘Asian Woman Fetishes’ Put Asian Women in Serious Danger
Republished from Everyday Feminism Recently, a friend and I were talking about growing up Asian American in predominantly white neighborhoods and schools, and she told me that when she was in fifth grade, boys teased her on the playground by saying that she had a “sideways vagina.” This has happened to me, too – and I’m sure to so many other Asian girls. From … [Read more...]
7 Ways ‘Honoring’ Other Cultures Is Really Cultural Appropriation
This article was originally published on EverydayFeminsim.com and is republished with permission. If someone was trying to help you, but they were unintentionally doing more harm than good, you’d want to tell them, right? And you’d hope they’d be open to your feedback – after all, you’re not saying they’re a bad person or accusing them of deliberate sabotage. If they really … [Read more...]
Never Enough: Growing Up Mixed-Race with a Mix of Friends
I identify as mixed-race. My father is white, and my mother was black and Native American. I have medium-light-toned skin, I have curly hair when it’s not buzzed, and I do not really look like either of my parents. When I was growing up, it was always hard to explain my background to people. Plenty of people, kids and adults alike, would ask me, “What are you?” as though I were … [Read more...]
Why Black History Needs To Matter To Everyone Else, Every Month
Let me start by saying that I have Attention Deficit Disorder. It's hard for me retain anything at all without a lot of repetition. Unless I’m continually reminded of something, I inevitably forget it. It’s for this reason that I have come to value Black History Month on a personal level. Totally by accident, it provides for my disability. But, as is often the case, my … [Read more...]
4 Ways White People Can Process Their Emotions Without Bringing the White Tears
This article originally appeared in EverydayFeminism.com and is reprinted by permission. If you’re a white person who has been in many activist spaces, then you’ve probably experienced a specific, often unspoken ground rule: There’s no room for white tears in this space. This sort of rule is instilled because oftentimes, in other spaces, your emotions, and the emotions … [Read more...]
7 Radical Filipina Women You Should Know
Trigger warnings: mention of violence against trans women The Philippines encompasses over 7,600 islands, over 180 ethnic groups, and over 19 dialects. Philippine-Americans make up the second largest demographic of Asian peoples in the United States, and our diaspora of overseas Pilipinx (a gender neutral term for those of Philippine descent) is up to around ten million -- … [Read more...]
