step one: (un)learning It starts when you feel a deep uneasiness in your body. Like a secret code between you and the earth that thumps and prods and irks; the earth whispers to you to open your eyes. You begin searching for safety, for care, for liberation, only to find that it is never offered…
My Mother’s English Last spring, I read Mother Tongue, an essay novelist Amy Tan had written about her mother’s English. Tan’s mother, who had immigrated to the U.S., held an “expressive command” of English. But her mother’s English was also grammatically imperfect. Because of this, she was ignored, mistreated by workers in department stores, banks,…
The first time I saw Kitty Tsui—and really, anybody like her—was the fall of my sophomore year. Her photograph was printed in black and white in an essay anthology, which I had checked out discreetly from my university library using the self checkout station. Hiding under the hanging sheets of my lofted bed, I marveled…