R2W Voices
What
does it mean to be ------------- in America?
Social Biography:
Who you are in the context of everything going on around
you; everything around you and how that affects you
During the R2W Summer Institute in 2006, we approached
Social Biography through a set of questions that brought
out the different aspects of our identities and contexts:
- What does it mean to be Samoan/Tongan/Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Filipino/Black
in America?
- What does it mean to be a young person in America?
- What does it mean to be a woman in America? What
does it mean to be a man in America?
- What does it mean to be working class in America?
What does it mean to be middle class in America?
- What does it mean to be Christian in America?
- What does it mean to be gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgender, or queer in America? What does it mean
to be straight in America?
What does it mean to be a woman in
America?
Every 15 seconds…Every 15 seconds in this country a woman is abused in an act of domestic violence. If you were to calculate that out- you would find that 5,760 women a day are victims of physical and emotional abuse by their partners. Some say statistics are only numbers that don’t really mean much. Every 15 seconds….think about that…Every 15 seconds Our Mothers, Sisters, Aunt’s Grandmothers, Neighbors are Kicked, slapped, shoved, punched, threatened, manipulated, controlled, verbally attacked, belittled etc. I know that feeling. I know that personally. I know that sinking feeling in your stomach that you feel when you get closer and closer to your home, I know how it feels to be silent, I know and feel and weep for all my Samoan sisters when the abuse is justified by our “Culture”. I know how it works. I know how it was-how it is- and how IT WILL CHANGE! This is my reality, this is what’s familiar, these are my struggles as a woman in America.
- Crystal T.
What does it mean to be working class and Tongan
in America?
A Tongan American… sounds nice doesn't it? Can
you picture a Tongan doctor, a Tongan politician or
maybe even a Tongan president. Can you guys see that?
I do, but just not today. Today, I see my Tongan brothers
dropping out of school and hopping into dump trucks
to go out and help their fathers put food on the table
to support the younger siblings. Most Tongans like myself,
do landscaping. We go to school and after school, there
would be no time for play, we would go straight to work.
This is how we live. And in the summers, from sun-up
to sun-down, we work. While we're at school, we see
others wearing expensive clothes and nice shoes. If
we want any of that stuff, we have to work for it. Other
people, they could just get it by just asking...
- Penitani M.
What does it mean to be young and Pilipino in America?
So what does it mean to be young here in America? It
means that I am no longer just Pilipino. I now function
in a society and am part of a generation that my parents,
for the most part, have little understanding of. I speak
a different language. I'm sayin' "Fo' real"
and my voice is different. See, my parents sang songs
melodically, they didn't flip the script on the tip
of the lip and make eardrums vibrate for my spit or
dance on their heads. See? They had the simple two-step.
We have the complicated six. They spun records; we scratch
and mix. Their past is my history and my past is their
yesteryear. But even though my sneakers cost more than
their homeland education, I still have to pick up mom
and drop her off to work and I pay my respects to my
elders by kissing them on the cheek and even though
my waistline is six inches below my actual waist, I
remember that I still got my ass beat with with dad's
leather belt, the hard handle of a broom, grandma's
forehand, and mom's random bathroom stick that cuts
through air and hurts as hell too. See, I have to find
a balance between two different social cultural structures
to be able to identify with both at the same time. And
this involves separation from my land of birth, Philipines,
Tagolog, my native tongue, and sacrifice notions of
my upbringing to make room for growth in this new world
I had to adapt to. My struggle is to maintain the lineage
of my heritage and with the employment of acculturation,
navigate the more slowly evolving society in search
of my own definition of Pilipino and American.
- Kyle D.
What does it mean to be working class in America?
It means my mom can't always put healthy meals on the
table
It means we have rice with salt and ramen on the side
Work is a priority
We contribute our lives to the work force
Stand in the fields having to shout for our rights
Si se puede, si se puede
Oh yes we can!
Generations of struggle on our backs
Now I have to rely on my homies to get my back
Street talks and street walks are my vein in my soul
I rely on my grandmama's past to humble myself
Poor, yes I am
My mom makes 10 cents a shirt to put clothes on your
back
My best friend crossed the border for more opportunities
Only to be denied of her $2,000 grant because she doesn't
have an alien number
As for me you can find me on Sunset and Alvarado selling
phones while my home boy is on the street hustling
- Sophay D. |
