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“I remember when I first went to L.A. and saw these totally free Korean dudes,” Yeun said. “They weren’t weighted down with all that same self-consciousness. They even walked differently.”
@jaycaspiankang & @steveyeun
Incredible piece, & I deeply identified with it all.
https://twitter.com/nancywyuen/status/1358305820195229698
@jaycaspiankang & @steveyeun
Incredible piece, & I deeply identified with it all.
https://twitter.com/nancywyuen/status/1358305820195229698
When I 1st moved to LA & met Asian Americans who grew up in SGV, OC, etc., I was amazed by how they moved thru the world w/such confidence. Like Steven, I grew up in MI in a white hometown. But unlike him I didn’t have the reprieve of church. I didn’t have a space to be me.
There’s a section in the article talking about our obsession with the feeling of belonging or not belonging, & sometimes I wonder if it will be something I worry about the rest of my life. And I feel every microaggression like a cut on top of a large wound never healed.
When confronted, some of my aggressors would laugh & claim it was a joke as I seethed or passionately cried. As children of immigrants, the second gen sits in a rocky in betweenness. We struggle to belong in the world we know & we don’t belong in the world our parents left.
A feeling of belonging, of acceptance, is key to survival & good mental health. If I have children one day, I hope they won’t have these same identity struggles I’ve lived w/my entire life. What would I be if I could have ALWAYS felt I belonged? It makes me sad I will never know.
