East Palo Alto, #BlackLiveMatter

December 7, 2014

On Mike Brown, Eric Garner (Update May 29, 2020: and all of those murdered by our unjust system including George Floyd) and my family's experience:

When my family arrived in the U.S., they stayed in an impoverished Black apartment complex, down the street from the Buddhist temple that sponsored our asylum, in East Palo Alto. It was later torn down so an IKEA could be built right on top of it.

When I interviewed my mother for a family history project, she, in her early days here, didn't expect the U.S. to be filled with what was reminiscent of the Vietnam War. "Although we never experienced the war there, I feel there is a war here between our neighbors and the police," she reflected.

"How could the best country in the world let some people wither away through addiction, self-abuse, and violence? I had never been so afraid and confused in my life." Here, she learned about race in the U.S., and to this day, she holds onto this heavy, heavy baggage - not everyone is equal.

Although my older brothers were picked on by their Black peers, they and I nonetheless connected with the stories and spirituality of the Black experience through soul and hip hop music. Although our parents interpreted race relations differently, we all agreed that there is something incredibly wrong when particular populations are continually disadvantaged and treated differently.

Today, as someone who fluidly identifies as Asian Pacific American, Southeast Asian, and Vietnamese American, I continue to look to the Black community for inspiration on how, all of us, could work to move toward a place more equal than this, together. #BlackLivesMatter