P O L I T I C O N S C I O U S

  There's plenty of good people doing good work and I am thankful for them every day. There are also people who are not putting in any work. Yet, the worst kind of people are not the ones who put no work, rather the ones who pretend to. And to these people, I say; "No, thank you." To those who know and understand our problems, to those who have the ability to invoke change, to those politicians and activists I say, "No, thank you."  To those who are outraged by the use of the terms "alien" or "illegal," but spare no outrage for the millions of undocumented immigrants living in struggle in the US; To those who are outraged because of physical symbols that represent white supremacy, but offer no outrage at the very real institutional and systemic racism BIPOC communities continue to endure; To those who are outraged by the gender pay gap, but pay no attention toward its more adverse effects toward women of color; To those who are outraged by ra...

To my white friends: You keep sharing this post of a beautiful tomorrow where we can all hold hands in harmonious friendship and live happily ever after, but the truth is people like me can’t live happily ever after.  People who are Black, Brown, any shade other than white. We don’t get to wake up in a fairy tale ending tomorrow. People like me get to wake up with fear and pain in their hearts. Some of us wake up not knowing where our next meal may come from. Some of us wake up not knowing when will be the last day we see our parents, because they’re undocumented. Some of us wake up not knowing if we will be deported to a country we’ve never been to. Some of us wake up only to be killed by the people who swore to protect us. Some of us wake up to the realities of racist America , an America that has always been and continues to be, fighting against us.  So before you post about the friendships you have across the aisle, consider how those friendships make your disadvantaged f...

  As is the case with hundreds of other grads, I moved back home after graduation, in part, thanks to COVID-19. Before this, I hadn't thought much of this quaint little town, as I had tried my hardest to unlearn a lot of the biases and beliefs that I experienced. I have now been here since the end of March. It's been seven months of what sometimes feels like new observations, but is mostly just the same life I grew up having, just a little different.  I drive through town and I see plenty of American flags, something I was taught represented freedom, and equality, and all that good stuff you learn in history class. That has always been the case, those flags have always been there. And, as a first-generation immigrant, I believe(d) all that good stuff. I saw American flags and thought, yes, I live in the USA, and of course I'm grateful to live here, just as my parents taught me.  But recently, all those American flags I once saw as a symbol of my story, are accompanied by ...