"In Lak'ech"

 

Tú eres mi otro yo.

You are my other me.

I respect you, just how you respect me

I'm a loud, boisterous, powerful young woman

When I want to scream, I scream

When I want to be quiet, I'm quiet

Ethnic Studies gave me a place to scream

I learned that because of my history, I'm not alone

I learned that the love between my parents was love deeply rooted in hope

I learned that I'm Japanese and Chinese, but I am American

To give up this knowledge is like forgetting a friend

A friend who makes us better

Toxic? No

Ethnic Studies taught me

We are powerful

We are students and parents and teachers

We are a community

​

Si te hago daño a ti,

If I do harm to you,

Me hago daño a mi mismo.

I do harm to myself.

I’m a transgender American

However

I come from a line of powerful Asians.

Yet our tongues of Chinese and Japanese 

Do not speak the language of violence and hate.

​

Si te amo y respeto,

If I love and respect you,

Me amo y respeto yo.

I love and respect myself.

 

I walked in.

When life was hard.

So many other things could've been plaguing my mind

Yet I only thought about my 7th period

My 7th period

I had no other thought on my mind.

I could've been thinking about my messed up home life, 

My depression, anxiety

 

Ms. Perry

Selflessly kind

And powerfully loud

With her voice that usually says

"Your voices are beautiful,

 But I don't want to hear them right now."

"Your voices are beautiful"

Never have I heard this from any other teacher

Never have I seen a program that cares about me

I didn't care about me

But Ethnic Studies was there

Holding my hand

Drying my eyes

 

Ethnic Studies 

 

A powerful, precious knowledge

With the information I have learned

I don't learn about history

I make history