This just cannot go on
Can’t keep apologizing for my meekness
I want to stop looking over my Asian shoulders when I walk at night
I can’t keep worrying about my friend when she’s a few minutes late from putting coins in the parking meter
My Asian father who doesn’t like being called Asian
He is Chinese
He is Korean
He is Filipino
He is American
Why should he be called names he doesn’t even have in his lexicon?
My mother should not have to worry that she’ll be bashed on the head when she’s buying fish at fresh farms
Call your senators please!!!
Why must I worry about my Asian ass being kicked?
I know more Spanish than Japanese
My palate may be Asian but I cook Mac and cheese for my kids
I take them to Great America
I walk my dogs at Horner Park
Please call your senators right now
This just can’t keep going on
We are not the virus
It’s the hate we need to stop from spreading.
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About filinthegap
Lani T. Montreal is an educator, writer, performer, and community activist. Her writings have been published and produced in Canada, the U.S., the Philippines and in cyberspace. Among her plays are: Nanay, Panther in the Sky, Gift of Tongue, Looking for Darna, Alien Citizen, Grandmother and I, and her most-toured comedy drama about gender and immigration, titled Sister OutLaw. She is the recipient of the 2016 3Arts Djerassi Residency Fellowship for Playwriting, 2009 3Arts Ragdale Residency Fellowship, the 2001 Samuel Ostrowsky Award for her memoir “Summer Rain,” and was finalist for the 1995 JVO Philippine Award for Excellence in Journalism for her environmental expose “Poison in the River.” Lani holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Roosevelt University. She teaches writing at Malcolm X College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago and writes a blog called “Fil-in-the-gap”. (filinthegap.com.) She lives (and loves) in Albany Park, Chicago with her multi-species, multi-cultural family.
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