Way to Go 2020

We are closing in onto the halfway point for 2020. I really can’t believe that I’ve spent the past 11 weeks and however many days working from home. There was so much promise to 2020 – the start of a new decade, an election, the census, so many opportunities to grow as a person. Well, it pretty much went off the rails.

I’m a planner, so when things go awry, I start thinking about getting back on track. What steps do I need to take so that I can accomplish tasks? Right now, there’s so much despair and anxiety that it’s hard to find the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve never lived during a pandemic. Memories of September 11 are seared into my consciousness as I think about the fear that permeated our lives. The pain and suffering that people have felt over time having endured slavery, wars, incarceration, genocide, and other human-made destruction that tears down a culture while promising renewal of change.

As scientists continue to research for a vaccination for this pandemic and we take precautions not to spread a dangerous virus, American society is being tested to evaluate its systems of beliefs to an equally threatening virus, racism. It’s the last day of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) and COVID-19 eliminating all opportunities to gather to celebrate. In addition to the recent uptick in anti-Asian rhetoric and hate crimes, the Black community continues to experience trauma in the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Lorenzo Dean, Eric Reason, and the list goes on and on. If you don’t know about the aforementioned individuals, I suggest you read NPR’s Code Switch.

Just as the Asian American Pacific Islander community discusses including Asian American narratives into U.S. history, it’s equally important to understand how the Black community is where it is today. Systemic barriers were placed into society so that those who have privilege may not even be aware. Writer and poet Scott Woods wrote, “racism is a complex system of social and political levers and pulleys set up generations ago to continue working on the behalf of whites at other people’s expense, whether whites know/like it or not.” As a Vietnamese American woman raised with a white father and a Vietnamese American mother, I grew up with privilege by association. Although born in Vietnam, I didn’t come to this country as a refugee or an immigrant. I was born into access, and that in itself lends to a perspective that can lead to racist attitudes. 

As with any lesson learned, it’s a continual process of growth. If you’re looking for a reading list where you can self-educate on how to dismantle racism, here’s a curated list from Guggenheim Fellow and National Book Award winner, Ibram X. Kendi. 

If you’re looking for suggestions from Black women authors, then my friend Chrystian Woods has suggestions.

Even though 2020 has been one GIGANTIC dumpster fire, I still need to do the work. I commit to supporting the Black community and checking myself so that I don’t fall into situations of prejudice. Speak out to amplify the voices that need to be heard, listen to those who are most affected tell us what we need to do to be helpful and do it.

MXM