hasta la victoria siempre

In case some of you aren't already aware, I was on a committee that helped organize a rally at Tufts today. Back in high school, I never seriously figured myself becoming the noisy activist type. I always thought I'd go through college being thirsty all the time, just getting drunk and getting Tang (hahaha, wordplay!). In college for my first two years I spent more time dicking around than I'd like to admit. Even this year there were times when I'd find myself sitting around doing nothing and wondering about what I wanted to do. The past week has had me stressed, angry, tired, and confused for a lot of the time, but it also had me fired up, driven, vocal, and passionate. I think I've found an issue I can really relate to on this campus on a huge level. Studies are always a first priority, but I don't mind putting time into this fight because it's really gotten bigger than me and my Korean friends or even the rally. What comes of this struggle will impact Tufts heavily for years to come.

does my ass look big?

One of the real highlights of working on this whole thing was Professor Wu telling me that my "Thirsty Victims" article was "amazingly good" and that I should become a race relations lawyer. On the one hand I feel great because it's a compliment from the best person at Tufts to give it, and on the other hand I wonder what I would have decided to do had I heard that comment a year earlier. Anyway, what's done is done.

Ending this entry, I'd like to misquote Atty. Andrew Leong, who is currently helping the KSA members and their advocates out. He spoke at the rally and gave me the best take-home message for the whole thing:

"You know what? I'm Asian. I'm not Black, but I can be. I'm not Brown, but I can be. I'm not Gay, but I can be. Because when I sent the press release of this rally to my friends at the Massachusetts Black Lawyers' Association, I know that they are supporting me here. And so are all my other friends in the bar no matter what their ethnicities are. If we really want to learn how to solve racism, we have to learn how to be Asian, Black, Brown, Gay, Muslim, Christian, White, and everything else in order to stand together and face problems against all of us."