Who am I?

The struggle with identity~ Asian American immigrant edition.

Recently, I was in a wonderful workshop on “Exploring Our Identities Together” hosted by two lovely women. While the exercises we did were familiar, the audience was unlike most I have been in for quite some time. The majority of the attendees were Asian women, there were only a couple of men and/or Caucasians. We shared stories about times we felt included and excluded, the stereotypes and how they may not align with who we are. We had some rich conversations and heard touching recounts of personal experiences. Two questions from the session have had me contemplating for many weeks and this post is part of my response.

In light of what you have learned/ experienced today, how would you define who you are?

What does the future look like, where all our identity stories can coexist with each other? …

The nametag we wear to introduce ourselves at events, or our name in the lower left corner of a screen; a simple tool to break the ice. What follows as we make small talk? We tell about our jobs, the roles we play in our community, our hometown or neighborhood, and our relationship to others. So many labels, so many descriptors, so many boxes. Even before the reveal there were some assumptions about us. As you entered the room, with one quick glance…