Author: Justine Calma
Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
To get myself through the pandemic, I’ve been summoning everything I’ve learned about surviving in a new world as an immigrant. I left the Philippines as a kid to join my parents in California. “Walang tiyaga, walang nilaga,” my grandma used to say. Strictly translated, it means “no perseverance, no stew.” That lesson on weathering hardship recently took on new meaning.
I’m not just worried about the virus. Reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans are up, while President Trump continues to characterize the disease as “foreign” and “Chinese.” Some of my friends are worried about heading outside not only because of the virus, but because of the racist slurs hurled at them.
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To get myself through the pandemic, I’ve been summoning everything I’ve learned about surviving in a new world as an immigrant. I left the Philippines as a kid to join my parents in California. “Walang tiyaga, walang nilaga,” my grandma used to say. Strictly translated, it means “no perseverance, no stew.” That lesson on weathering hardship recently took on new meaning.
I’m not just worried about the virus. Reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans are up, while President Trump continues to characterize the disease as “foreign” and “Chinese.” Some of my friends are worried about heading outside not only because of the virus, but because of the racist slurs hurled at them.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...