Life at the Intersections: It's important to share our own stories and identities as we work toward social and economic justice

Opinion: These past couple of weeks I have been humbled by the outpour of love and support from the community as one of the recipients of Metro Weekly's 2011 Next Generation Awards. I am proud to stand on the shoulders of giants who have blazed trails to ensure people like me have even more opportunities to live freely and be our full selves. It was a reminder about how far we have come but also how much more needs to be done. As we are approaching the end of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and are gearing up for Pride, I have taken some time to reflect on my experiences as a young, openly gay Asian American who comes from an immigrant and union household. I come from many communities and each day I live at the intersections of many identities. While some can view this as a challenge, I see an opportunity to build stronger partnerships and a collective platform centered on our shared values and vision for the future. As a child, I was bullied — pushed around, thrown into restrooms and had lunch money stolen. As I was developing my sense of identity, there were no resources or people to help me through my ''coming out'' process. I attended schools with outdated textbooks, overcrowded classrooms and systems that gave up on students before even knowing them. I share this because I know I was not alone and there are many who can identify with these experiences. In fact, it was these hardships that pushed me to become an even stronger organizer and advocate. Each day I think about giving up, I think about the tears I cried and the pain I felt, and not wanting to have anyone else go through what I had to go through. ... (more)

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