Ruby is an intuitive guide. She is Chinese American. Like many Asian Americans, for most of her life she tried to align with whiteness. Immigrant parents often instruct their children, whether explicitly or by example, to keep your head down and your mouth shut, to not cause trouble, to assimilate. This is how we are told we will stay safe and survive, and perhaps get allowed to collect some successes along the way, but we must never take up too much space.
While working in the wellness / spiritual world, Ruby kept finding herself in familiar situations where she was being disrespected and demeaned. It wasn’t difficult to note that she was being treated this way primarily by white women. What instantly stood out to me was the power with which they spoke down to her, the assumption that she would not dare challenge them, or tell anyone else about the way they had treated her.
These are not easy issues to talk about. However, in the current climate of deepening divisiveness and a startling lack of basic humanity, many of my fellow Asian Americans and I are trying to do our part to keep shining light onto that which has long been denied and repressed. Oppression, racism, hate, colonization, occupation — these forces all sprung from the same roots which have been flourishing in the darkness of our shut eyes. Being a bearer of light doesn’t mean “positive vibes only.” It often actually means the opposite: the ability to stand in darkness and to BE THE LIGHT… to be willing to dig through and to unearth anything that does not serve the collective good.
Welcome to the conversation.
You can follow Ruby on Instagram @theshift.is and you can also find Leah on Instagram @leahsoojinkim.
