diasporic guilt – ACAM 320B student submissions

April 30, 2022April 30, 2022

Where is “Home?”

But what if home no longer accepts you?

Artist:
Meriwether Morris (they/them)

The idea of belongingness and home can often be an elusive one for diasporic folks. There is the oft-repeated and clichéd trope of existing in a liminal space, frustrated by being simultaneously both and neither. It being a cliché, though, does not stop it from being true. Compounding this struggle is the additional frustration of not knowing how to react when disaster strikes in one’s “heritage home” – does being away from that “home” automatically make one less? Does being away from the crisis take away one’s ability to claim to be? All of this comes down to the diaspora wondering about their obligations and belongingness. All of this is to say, for many in the Asian diaspora, one of the primary questions is, “Where is home?”

Click on the following to reveal the comic and subsequent artist’s statement (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view via mobile PDF viewers)

May 11, 2021April 30, 2022

All I can do…

All I can do is dream about…affirmative care

Author:
Sahana Babu சஹானா (she/they)

In this qualitative study, Babu explores a topic that isn’t often studied, but certainly has pervasive impact on the lives of the diaspora – diasporic guilt. When bad things happen “back home,” diasporic communities invariable feel helpless, not knowing what to do or how to help make things better. How do we support our people when we’re so far away? We have privilege in being able to be away from all the bad things; but how should we use it? Babu interviews several individuals to get their thoughts on their respective experiences with things happening “back home.” With increased migration over time, such questions will only become even more important predictors of diasporic wellbeing. Where do diaspora find support, and how do we assuage such helplessness when turmoil hits home?

Click on the following to reveal the paper (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view viab mobile PDF viewers)

May 11, 2021April 30, 2022

Parallel loss of culture

It is important to support [cultural] neighbourhoods and business to keep them alive

Photographers and Storytellers:
Tamara Chang 陳秀明
Steffi Lau 劉晴昕

In a stroke of creative and artistic brilliance, Chang and Lau use their cameras as witnesses to the changing faces of two geographically disparate but culturally linked places – Hong Kong and Vancouver. Despite their distance and being on two different continents, the two cities are inextricably interlinked through history, culture, and migration – in both directions. Through these beautiful photographs, Chang and Lau weave a thought-provoking narrative that compels readers to consider how development, gentrification, and in some ways, capitalism, are pushing traditional and cultural neighbourhoods to the brink in both cities. With painful histories and rebellious resilience evident in both spaces, how do we go about protecting these spaces that have fostered and contributed to the growth of their respective cities?

Click on the following to reveal the photography project (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view via mobile PDF viewers)