Other(ed) Body At Home

A myth of the yellow body

Creators:
Royce Uy

The migration process is often hopeful one for everyone involved; but it is also often mired with obstacles – obstacles that have more to do with how others see them than anything that the migrants have done. Over time, the racialization of Asians has come to be intricately entangled with the model minority myth, which has driven wedges between Asians and other racialized minorities, and sometimes even among Asian communities. This is then also complicated by notions of racial essentialism tinged with queerphobia based on contemporary conservative notions of gender and sexuality. Royce’s collection of poems speaks to all of these phenomena, and invites the reader to think about discrimination both from outside and inside of Asian diasporic communities, especially from an intersectional perspective. What kinds of images and emotions do these pomes evoke in your mind?

You should work twice as hard as everyone around you

“…oh you are Persian, so you should get good grades…”

Host:
Sahar Sajjadi سحر سجادي (she/her)

Guest:
Kawa Ada (Afghan heritage; Actor, Writer, Producer; he/him)

The migration experience can often be a very difficult one, and this difficulty can be compounded when one simultaneously experiences multiple axes of oppression: what happens when someone is at the intersection of being a war refugee, from West Asia, and being part of the LGBTQ+ community? Between external and internal racism, homophobia, war trauma, and acculturative stress, there is so much that someone in that position would have to deal with. From the midst of this intersection emerged an individual with endless understanding and insight. Join Sahar and her guest, Kawa, as they explore various cultural issues that West Asian diaspora face in Canada. There is perhaps no better way to set up this entry’s question with Sahar’s own: What does it mean to be a human, and what does it mean to live your truth?

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