Every time I go to visit my hometown, I have to hear, “You have gotten darker.” When I laugh and ask, “Why does the fairness of my skin matter?” I am being “rude” by not agreeing with the elders. Every time I go to visit my relatives, I…

In the early 2010s, APIDA representation in the media was‒frankly‒non-existent. It was nearly impossible to see somebody of APIDA descent in a major Hollywood film or in other forms of mass media. This lack of representation made many in the APIDA community accustomed to a mainstream culture dominated…

Officially, the model minority myth is the belief that all Asians are naturally high achieving. Unofficially, it meant that my childhood was a constant barrage of jokes about having to go to Harvard and become a doctor or lawyer. It meant stepping into a room and knowing that…