WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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- It can have a very, not
necessarily oppressive

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but kind of weighty presence on you.

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(whooshing)

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(creaking)

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- My relationship with the
word Asian can sometimes

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be a little complicated.

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- Being Asian informs most of my identity.

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- Sometimes I will identity as Asian,

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but then other Indian people
don't identify as Asian.

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- Why are you considered Asian,

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you're in the Pacific
Islander, wouldn't you

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be considered more Hawaiian?

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And I'm like, not really.

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- I have this awareness
that it's the first thing

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that people notice about me.

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- People associate Asian with East Asian.

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- Filipinos aren't so much dismissed,

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they're just overlooked just because

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they're not as popular within, at least

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the American culture.

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- If you think about it,
the world population,

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60% of it is technically Asians.

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And we don't speak of
any ethnic group at large

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on such a continental scale.

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- Asia as a term refers to a continent

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of like 40 to 50 different countries

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all with really, really different history,

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culture, language, religion.

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- But the term Asian has utility.

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It's just within that
there is so much diversity

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that needs to be acknowledged.

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And especially when you extent
that to Pacific Islanders.

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- People will say things
like, oh that's so Asian.

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Or why are you being so Asian?

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Or like stop being so Asian.

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And I'm like, I'm just
trying to eat my lunch here,

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like I don't understand
why my lunch makes,

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like says that I'm being so Asian.

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- Even when I did my hair this morning,

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I was like, oh, every time
I put my hair in a bun,

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do I look too Asian?

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But, what does that even
mean, because I am Asian.

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- In high school I had to
deal a lot with the stereotype

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of being Asian and smart.

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Other people would say,
oh, you just did well

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because you're Asian.

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- Yes, I am Asian, and I'm proud of it,

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but my first identifying
feature should not be

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like, oh, that guy's Asian so therefore

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he's this, this, and this.

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- It's the way they're saying the word,

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and it's not the word itself.

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- The biggest source of pride for me

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is whenever I see fellow Asians

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and Asian-Americans
making their voices heard.

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- I have incorporated my love of India

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into the work that I do.

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- My mom has a signature
Filipino like lumpia egg rolls.

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I'd always bring them, and that was my way

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of kind of like, introducing
people to Filipino culture.

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- I think, I feel like the reason that

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I am always staunchly proud
of being an Pacific Islander

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specifically is to kind of raise awareness

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just on a personal level.

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- Your identity informs
everything that you do,

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and that's something to be celebrated,

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and it something to be excited about.

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- No matter what, you're able to identify

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as Asian, and you're able to
understand someone's journey.

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- If were able to see
Asian and Asian-American

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as like a group, and as a conversation,

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we can use something like that

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as a way to collectively rise up.

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(whooshing)

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(creaking)