OWN WITNESS: RUPTURE AND REPAIR

"I am the daughter of Filipino immigrants: my father emigrated in 1928 and waited 22 years for a Filipina- my mom - to arrive in America to marry. Having experienced blatant and nuanced racism, my parents chose not to teach us Tagalog though we learned to celebrate our history and culture through dance, food, music, and history. As the first non- white family moving into an inner-city blue-collar, working-class neighborhood in Chicago, life was difficult. Now, I am a healer, end of life advocate, and a lesbian of color married to a Jewish woman. Together we navigate different world experiences sharing different cultures, religions, skin colors. Though today America is showing many of its more fractured sides, I still maintain that it is still the best place for me (us)."