“As a Chinese immigrant to Canada, navigating my Chinese Canadian identity is a life-long journey for me. With recent stories of overt racism and more subtle anti-Asian sentiments, I can imagine that some Asian immigrants, especially young people, might cope by distancing themselves from their Asian heritage. However, rejecting a part of your story—your family’s story—can be a painful process. I hope to speak out more about my bicultural experiences and encourage everyone to “lean into your diversity”.
I’ve felt that often as part of this “in between” generation of the Chinese diaspora, we are used to segregating our experiences. With our Western peers we seldom educate or share our Asian stories. Just as I love learning about French or Italian Canadian culture from friends, I hope to more actively speak up & share my perspectives as a Chinese Canadian. Having access to cultural exchange through friends, co-workers, or neighbors right at home is a huge asset of Canada’s multicultural communities we should take advantage of!
Looking ahead, if this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that our global village needs MORE bicultural people, LESS black and white thinking, and LESS cultural segregation. We need more “in between” people who have an understanding of both sides to facilitate cooperation between East and West. How do we expect to tackle complex global problems #climatechange, #globalhealth, and interdependent #supplychains without cooperation from the East and West?
身为一个移民到加拿大的中国人，探索加拿大华人是我生活中的一部分。我希望通过在网上可以分享自己的双文化经历，鼓励亚裔投入和接受自己的文化，不要因最近的反亚裔歧视風氣而疏离了自己的文化根基。身处融合多元文化的加拿大，我希望能积极地分享作为加拿大华裔的独特观点，与其他族裔的人提供文化交流。这世界需要更多文化和观点的交流才能真正解決那些全球化的问题。” — @sophiehomehome
REN Project 