What I forgot to post just now was that I ordered Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong a while back but it arrived in the mail right before I found out I would be able to come here. I immediately put it in my pile of books to read and it was the first one I finished here. I am so glad she wrote it, and that I was able to read it here with all the space and time it deserves. The story she mentions about a white American surgeon in Korea serving in the Army who developed the eyelid surgery that has become all too common now made me crazy. I found this article that delved deeper into that pretty racist practice, which is now deeply internalized racism practiced in Korea and beyond.
Too much to think about and articulate clearly but I'm grateful to her for doing the hard work: just going back to the memories of childhood, immigrant parents, not being accepted here ever, all of that takes incredible energy and time. I avoid recalling a lot of my own memories because they suck. But a friend shared with me the story of a biracial opera singer who posted about his experiences of racism in the field and the history behind it. Again, grateful to all of these artists who do this work and remind me to keep doing my work.
Above, the first book I finished here. I'll start that structure all over again tomorrow, re-practice, re-learn.
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