Mattia Sayson 002 A02 Week 2

             I've always had an interesting relationship with poetry as I was already encapsulated by reading novels of dystopian societies with female heroines. However, every once in a while, I would end up coming across a poem that really speaks to me and keeps me hooked throughout its entirety. Especially being musically inclined myself, using words to send a message as personal or as powerful as you want meant so much to me. When I read "Waking" by W. P., I got that sort of feeling. The poem started off very simple and it actually caught me off guard, but as I continued reading I understood why the poet chose that beginning. The harsh reality of how people of color are still puppets in our society is truly unbelievable.

          The poet uses a "biologist" and a "rat" to depict the relationship of people in power vs. people of color.  He/she acknowledges that we continue to be treated like experiments. Like rats, we are seen as disgusting, gross, inferior, and that someone should have control over us. This is not true. Considering how technology has allowed for growth in understanding the spectrum in skin color and culture, racism and bigotry is still prevalent. W.P. asks,
" Are you willing to acknowledge...Our milk is just as white and nourishing...Our blood just as red with boiling spirit...And our need to be human or mice is just as legit?" This idea of legitimizing the need to be human reminds me of a statement that was made by the Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor (P.A.C.E.) in a list of their demands as they were a part of the Third World Liberation Front during the San Francisco State Strike of 1968. They stated, "We the Filipinos, have come to the realization, along with our  Third World brothers, that the struggle for self-determination is the struggle of all Third World peoples." What Asian Americans are asking for when they are faced with coronavirus insults as they are minding their own business, what black people have to face when they are called the n - word by someone in a degrading manner, these people want to be treated like humans.  These people are "just as" human as white people, as the majority.

In Hune's,"Prologue:Taking Action:Asian American Faculty against Injustices in the Academy," she shows 4 examples of professors who struggled to fight for a spot that they deserved. They worked yet faced setbacks as people pushed them down the "pipeline." However, all of them fought for their right and succeeded and this spirit of not quitting and using that voice they have that proves the equivalent role they have in society is how we prevail.

References:

"Waking" by W.P.

Shirley Hune. “Prologue: Taking Action: Asian American Faculty against Injustices in the
Academy. Rutgers University Press.

PACE 1968 Demands https://filipinostudies.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/pace-1968-de

image:https://asamnews.com/2017/04/03/stomping-grounds-celebrating-youth-activism-and-the-asian-american-movement-at-san-francisco-state-university/