In 1619, the first ship carrying kidnapped Africans landed on the shores of what was then the British colony of Virginia. From that year until 1808, Africans were continuously kidnapped, shipped across the Atlantic, and sold into slavery, despite growing recognition of the horrific conditions of the Middle Passage and
The first time I saw the newly released Superman movie, I shed tears. I was in awe of this movie: the visuals, the story, the casting, the comic accuracy, and the fact that the movie even had Superman in his classic red trunks! The DC fan in me felt relieved
The concept of American identity is at the forefront of policy development yet it remains largely undefined. The United States has always been a multicultural nation, and as a result we all experience “Americanness” differently. So how do we explain our common characteristics? How do we keep our individuality while
What does it mean to be fully human? At a first glance, one may think that it only requires someone to be born a human. That assumption is only a portion of the truth. Humanity actually contains various traits that allow or prevent humans, and in some fictitious cases human-adjacents,
Culture. What is it? How is it made? Who decides what counts as culture and what doesn’t? Is it something of great multitude and purpose, or is it as simple as choosing the outfit you wear today? In a world where every action contributes to the ever-evolving tapestry of human
Every Asian American I have ever met has shared one or more of these similarities: growing up with ethnic foods, slowly forgetting our native speech, or bonding with friends about our overbearing family dynamics. Occasionally, I’ll meet a third-, fourth-, or even fifth-generation kid who can’t relate, but they too
The power of love can keep people going in a society that is filled with injustice and discrimination. Ta-Nehisi Coates understood the power of love in his book, Between The World And Me, as he was attempting to warn his son about hardships growing up in the world as a
Don’t eviscerate me yet. The question is not as wild as it seems. You think of integration and you assume it’s generally positive: the coming together of everything under one general umbrella in society. That is what history has illusioned us to think anyway. Integration–in society, in the military, and
The heartbreaking deaths of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, George Floyd in Minneapolis, and Ahmad Arbery in Georgia have shown the world how profoundly embedded racial prejudice and racism are in the social framework of the United States. As a black young man in America, I feel every day is a