In November 2023, I was driving to a book talk when I received an email inviting me to attend the annual Filipino American History Month celebration at the White House. I immediately texted my wife a screenshot of the email which read:
Good afternoon Tony,
On behalf of the White House, we hope this email finds you well. As a part of the Filipino American History Month Celebration in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, we look forward to celebrating with you on Tuesday, November 28.
She immediately called me and said, “You manifested this! But what are you going to do?” Her voice went from joyous to reflexive in a heartbeat because we had been discussing divestment from the Biden administration due to its complicity in Palestinian genocide. I kept thinking, “What if I attend and start a protest from within the White House?” That thought soon dissolved knowing that I would not be joined by many of my Filipino peers. After a day of reflection, I turned it down. I wanted to Tweet something like this:
“I’m on my Rupi Kaur.” #boycottBiden #BDS
Something short, punchy, and relevant. An Instagram content creator famous for her short-form poetry, Rupi Kaur had just posted that she was denying her invitation to celebrate Diwali because of the genocide. I’m not as big or mainstream as Rupi Kaur, so I felt like it had little impact.
After deciding not to attend, I called my mom and told her about the news. My mom shouted, “Oh my god, wow! Are you going?” For my immigrant parents, this invitation was as much a manifestation of their dreams as it was mine due to their immense sacrifices. Because of their labor and my work up to this point, I became a “Super Saiyan model minority” — I graduated from Harvard University with a master’s degree in education, became the first in my family to get a college degree in the United States, wrote an award-winning book before finishing my Ph.D., and now I was being invited to the White House. Akin to the…
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