Growing up as an adopted Asian American, I& #39;ve always found difficulty making sense of my identity.

As #APAHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> comes to a close, here is my attempt to articulate just that and what I’m doing about it – a thread.

#AAPI https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #AAPIHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> @TwitterAsians #AsianPacificAmericanHeritageMonth
My name is Annie. A lot of people assume Wu is my last name when they find me on social media since it& #39;s @Annie_Wu_22.

My last name is actually Henry, which is the last name of my adoptive family. They chose to incorporate my Chinese last name as my middle name.
I was adopted as a baby and haven& #39;t been back to Asia since. I was adopted into a white family in a VERY white town.

Growing up, I never felt different – even though I was usually one of the only non-white children. In fact, I don& #39;t even think I realized this most of the time.
Culturally I was brought up to be, what many call "American" – in actuality, they mean white.

My family thinks mild chicken wings are "too spicy" and calamari is "exotic." We go to Sunday church and have a literal white picket fence. I was taught to "not see color."
I always knew I was different; in fact I even made stereotypical jokes: I’m bad at painting nails lol !

But being constantly surrounded by a support system that treated me so "color-blindly" shielded me to the real fact that I& #39;ll never be the same as a white person in America.
There were copious microaggressions, but I didn& #39;t understand their weight at the time.

Oftentimes I tended to minimize or laugh off anti-Asian racism. I made excuses like “it wasn’t meant to be offensive” or “racism against Asians doesn’t exist here.”

(Excuse the 2010 quality)
BUT I do remember my first encounter with blatant, unequivocal racism.

It wasn& #39;t until I was 19. It was a man yelling in a grocery store parking lot.

I& #39;m sure any minority remembers theirs too.
After that, I think I subconsciously changed.

I began noticing more: inequalities, underrepresentation, microaggressions, oppression.

I felt more: anger, sadness, and absolute dismay when other people didn& #39;t "get it"

(it prob didn& #39;t help I was studying media + politics)
Trying to understand my privilege and identity has been confusing and conflicting.

While I will never pass as white, declaring that I am a POC feels fraudulent since I have not experienced the same oppression as people in the Black and brown communities.
I am well aware that my identity grants me both privileges and disadvantages.

I try to educate others about the historic and present Asian racial injustices while empathizing with the struggles of other POC groups as a fellow minority.

It& #39;s a balance & I am always learning.
As one of the most underrepresented groups in mainstream media, I will always advocate for more non-token Asian visibility.

I often wonder if I had seen more dolls, teachers, singers, actresses & people in power that looked like me, if I would have found Asian pride earlier.
When speaking about the impact of @CrazyRichMovie, @awkwafina nailed it when she said “you don& #39;t realize how important [representation] is until you realize you have been missing it your whole life.”

I felt that.

& I& #39;ve embraced that.

(had some fun w recent Halloween costumes)
Reading other Asian-American stories online, mine is far from unique. And that’s a problem.

It shouldn’t take rejection from the white community to spark solidarity with another.
Hi.
I& #39;m Annie Wu Henry.

I hold my own unique perspective and hope to help amplify all POC voices. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🗣" title="Speaking head in silhouette" aria-label="Emoji: Speaking head in silhouette">

I& #39;m an Asian-American, specifically Chinese-American. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flag of China" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of China">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Sparkles" aria-label="Emoji: Sparkles">I& #39;m still figuring out what this means to me, and that& #39;s ok. #AAPIHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #APAHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
Hi.I& #39;m Annie Wu Henry.I hold my own unique perspective and hope to help amplify all POC voices. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=I& #39;m an Asian-American, specifically Chinese-American. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flag of China" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of China">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Sparkles" aria-label="Emoji: Sparkles">I& #39;m still figuring out what this means to me, and that& #39;s ok. #AAPIHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #APAHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">" title="Hi.I& #39;m Annie Wu Henry.I hold my own unique perspective and hope to help amplify all POC voices. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🗣" title="Speaking head in silhouette" aria-label="Emoji: Speaking head in silhouette">I& #39;m an Asian-American, specifically Chinese-American. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flag of China" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of China">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Sparkles" aria-label="Emoji: Sparkles">I& #39;m still figuring out what this means to me, and that& #39;s ok. #AAPIHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #APAHM https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
Thanks for reading this thread. I tried to keep it as non-political as possible, for the sake of civilityhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥴" title="Woozy face" aria-label="Emoji: Woozy face"> – if you are looking for something politicalhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💁🏻‍♀️" title="Woman tipping hand (light skin tone)" aria-label="Emoji: Woman tipping hand (light skin tone)"> look belowhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏼" title="Down pointing backhand index (medium light skin tone)" aria-label="Emoji: Down pointing backhand index (medium light skin tone)"> … #WashTheHate #UnapologeticallyAsian #PhenomenallyAsian

https://twitter.com/annie_wu_22/status/1265474033048383488?s=21">https://twitter.com/annie_wu_... https://twitter.com/annie_wu_22/status/1265474033048383488">https://twitter.com/annie_wu_...
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