a funny thing happened when i joined twitter last fall: i started discovering an incredible community of asian voices that i didn’t realize i was missing and that now are so important to me... (um a thread i guess, and i’ll probably screw this up somehow)

1/ it actually started by following a lot of prominent reporters and outlets and then finding voices either within those institutions or actually diving into threads to see who was responding and how and why

2/ but little by little, i was seeing how other asian/asian-american/korean/korean-americans would share little things about their work and their lives... and it felt bizarrely comfortable to feel like i was allowed to get the inside joke

3/ and when i’d respond to tweets or engage in “conversation”, something was clicking

4/ look, i am someone with no real presence here and i am entirely comfortable with that. but the fact that i’ve found this group, which, btw is not small at all, means something

5/ i grew up in a predominantly white town, and even though my parents insisted on keeping strong ties with my korean heritage, i identified more with my white peers than i did with anyone else

6/ but, as much as folks are comfortable with “korean” things (k bbq, bts, parasite, etc), it doesn’t always add up. in fact, there’s not infrequently something that ends up feeling performative on my end

7/ but in the same way that you meet someone who went to the same school with you and they just get the same complaints about x building or y classroom that anyone else wouldn’t completely get even if you explained it to them? that’s this

8/ all this to say... during a time when i (like many others) have experienced profound sadness, grief, anger, rejection, isolation, self-doubt, self-loathing, and heightened anxiety, finding people (real people!) who i share an experience with (however broad or narrow) matters

so... i guess it’s not “cool” to do this anymore, but here’s an early ff and bc my brain is awful, i know i’m leaving out WAY too many names: @noahreservation @MrPaulBae @minjinlee11 @kimmythepooh @thumbelulu @angryasianman @HirokoTabuchi @bourreelam @e_alexjung

10/ all this to say... as much as a dumpster fire as twitter, 2020, etc is: i am grateful to be here and to be having a very, very, very long overdue moment

11/ oh i guess the irony that it’s 추석 shouldn’t be lost on me. heh.