Poem: When We Dream a New America
"When we dream, we poke a hole into the sky of stories that say we are better off divided," reminds poet Michelle Mush Lee. Ever since the Chinese Exclusion Act made Chinese laborers "America's first undocumented", Asian Americans have helped to dream a new America. Listen to Lee's powerful words as she traces the paths of solidarity that have forged us.
Dreaming America
Written and Performed by Michelle Mush Lee
When we dream, we poke a hole into the sky of stories that says we are better off divided.
We disrupt the American mythical parable that promises security in our separateness.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have always dreamt radically.
Perhaps that's what's most important to know about who we be — is that we have been keenly suited to this sacred task of threading justice to joy, stories to solidarity, persistence to power, and our pursuit of freedom.
And the pursuit for freedom has never been fought ourselves or alone, but we've always done this together.
Like Youa Vang Lee and Al Flowers.
You see, when we dream, we dream a new America.
We carry the courage that once belonged to the giants whose shoulders we stand on today.
Wong Kim Ark and Frederick Douglass, a restaurant worker and abolitionist who helped make the path to citizenship possible for my grandparents and me.
When we dream, we remember the deep tradition of movement workers coming together across dividing lines to create a cultural response to racism that's rooted in power, healing and solidarity.
This is where dreams come from, from radical self-love and love for community.
From stirrings like Bayard and striking like Itliong, and Huerta, and Chavez, and Vera Cruz, from holding the humor and heartbreaks of this life, and still waking up each morning with the humility of wonder.
From radical self-love and radical friendships, like Yuri and Malcolm, Grace and Jimmy, Bruce and Jesse, every dreamer knows that when we add ourselves to the collective, we are forever connected.
