All posts filed under: Social Justice

She/They

Written by: Janit Von Saechao In pristine-white Portland, I am seen as progressive for being a person with brown skin yet privy to this piece of my identity. What they don’t know is that when I say, “My name is Janit Saechao and my pronouns are she/they.” I mean She, as in We We, the ones assigned women while given no words for otherwise. We, as in all the non-men who have wondered which is the better way to survive– to silence ourselves for centuries of tradition or to speak our truths and risk our lives. They, as in Us They, as in those who came before me. They, as in all my ancestors who listened to Their own hearts and trusted Their own beings. They are my chain smoking Khmu aunties in Laos who puff tobacco through hand rolled cigarettes, laughing on the sides of dusty Luang Prabang roads at the colonizers with cameras who won’t leave Them alone. They are my single Mien femmes in America making more money than all the men …

AHHA Education: Teaching English is a Community Recycling Endeavor

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela When was the last time you thought to yourself, “I’m so grateful to be able to use and understand English.” If like me, probably never. Well, as Rocket Raccoon put it, not everyone “know talking good like me and you.” The inability to use English severely limits a person’s prospects in many areas of life. Imagine all the great stuff you’d miss out on: something as simple as googling an answer to a vapid question, at worse, and a pressing matter, at best. Forget writing that convoluted love letter to the cute host working at the Thai restaurant at National Harbor. Too specific? Anyhow, life would just be a little bit harder, don’t you think? So yes, English proficiency is an essential skill required to function in our modern world. Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to learn and develop their English skills. Coming from Laos, growing up around the education business with my father owning and operating …