Did You Ever Try to Get to Know Us?

Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.

You don’t have to ask about the accent we still carry or the home we left behind.
You don’t have to know what it’s like to switch between two languages in your head or to carry two identities in one body.
You don’t have to understand why we hold on to certain traditions, why we still cook the foods that remind us of childhood, or why some holidays feel a little lonelier here.

But did you ever want to?

Did you ever notice how we scan a room before speaking—to make sure we’ll be understood?
Did you ever think about what it feels like to write down a simpler version of our name—just to make it easier for you?
Did you ever see us nod along in a conversation, pretending to know a reference we’ve never heard before?
Did you ever wonder why we rehearse small talk before making a phone call—just in case we get caught off guard?
Did you ever hear us hesitate before answering “Where are you from?”—because we’re not sure what answer you’re expecting?

We live in the same neighborhoods.
We work in the same offices.
Our kids go to the same schools.

We’re right here.

So before you decide who we are, what we believe, what we want—

Did you ever try to get to know us?