In celebration of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we introduce our AANHPI Heritage Month video series spotlighting prominent AANHPI spoken word artists and poets. We kick things off with “This body is (not) a virus” by Jireh Deng.
HRC celebrates and honors Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a video series that aims to spotlight the beauty, talent, boldness and resilience of the AANHPI community while also highlighting the intersectionality of LGBTQ AANHPI identities and communities. The inspiration for this campaign arose from the intent to create platforms for LGBTQ AANHPI voices at a time when legislatures across the U.S. are targeting LGBTQ people and when AANHPI people are experiencing unprecedented levels of hate-filled harassment and violence.
Our AANHPI Heritage Month campaign consists of a spoken word video series in partnership with Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Youth Speaks. The videos, featuring three young LGBTQ AANHPI spoken word artists, bring visibility to the legacy of issues impacting people who live at the intersections of LGBTQ and AANHPI identities.
https://www.hrc.org/news/hrc-celebrat…
#AANHPI
Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)
0:00
this body is not a virus
0:02
[Music]
0:06
i’m dreaming of new futures where i
0:08
claim the women who work the massage
0:10
parlors
0:11
the fathers and mothers
0:14
who leave behind continents then pass
0:16
down languages to their children
0:20
i’m blessing us gays veys and bays who
0:24
kiss in open streets or shuddered behind
0:27
closed doors
0:28
i’m thinking my fight over the czech
0:30
aunties and uncles
0:33
who drop off second-hand clothes and
0:35
home-grown fruit
0:37
i call my people borderless
0:40
when friends fly away and green cards
0:43
fail to grow on trees
0:46
i’m here for the tragedy
0:48
when another life is taken and when no
0:51
metaphors can cup the loss
0:53
i pray
0:55
for the words to hold us all i pray
0:58
words will never be enough
1:01
my mouth has been the exit wound of my
1:04
family tree
1:06
i’m asking you to make it your altar
1:09
an offering
1:10
of love and laughter
1:13
to tide us through the storm and calm
1:17
the revolution in our hearts
1:20
demands our paws
1:22
stop dredging up those kingdoms and let
1:24
your joy do the work
1:27
[Music]
1:42
you
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This post was previously published on YouTube.
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