I would love to have a fun and spontaneous Valentine’s Day. If my boyfriend was in town, I’d love for us to be a able to hang out for the rest of the day. I’d be homework-free, he’d be able to borrow his brother’s car, and then we could spend time with each other to make up for the time lost.
For as long as I can remember, my family and I lived in neighborhoods with either my relatives or other Hmong families as my neighbors. As a child, I grew up learning my native language and not knowing how to speak English well. I remember being in a group of students who were English learners and we all had these little packets with a book, writing utensils and tiny gifts.
Angelo Fernandez was on the verge of turning his life around for the better, but this changed when he decided to go to a Fresno discount store with his brother. As soon as Fernandez stepped into his brother’s car, four undercover police cars suddenly boxed them in, leaving nowhere to go. Frantically, Fernandez dashed out of the car and ran across the parking lot in an effort to escape. He heard no orders to stop.
My uncle is in prison. Talking about the prison system and about him being locked up is pretty hard. He might not even know I am writing about him.
Recently all of us at The kNOw took the time to discuss the death of Eric Borges and the issues he faced that might have led him to take his life when he was only 19. Borges, whose funeral was held this week, was a member of the LGBTQ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning) community and consequently was bullied quite often for it.