Adrianna Tan on Nostr: Also, I think that southern Chinese immigrants have had a long history of mutual aid. ...

Also, I think that southern Chinese immigrants have had a long history of mutual aid. When I was growing up I thought it was just people wanting to stick to each other in a new place but after becoming an immigrant myself and learning about the terrible odds of their lives in California and elsewhere, it seems like it made sense that they had to help each other. When railway workers were massacred, repeatedly, Chinese business people funded the legal responses; arranged for repatriation; fought for compensation for all. Of course they also benefited from importing this labor. But there seemed to be some sense of kinship in some way or more a sense of, ‘it doesn’t matter how rich I am, they’re coming for all of us anyway’.

And the way I see this manifested has been: I remember the first time I went to Phnom Penh alone as a a teenager, I was horribly lost. I found a shop, realized we spoke the same language, and they helped me get situated. Even where I live in SF, even though I don’t love hanging out with my elderly neighbors, I do generally feel like ‘if I need something..’ (more than salt, but less than a favor), they’ll definitely do it for me.

I guess I just don’t know how to exist without this support, because I’ve never.. not had it.