After Samiya Bashir’s Field Theories

you know like how we sit in a room

together telling stories of diaspora

or sometimes no diaspora at all

been here forever

you know like we are all in

competition, wanna be the model minority, a myth

that ties us together and yet cuts

the link, i am better, no i am better, no I am

closer to being white. you know like how

anti blackness is rampant in most communities

of colour, and you know like how we sometimes

forget that indigenous people exist THEY EXIST

WE ARE ON OCCUPIED LAND or you know like how

we forget who we are

fighting. we need to do better. we always need to do better.

you know like how we sit in a room, drinking chai

tea, laughing, crying, the works, you know like how our best

home is in communities mixed, you know like how

denise’s mother in master of none tells young denise and dev

that they are both minorities, you gotta stick together

you know like how many times do you see multiple people of colour

in a show and you know like how many times are they friends?

Lilla Watson says “if you’ve come because your liberation is

bound up with mine, then let us work together” and we keep

having to quote her, you know like how we have to remind each other

everyday, what is social responsibility, keep each other close,

keep each other safe, you know like how I tell C I want to

write a love poem to all my friends of colour and you know like

how it doesn’t ever feel like enough

you know like how i’m sick from

disposability culture, just want to hold you all close

you know like how my communities of colour have healed

me, and not just scratches, but you know like deep wounds

tended to, blood wiped, stitches sewn, large bandages

left to protect, and you know like how we know

the wound will return but we keep trying to heal it