happy valentines friends! ❤️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Featuring one of my fav quotes from @ayannapressley !!!

Black history is American history. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Black history is world history. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Black history is ALL our history. ✌️

✨requested topic brought to you by the hundreds of trolls in my dm’s this week ✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ wHY isN’t tHeRE a wHiTe hIStoRy mONtH? Wellllll, let’s talk about it! First off, there just isn’t a need y’all…whiteness is already celebrated and acknowledged everyday - we see both priority and defaultness for whiteness and white people fundamentally embedded in our racist systems and institutions as well as more literally in educational textbooks through whitewashed versions of history. We see it at work, school, the media, government, advertising, in our homes…you name it. Whiteness has remained largely the false default of the US and many European countries. On the other hand, we’ve systematically seen marginalized stories ignored and deprioritized, intentionally reducing the legacy of oppression and racism (and white folks BIG role in it) as well as everything else BIPOC have contributed and achieved throughout history and happening today…and big spoiler…IT’S A LOT more than trauma. Culture, food, literature, music, inventions, dance, media, activism, politics…everything! Also, hate to break it to y’all, but whiteness will never be something worth celebrating folks, it’s not a culture y’all! Yes, you can be interested in your specific nationality to an extent, but celebration of whiteness itself is just white supremacy. So let’s stop the deflection techniques and acknowledge that Black history is American history, Black history is world history, Black history is ALL our history, period.

happy #LunarNewYear y’all! 🐯🍊 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Growing up in a pretty isolated Korean American family I didn’t start celebrating the lunar new year until more recently…but FUN fact I had a phase in elementary school where I lied to everyone that I was born in the year of the tiger because it sounded cool at the time (LOL like a simple online search couldn’t instantly debunk this) so guess I have a soft spot for this year 😂

reposting this important reminder as #BlackHistoryMonth kicks off tomorrow! 👏 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ some things to keep doing this Black history month and the other 11 months of the year… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✨ celebrate ALL Black history (not just the trauma y’all!) ✨ learn from Black antiracist educators (and pay for their time too!) ✨ support Black-owned businesses + creators ✨ donate your time/money/resources to Black-owned and ran organizations ✨ amplify, listen, and center Black voices ✨ make short-term and long-term actionable goals to support Black liberation (in ways the Black community is actually asking for!) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Can’t stress enough my friends the importance of honoring the Black community 365 days of the year, but this upcoming month is certainly no better of a time to keep learning more about Black history, celebrating Black joy, supporting Black creators/educators authentically, and holding yourself accountable to actionable steps in supporting Black liberation today and everyday. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Many Black educators are kindly putting out paid and free resources for Black history month, a huge reminder that you can and should pay them for their time if you are able to. Support them on patreon, buy their classes, drop some funds in their venmo, show them that their time matters to you, y’all! ✌️

let’s talk about racial microaggressions… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I can vividly remember the very first time I confessed to my second grade crush. I wrote what I thought at the time was a very adult declaration of love (it was scribbled in cursive on the back of a math assignment with lots of cat stickers 😂) and I was feeling pretty confident about it. I handed it to them at break and before they could even finish reading it they handed it back to me and said point blank, “mmm, I don’t like Chinese girls, they look weird.” And honestly I had no idea what that even meant at the time (I was Korean?), but I rightfully cried my eyes out for a week straight. And I wish that had been the last failed declaration of mine, or that these comments only happened in these embarrassing moments, but they didn’t…through the years I’ve heard it all in terms of microaggressions, regarding my appearance, my brains, my temperament, my “exoticness”…and not just from childhood crushes but from friends, peers, coworkers, and strangers alike. There’s nothing micro about them! These uninformed statements can have immense power on their own as it is, but when we take a look at the historical context that all microaggressions and stereotypes stem from, it unfolds a bigger story - they’re a symptom of a much larger racially prejudiced system, one that often fetishizes, oppresses, and reduces all marginalized people to a handful of white-centered ideas and tropes. And unfortunately so many marginalized people are forced to shake them off, in fear of upsetting their coworkers, friends, family, and strangers alike - it quite literally can be a life or death situation at the wrong time. But microaggressions are too harmful to go unchecked in any setting…and that isn’t on the marginalized to fix (although often the burden weighs on us), it’s on white folks y’all✌️

a reminder that there is no self care without community care!✌️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ While self care is an act of individual compassion that we all need and deserve, community care unites us all. And the two are deeply connected - caring for others is a vital part of caring for ourselves too, it gives us purpose and lifts the entire community in the process. But the reality is that while self care is a vital part of rest…you can’t self care your way out of systemic issues. You can’t self care your way out of poverty. You can’t self care your way out of racism. Let us not forget the value and intersection of both, because investing time and money in community care is a radical act of compassion that benefits us all. ❤️

your comfort is not worth more than someone’s life! 👏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There’s something incredibly surreal about going to the grocery store these days and seeing countless people walking around, no mask in sight, just vibing like they have no care in the world. Cases are still rising y’all and I’m incredibly tired that we are still saying the same things…keep wearing your mask! Get that booster. Stay home if you can. Keep your distance if you can’t. Get tested if you think you’re exposed. Hold the government accountable for the inability to do any of those things. There isn’t a single life worth sacrificing for your comfort. Certainly not the immunocompromised, not the elderly, not those who can’t get vaccinated yet, not those who can’t afford to get sick…not anyone! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Also most of y’all have probably heard already… but just a reminder that if you’re in the US, sign-up for 4 free rapid COVID-19 tests is now available through usps.com (link on story!)

a little refresher for this year’s intentions ✨

proud to be #VeryAsian !!! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ check out @michellelitv ‘s recent reel for context if ya missed it! 💚

✨happy new year y’all!✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 2021 has been one heck of a year for all of us but I’m so incredibly grateful for all the good parts hidden in it too, so here’s a rare post with some non art related photos from this year (I know, weird right!??)! This year I married my best friend, I bought a house (WHAT?), I published a children’s book, I reached my first year of full-time freelance design work, and I finally came out to all of you! 🥺 And I’ll be honest that I’ve spent most of the year minimizing any and all joy I’ve felt due to the immense grief and collective trauma of the past year hanging over us all…but that ain’t right either! Both realities must exist for us to care for ourselves and our communities properly - we must be able to actively address the problems in our home and beyond while still celebrating and finding joy in our own lives too. So as much as I hate new years resolutions, I will say that I am hoping to be more intentional this year in not only how I show up for grief and trauma through activism, but for joy and celebration too, online and especially offline 💓 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ lovely photos from the amazing… 📸: @maddiemaschger.photo (fam shoot) 📸: @dev.stroudphoto (wedding)

a reminder that it’s MORE than enough if all you did this year was survive! 👏 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ we’ve straight up been living through a pandemic and a million other things this past year y’all…so please give yourself a pat on the back and be kind to yourself, your body, and those around you!!! 💓Seriously, you should be proud! And I know this time of year can be incredibly triggering for many (including myself!) when it feels like the people around you are moving faster and doing more…but we all move at our own pace for a reason! It’s only natural to reflect as the new year approaches and think critically about what worked and didn’t work this year…but I’m here to remind you that it’s just a date change y’all! So skip the resolutions all together, or make them if that makes you feel empowered…but don’t forget that you made it through this year, and that’s more than enough, friends! 💚