when you tell me i am nothing like my people, you do not compliment me. i am not ashamed of my heritage, i am not trying to run away from it.
when you tell me i am nothing like other girls, you do not compliment me. i am not ashamed of my gender. i love my sisters, i am proud of the way they survive and blossom in a hostile place.
when you tell me i am nothing like other immigrants, you do not compliment me. i am not ashamed of the fact that i dream in two tongues.
when you tell me i am nothing like my parents, you do not compliment me. their english is not broken - it was never whole; they never sang in this land of yours. they do not become through your tongue.
when you tell me i am nothing like other feminists, you do not compliment me. their voices are what lets me speak.
do not compliment me by disparaging. do not compliment me by assimilating me. do not compliment me by erasing my history. do not compliment me at all, if in order to do that you have to make others seem small.
