This week’s Mic Drop features student-leaders who participated at this year’s Diversity Monologues Competition. The competition took place at the Union, a venue for social change. The theme of the competition gave students an opportunity to write a letter to their country.
Students such as Manilyn Gumapas, founder of a student-led multicultural organization, and Davonte Sanders, president of the Black Student Association, will both be showcasing their letters at this week’s Mic Drop.
Before you watch them live on Chronicle/NCCLinked Facebook Live, let’s get to know them better.
Stella Fanega: Why did you choose to write a letter to your country?
Manilyn Gumapas: When I saw the Diversity Monologues competition, it immediately provided an outlet for my internal monologue to become external. Because of my own personal experiences, I’m constantly contemplating issues of race, ethnicity and culture, especially as it relates to American society.
Davonte Sanders: I chose to write this letter to my country because it is very well needed. I often ask the age-old question of: “Why does ignorance persist despite the volume of facts that surround us?”
SF: Was there anyone who motivated your writing?
MG: Yes. I was motivated by every single person who’s ever tried to tell me a “funny joke” about Asians, tried to “compliment” me based solely on my race or culture, or most infuriatingly of all, tried to tell me to “stop being so sensitive” and “just take a joke” because “this is just the reality” for “people like me” (aka people of color).
DS: Those who motivated me in writing this letter would have to be the professors, teachers, tour guides and fellow classmates who continued to educate me and push me to challenge the history I thought I knew.
SF: If you were to pick one message from your letter, what would it be and why?
MG: If I were to pick one message from my letter, it would be this: “I am Filipina-American. I am Filipina AND American. I am more than the hyphen between my identities. I am not going to sacrifice either side of that hyphen for the sake of the other.” Essentially, the message of my letter is that I often have to feel like I have to sacrifice my Filipina identity in order to fit into American society and that shouldn’t be the case. It’s absolutely suffocating to do so. If I as a woman of a diverse background feel like I have to hide that diversity in order to fit into society without being made fun of for my culture or cuisine, what does that say about our society?
DS: The one message I would like people to take away from this letter would be that hate cannot be transferred from generation to generation if it’s not taught. Most times a generation internalizes hatred by constant repetition of teaching. If that breaks, we can look forward to something new.
Be sure to check out Manilyn Gumapas and Davonte Sanders on Facebook Live Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
