Status Updates From Bijeen

How do we examine the legacy of colonization when the basic facts of its construction are disputed in the minds of its beneficiaries?

The son, of course, insists the best things in life are free. All this was, is, free to him. The schoolchildren here don't need artificial inspiration from people like me. They take chances, pursue dreams, risk climbing out to the highest, furthest limb. They reach out - knowing the ground beneath is soil, soft grass and dandelions.

Born here, parents, born here, always lived here – still, never from here. Their culture becomes parody on my body.

Buoyed by wealth he’s never had to earn, never worked for. He’s never dealt in grubby compromise. And from this vantage, he points a finger – an old finger, the skin translucent, arm outstretched and wavering. He points it at you: The problem. Always, the problem.