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Transcription: [00:04:37]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 1"}
I'll check "other."

[00:04:39]
(Crowd cheering and applause)

[00:04:41]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 1"}
Wow, it feels so good to say I'm Filipino and queer, right on the mall.

[00:04:47]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 1"}
Without any further ado, you will hear, in this order, in a round-robin style, spoken [[?]] poetry.

[00:04:53]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 1"}
You'll hear from Gary Kay, [[Dia Bouy?]] and [[Jericha Escodo?]]

[00:04:57]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 1"}
Without any further ado, let's give it up for Gary Kay! 

[00:05:03]
(Crowd cheering and applause)

[00:05:05]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Hello, Smithsonian Folk Live Festival! How you doin'?

[00:05:08]
(Crowd cheering and applause)

[00:05:09]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Do we have folks here who are not from the D.C. area?

[00:05:14]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Welcome to folks who are not from the D.C. area!

[00:05:16]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
D.C. folks, can we give it up for our visitors, joining us in our community today.

[00:05:22]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
My name is Gary Kay and I would like to start with a poem called...

[00:05:26]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
"How to be a Model Minority"

[00:05:31]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say be still. Be small.

[00:05:34]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Stay seated. Stop squirming.

[00:05:36]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
This may be your life but they'll say what it's made of.

[00:05:39]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say a little sweetener on a spoon will make it smooth when the meds go down.

[00:05:44]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say they have the recipe to make you function.

[00:05:47]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
To pop. Pop. Snap till you crackle.

[00:05:50]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say poetry is dead or should be cuz words are useless.

[00:05:56]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Just whining and rhyming. Hypnotizing. Justifying. Proselytizing.

[00:06:01]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They don't see the uprising. But why would they?

[00:06:04]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say dissent is a sign that something bad is up your sleeve,

[00:06:09]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
when bent kneed, cuffed and pleading, you dare to ask why?

[00:06:14]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say you belong with a "he" and you with a "she."

[00:06:18]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
And who makes the rules? We!

[00:06:19]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Because, they say, you don't know what's good for you.

[00:06:23]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say, you're the different. The misstep. The wrong color of the rainbow.

[00:06:28]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say they don't know where you belong but it's not here.

[00:06:32]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
'Cuz this is their story and you weren't there. Not even a footnote.

[00:06:37]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Defeated, deleted and then, not even indexed.

[00:06:41]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
They say your name never came up.

[00:06:44]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
To be a model minority, just keep your mouth...

[00:06:48]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
shut!

[00:06:49]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Or open it and together, we will lift ourselves up.