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Transcription: [00:17:09]
{SPEAKER name="Stacilee Ford"}
There's a woman named Deisel Kim Gibson out on the wall out there and I felt like with some respects she could be the troubling American woman for today.
[00:17:23]
She, Phoebe Eng, talks about a time two decades ago and I think alot of the younger women that I see who are exchange students coming to Hongkong U from the U.S would say,
[00:17:35]
"I don't relate completely to Eng's anger. I do feel like, you know, I can focus on what I wanna focus on.
[00:17:43]
I don't necessarily have to negotiate with familial expectations in the way that she talks about. I don't feel exoticized in the same way.
[00:17:50]
And- there- we have moved on a bit." But what I like Deisel Kim Gibson says, "I believe the idea that the place of our births, as the center of our universe, is being dismantled,
[00:18:02]
especially in the century of mass migration. The only way we can claim home again is to make every corner of the earth our home, and to think of ourselves as human beings."
[00:18:13]
So this is a phenomenal sentiment, and yet we live in a time where national identity is preserved as strongly as ever in some ways.
[00:18:25]
And as Americans, we cling, and rightfully so at times, to our own identities, and wanted to hang on to something unique, or special, or exceptional,
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in a moment when we have to worry about economic competitiveness and real dangers in the world and we have strong beliefs about authoritarian societies.
[00:18:44]
So how do we keep this, you know, this beautiful vision, intentioned with realities, of our day to day world?
[00:18:54]
The women in this book managed to balance, sometimes more successfully than others, but I think what I learned is the best way to start thinking about how we move forward is to really move beyond those borders,
[00:19:07]
and, really, you know, participate in as many cross-cultural encounters as we can.
[00:19:12]