Summary of Text from Green Eggs and Ham

Generated on the Wordle Website.

 

Summary of the Dr. Seuss Classic

Reflections on Ham and Eggs

A day of work for the chicken. A lifetime of work for the pig. 

- Emily

Dr. Seuss’s Lesson on Liminality and Identity in Context

After much thought and consideration, I decided to start this online journal after Weijie Huang, a respected community organizer and one of my best friends, spoke at Reflections 2009, an end-of-the year event that celebrates the accomplishments the seniors of the Asian American community at Harvard. True to his usual insightful self and certainly appropriate for the occasion, Weij talked about the fragmented identity of the Asian and Asian American community. It’s probably something that he and I have discussed time and time again – is there just one narrative of the Asian American experience? Can every Asian American claim identity simply because we are told that we share a unified experience shaped by common themes of history in different Asian countries? Just as in any community, there is a rich diversity of experiences and backgrounds not to be overlooked. While I might share a lot of experiences with my East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian brothers and sisters, there are certainly different cultural values and experiences of note. And beyond that, individuals claim identities outside the scope of race, ethnicity, and cultural background. Our community is one of poets, scientists, families, single people, the disabled, and countless other identities. Just like our community, our individual identities are a collection of fragments, too. I am male, I like to cook, I have a passion for social justice, etc. and these are certainly no less important than the my kayumanggi-brown skin.

However, this does not mean defining an Asian American identity is a fruitless task. Asian American communities provide a safe haven for newly arrived immigrants. Asian Americans organize around important political and social issues (contrary to popular opinion). Asian American college students host dances and cultural shows. In each of these cases, how individuals define their “Asian Americaness” is related to how they interact with the community and how they aim to build bridges between people and groups – sharing resources, relationships, or ideas. By doing so, I hope we are building new perspectives rather than isolating ourselves from other groups. Weijie reminded me of an important lesson from college that I often forget – our identities exist in liminality, in between these different states. I am at the intersection of being male, straight, Filipino, a 20-something, a son, a brother, a Californian. I belong to multiple communities – Boston, those passionate for public service, those who love to eat, an online community. And just as we define the communal identity of “Asian Americaness” by how we bridge connections between different individuals and interests so too must we try to understand how our different roles and interests relate to one another.

I know this isn’t the most academic treatment of the topic of racial identity – it’s not meant to be (but maybe if Harvard had a more rigorous ethnic studies program, this would have been the case). I’m just trying to figure out how this all makes sense in practice. Sam-I-am in Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham reminds us the importance of giving something a second look and that we may have missed something. Perhaps trying something new or challenging a preconceived notion in a different context (over there, over here, in a house, on a boat, on train) might lead us to a different conclusion. I always thought that it was silly that the protagonist in Green Eggs and Ham didn’t even want to try the food and that it had an eerie similarity to balut and spam. Perhaps examining my identity in these different contexts (with a strong bias for Fil Am culture) will lead me to a new conclusion.