To Cho Chang From The Faceless Latina

It's that time of night where I should be turning off my light rather than plugging in my computer charger, but you know that isn't an option for me. I mean, look at the time. It's not even 4 am yet. And I'm actually putting off getting my charger because it's not that time...yet.

Tonight's topic has been sitting in my mind for a few days. I saw a spoken word poetry video on YouTube that got me thinking. But I'll let the video speak for itself.

Without further ado, this is my response.

To Cho Chang, From The Faceless Latina

I will never get to work at Disney World as my favorite princess. We are one in the same--curious, book-crazy, loving, adventurous--but we are not one in the same. We can want the same things and dream the same dreams, but still I can never put on that beautiful yellow ball gown and call myself "Belle." I cannot call myself beautiful because I have been told since childhood that my skin is not the same color as hers. I will not be a role model for young girls the same way Belle has been there for me because they won't look past our skin color. They won't see how truly alike we are. I am no Snow White. I am not a mermaid with beautiful red hair. I will never be the heroine I want to be because movies and books haven't portrayed me that way.

But I won't let that stop me.

I will write my own story. I will forget that there's an Asian princess, a Native American princess, an Arabic princess, a Scottish princess, and even an African-American princess while there is not a Spanish princess or a Cuban princess to represent me. I will forget about the princess who doesn't even have legs and the one who fell for a beast. Instead, I will remember that my mother told me, "If you want to get something done, you need to do it yourself," and write my own story.

So yes, while I can sympathize because you and I are traveling along the same road, I see where that road diverges and we diverge as well. You will travel along the road of complaint and compliance, but I will do something for myself because I can't sit back and watch someone else's pen move while mine is idle. That is not the way my story will end.