monsters she lived with were her parents and that they had to be good people. Maybe confusing and scary, but she thought if she could just please and obey them, they would come around and love her instead of abuse her.
She believed this every time her dad raped her or when her mom dropped her off at the brothel. She believed it every time she came home and watched them count up her money with a smile. She believed it as she shook her head and repeated, “Nothing much. Just tired, I swear.”
It was the only way she could survive.
“ I think that my parents showed approval like Oh you made me feel good because you made me money. Or Oh that brings me status. But the approval that I wanted was just sort of I love you because of who you are, which they never showed. ”
~ Minh Dang
Justice Is …
When Minh graduated from high school, her parents agreed to let her go to the University of California, Berkeley as long as she continued to work for them. San Jose was just a short car trip away, so they arranged “tricks” for her and continued to get her back to campus on time when her night routine was over. Again, Minh aced her classes and impressed all her teachers. Nobody in the dorms knew where she went at night or on weekends, and it seemed like she could go on like this indefinitely without anyone noticing.
But being away from home was confusing. Minh saw all of her new college friends going out to parties or pulling all-nighters just to talk about the boy they’d met the night before. She actually went out and played for the first time. She took day trips to San Francisco and ran around Pier 39. She ate sourdough bread and listened to music she’d never heard. Even the freedom to go to the campus library seemed magical to Minh.
When her parents ferried her back and forth to the brothel at night, she stared out the car window, trying to figure out why only her life had to be locked up in this other world of pain. She thought for the first time that maybe there was a way out.
There was also a part of Minh that was getting louder. During her freshman year she started going to social action meetings on campus. She found out that Asian American immigrants were being deported without really being given a chance to defend themselves. She went to her first public protest and was blown away. She couldn’t believe that a group of total strangers from the community had rallied to support an immigrant boy who was going to be deported for no reason. Everyone marched and chanted to show their love and support for someone they didn’t even know.
It was so empowering and moving. So far from what she’d grown up seeing.
Huh? People care about strangers? My whole family doesn’t care about each other! Minh thought.
She signed up for more meetings and marched in more rallies. The energy of everyone shouting and cheering was addictive. She even organized a demonstration to protest the admissions policies at UC Berkeley and saw how her voice could lead to concrete change. Part of her wondered if maybe, somehow, some way, people could ever hear her story and march for her life to change, too.
One of the organizations Minh joined was called REACH!. It was all about community building and organizing for social justice. Minh loved the other people in this group. Everyone was so passionate about speaking out for their beliefs.
But one day at a meeting, the students were told to hold off on starting any new projects. The faculty was getting concerned that a lot of people from REACH! were skipping class and getting bad grades because they were spending too much time at rallies. Of course for Minh, this wasn’t an issue. She was used to going to school, doing afternoon activities, poring over her books, and then going to the brothel most nights. She’d figured out how to exist on little to no sleep.
Still, that meeting stuck with her. She felt like a hypocrite. Here she was supporting everyone else while her parents
She believed this every time her dad raped her or when her mom dropped her off at the brothel. She believed it every time she came home and watched them count up her money with a smile. She believed it as she shook her head and repeated, “Nothing much. Just tired, I swear.”
It was the only way she could survive.
“ I think that my parents showed approval like Oh you made me feel good because you made me money. Or Oh that brings me status. But the approval that I wanted was just sort of I love you because of who you are, which they never showed. ”
~ Minh Dang
Justice Is …
When Minh graduated from high school, her parents agreed to let her go to the University of California, Berkeley as long as she continued to work for them. San Jose was just a short car trip away, so they arranged “tricks” for her and continued to get her back to campus on time when her night routine was over. Again, Minh aced her classes and impressed all her teachers. Nobody in the dorms knew where she went at night or on weekends, and it seemed like she could go on like this indefinitely without anyone noticing.
But being away from home was confusing. Minh saw all of her new college friends going out to parties or pulling all-nighters just to talk about the boy they’d met the night before. She actually went out and played for the first time. She took day trips to San Francisco and ran around Pier 39. She ate sourdough bread and listened to music she’d never heard. Even the freedom to go to the campus library seemed magical to Minh.
When her parents ferried her back and forth to the brothel at night, she stared out the car window, trying to figure out why only her life had to be locked up in this other world of pain. She thought for the first time that maybe there was a way out.
There was also a part of Minh that was getting louder. During her freshman year she started going to social action meetings on campus. She found out that Asian American immigrants were being deported without really being given a chance to defend themselves. She went to her first public protest and was blown away. She couldn’t believe that a group of total strangers from the community had rallied to support an immigrant boy who was going to be deported for no reason. Everyone marched and chanted to show their love and support for someone they didn’t even know.
It was so empowering and moving. So far from what she’d grown up seeing.
Huh? People care about strangers? My whole family doesn’t care about each other! Minh thought.
She signed up for more meetings and marched in more rallies. The energy of everyone shouting and cheering was addictive. She even organized a demonstration to protest the admissions policies at UC Berkeley and saw how her voice could lead to concrete change. Part of her wondered if maybe, somehow, some way, people could ever hear her story and march for her life to change, too.
One of the organizations Minh joined was called REACH!. It was all about community building and organizing for social justice. Minh loved the other people in this group. Everyone was so passionate about speaking out for their beliefs.
But one day at a meeting, the students were told to hold off on starting any new projects. The faculty was getting concerned that a lot of people from REACH! were skipping class and getting bad grades because they were spending too much time at rallies. Of course for Minh, this wasn’t an issue. She was used to going to school, doing afternoon activities, poring over her books, and then going to the brothel most nights. She’d figured out how to exist on little to no sleep.
Still, that meeting stuck with her. She felt like a hypocrite. Here she was supporting everyone else while her parents
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