Missy Navarro

Every day I put on a face. It's how the world sees me. Just another face in the crowd. By just looking at me, you could assume so much, but never know anything about me. By just looking at me you don't know what my beliefs are, who my loved ones are, or where I even come from. The face I put on is one like yours. With it and behind it, it carries an identity, whether it's easily visible or not. With some people, you have to dig deeper to see what really matters.

When I thumbed through this picture book "Part Asian, 100 percent HAPA: Multiculturalism in America" by Kip Fulbeck, I looked at all the faces that considered themselves to be part Asian. But as I went on, I noticed that there was a bigger message than the ethnic recipe book I assumed it was before reading it. There were faces of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, dreamers, and lost souls. All of the people in the book had to answer the question "What are you?" I saw the message of this project as something that portrayed identity in the rawest form. You look at a face, you interpret it, but then you see what they have to say about themselves. It may not be detailed, but it comes from the heart and the mind of a person that is willing it step out and show who they are among the crowd.

Having to answer a question like "what are you?" Can be tough. How is one supposed to adequately be able to portray who they are on a single piece of paper? When ACA and the ISFC did a similar project here at Whitman last month, I was amazed at what these faces had to say. Participants constantly asked me if they had to put down their ethnicity. I told them that it was whatever they identified themselves as. Even on an 8.5x11in paper, their responses spoke volumes and made you want to learn more. And that's exactly what we were trying to stir up out of the audience.

I may be Catholic and my best friend may be Mormon, but we both believe in treating others with respect. I may be straight and my cousin may be gay, but we both believe in love. I may be a Patriots fan and my worst enemy may be be a Giants fan, but we're both excited for the Superbowl.

What we as humans care for is shared in our core. The mix of identities is what makes this crowd of faces that I'm looking at right now look absolutely beautiful. This is definitely something to celebrate. Thank you.