Emily Avakian··1 min read

Tokenism Blues

Emily Avakian

In classrooms, I have held my breath with the fear of being asked to speak on behalf of my people. When this question is asked I stop and laugh to myself and wonder “which people?”. As a multiethnic student in America, I have seen the system leave the names of great minds far behind on their pathway to standardization, but when it comes to one tokenistic history class I am asked to speak on behalf of a nation. My heart goes out to all of the others who are not “enough” of who they are until it benefits the narrative a colonizer wants to cover.  

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Emily Avakian
Emily Avakian is currently based out of Charlottesville Virginia where she is a graduate student at the University of Virginia. She is a teacher who also works within the global community. In all of her work, she aims to honor her Parskahye Armenian Heritage and her tribal community as she is also a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She believes that creativity is the best way to honor one’s roots and truest self. Growing up she read the work of the late Maya Angelou religiously and to this day believes that poetry can save someone.
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