Thread by @calchulus

I had several interesting conversations today due to the the tweets, so I thought i'd do a tweet thread summarizing first my background, why this situation matters, and the good things that came out of this, because above all, I seek to learn, not just in crypto, but in the world

1/n I've had some people message me to praise me for speaking up, and some ask me why I was being so loud. I hope that the next bits will share a bit more as to why I think it's important to share, educate, and learn together.

2/n I was born and raised in Chicago to two immigrant parents. My dad was born in Taiwan because his father was a physicist for the Kuomingtang (KMT), which was forced to flee mainland china after the Communist Party came into power in 1949.

3/n My grandma, a math teacher, was forced to take the family, hopping to three countries before my dad was 6. They eventually landed in Hong Kong, then still under British colonial rule.

4/n both my parents literally took boats to come to America to study; my dad came to pursue a PhD at Stonybrook University in New York, and my mom to Chicago's Chinatown to wait tables for a dollar an hour cash (illegal to work under a student visa)

5/n she did so to pay for a community college degree to eventually transfer to UIC and finish her bachelors, where eventually my dad incidentally ended up being a teaching assistant after his PhD.

6/n China has had a history of many difficult circumstances pitting intellects vs. regimes, whether the Great Leap Forward. My maternal grandfather, a professor of entomology (insect researcher), was forced to become a farmer in the rural countryside of Guangdong

7/n my mom, at the age of 6, personally witnessed ransacking of any private holdings, even pots and pans being melted down for raw material for the country. At age 7, she broke her ribs as an awkward city girl trying to ride a literal bull to plow the fields.

8/n my grandpa used to sneak extra portions of meat/protein to the kids in the village as the "lunch lady" in food ration line, when the government gave so little that people would eat fucking tree bark. this is the poverty that China has emerged from

9/n my mom is a frail 80 pounds now, but hearing her stories of growing up, I'm infinitely proud of how strong she is, and what she can withstand as a human both mentally and physically.