Waking up to hundreds of tweets today after a white supremacists said talking about racism makes me an ingrate. As an immigrant, I'm not grateful after being "given" healthcare and a job.
A few words about immigrants and gratitude. Thread.
A few words about immigrants and gratitude. Thread.
2/I chose to be in Canada. Canada chose me, too. I jumped through many legally required hoops to be here. So, unlike many from settler cultures, I am here by following the rules of the land.
3/ Once here, I wasn't "given" any jobs. I came with no "connections" in journalism. No godfathers/actual fathers putting in a word for me. What I got was thanks to good luck, some proximity to whiteness, great individuals willing to take a chance on me and my own hard work.
4/ So, the system had worked for me. Great. That does not make me blind to how it doesn't work for others. It doesn't make me unsee that we are all, at best, uninvited guests on Indigenous lands. I can't make invisible the struggles of our Black brothers and sisters.
5/ What does this mean for me? It means I use the parts that work for me (in this case, the privilege of working of a damn good newspaper) to disrupt the space and and speak up where others don't have a voice.
6/ Nowhere did my immigration/citizenship require me to be a lesser member expected to be grateful for crumbs off others' tables. Nowhere am I told not to hold the powerful to account. So fuck off and don't try to dictate what kind of Canadian I should be.
7/ Back to gratitude: Am I grateful? Hell yeah. Look a these tweets and you’ll understand why. 👇🏽 
