Mochi was not feeling great yesterday so I sat with her on the couch in our living room. This is the view I was staring at for about an hour. It’s our living room, or as we call it, the Canadian room. The room is filled with original Canadian art (some from indigenous artists), Canadian books, and art about Canada (that I made). On the bookshelf, there’s a collection of books called “The World Needs More Canada.” There’s a book I wrote about Canada after 3 years of living in Canada. Above the couch, there are 4 panels of a painting of the Rockies Mountain in 4 seasons. It’s the room we spend the most time in as a family.
People who know me know I’m not the public display of patriotism kinda guy (I’m not a trucker). However, I wear my heart on my sleeves (literally), as demonstrated by the amount of pride T-shirt, the gaming stickers and merch, etc. During Tet, I wear my ao dai and I fill every inch of my house with red packets. During Christmas, you’d see the white woman in me with the decorations and the candles. I am loud about the things that I love. And I am public about the things that I am proud of. Being Canadian is one of those things that I love and I am proud of.
Growing up in communist Vietnam gave me a different perspective about the rollercoaster that we are experiencing right now. My grandfather went to jail after the war. They lost properties. My mother couldn’t pursue higher education. Needless to say, she has a complicated relationship with the government and her identity as Vietnamese. Yet, as China continues to casually threaten our sovereignty, and during the peak of the pandemic, she puts community first and she puts our “collective good” as Vietnamese first. I remember going to the supermarket with my mom, and we would look for “high-quality products made in Vietnam” labels, instead of Chinese ones, which we have a lot of since they are our neighbors. This is where we are, as Canadians. We are certainly not perfect (one of our imperfections is the fact that we focus too much on our imperfections). Our governments are certainly faaaaaar from perfect. But imperfect doesn’t mean meek, weak, or pushover. We might only have 10% of their size in population. We might lose in a fight, sure. But not standing up to bully and cower in cowardice is worse. Be it a global respiratory virus, or a Russian orange agent virus, we will need the united community to fight back.
I was telling Dan yesterday that “Elbow Up” is such a great war cry for us (Good job Mike Myer!). It’s short. It’s sharp. It comes with an action built in. It’s rooted in our shared popular culture and shared national identity. It links to recent events of the US-Canada hockey game. It’s an offense by defense move. But most of all, it’s unique and relateable.
In a quiet moment in my living room with my sick puppy, I thought to myself, somehow, in my life, I have always ended up in places and times of the underdog. Being Vietnamese. Being queer. Being an immigrant. Turns out, being a Canadian now is being an underdog, too. Maybe it’s a sign from the universe. Maybe it’s not me who needs to escape or who needs saving. Maybe I am put here, in these underdog places, so I can offer my gifts, my different perspectives, and my strengths, for the communities and the people who need some support standing up against bullies. It’s hard work, but it must be done.
So, elbow up, Canada. We got this.
Pace Fine Arts 