C. Sun

I'm 16 and a junior in high school, I grew up and still live in a suburban town in Indiana, and I am the proud daughter of two Chinese immigrants. I have a lot of creative passion projects and work in magazine/publication work as an artist and graphic designer.

My first encounter with racism was in middle school in art class—my absolute favorite subject and what I considered my refuge from whatever issues I was facing that week. "How do Chinese parents name their kids? They drop a metal pan down the chimney, and it goes ching, chong, ching chong!" Roars of laughter ensued as I sat there trying to draw a self-portrait.

How was I supposed to embrace the identity I was putting on that page when everyone around me was attacking it? Not knowing how to defend myself, I dreaded art class after that. I thought I would always be the quiet Asian girl and the butt of those students' jokes to them. I didn't even understand that was racism at that time.

Cut to five years later and I have fully embraced my identity as a Chinese American, and an artist at that. All of my paintings speak on Asian American experiences, and celebrate faces that those students once mocked, their grubby fingers pulling their eyes back as they yelled "chink" into my ear. I design work for Rice & Spice and Overachiever Magazine now as well, both publications who are unapologetically Asian and uplift and celebrate Asian Americans, our identities, and our experiences, and fight against the issues facing our community. I will not let the stereotypes pitted against me and my artwork win, nor will I ever let it keep me from my full potential as an artist. My art is my gift, and I will always wield it to fight for my people.