Maura Grieco,
Norfolk, VA

My nana is Japanese American, she moved to the states at age 20 after having my mother and marrying my grandfather, a white man in the navy. She is proud of being Japanese and embraces her culture outwardly now, But did not when my mother was younger.

She never taught my mother or uncle Japanese, for she feared them speaking another language and getting bullied. She herself completely cut herself from speaking the language for years and forced herself to trudge through a language she barely knew.

I am so proud of my nana. She is a strong woman. But it hurts me to hear her stories to try to conform to the white, western culture that she was forced into.