Writing about cultures not my own!

[geminianeyes]

Got linked to this first, by IN. Then I read the actual article.

If a writer is afraid of writing about us due to all the weight this task carries, and if this fear thus renders that writer unable to write, I do not think it is our obligation to reassure and soothe and praise said writer. I do not think we should muzzle our anger out of consideration for people who cannot write about us for fear of their offences invoking our rage. I do not think we should ask for anything less than acknowledgement and respect: not just for us as a people and as a nation, but also for our history of colonization and oppression, for the inequalities that persist within and without our country, for the present struggle for self-determination and identity that’s often hampered and warped by influences from the spheres of our former colonial masters.

Context may have been Filipino, but this transcends borders and race.

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.