Afghan

The Afghan Scholars at Risk Fund is a joint program founded by the San Jose State University Human Rights Institute and the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center. Its main goal is to help people at risk of suppression after the wake of the Taliban seizing control of Afghanistan.

The UC Berkeley Library began archiving websites at risk of erasure under Taliban rule Aug. 15, when the Taliban breached the presidential palace.

I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility for collecting intergenerational stories because I understood people live as long as our memories of them do.

From a young age, I was afraid of being expressive and taking up space. I learned to make myself smaller and quieter so white people would feel comfortable. 

Obviously, I knew that I was Brown. But in their attempts to make me feel included, my Ukrainian family made me feel even more othered.

As much as I enjoy the opportunity of sharing the wonderful tangle of my background, multiracial people are expected to constantly explain our existences.

To vote is to claim agency — to use the freedoms subscribed to you by law as a source of empowerment within our democratic system.