Chapters (77)
- Cover
- Dedication
- 1
- 2
- A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
- 3
- The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
- 8
- 9
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
- 10
- 11
- 12
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
- 13
- The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
- 20
- 21
- 22
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
- 23
- 24
- 25
- A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
- 26
- 27
- 28
- A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
- 54
- A Note from the Author
- Index of Flowers and their Meanings
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Praise for This Time Will Be Different
- Books by Misa Sugiura
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
“I mean I know she’s kind of an introvert, and I get how she might feel embarrassed,” she continues, “but I really thought that she would like it. She’s not closeted, so I don’t understand what’s wrong with telling other people how much I like her. It’s not like it’s a secret.”
“But if you really loved her, you’d do it the way she wanted. And anyway, can’t you see how it would look to her? It was you taking the spotlight from STORM all over again.”
“You know what, I still don’t get that. You guys kept saying I made it about me, and I told you I was only trying to help.”
Wow. This again? Though I guess I’m the one who brought it up. Okay, fine. “When you called the paper and got them to do an interview featuring you, who did you think it was going to be about? You said it was about calling attention to the movement, but who came out looking like a hero? And don’t even tell me you don’t plan to use this whole experience as a college application essay. About how instrumental you were, even though you didn’t have to be. Have you ever heard of the term, ‘white savior’?”
Brynn looks aghast. “I didn’t mean to be! I really was only trying to help.”
Oh, Brynn. Well, here we go, then. “And I don’t know if you saw the newscast of that interview you did with Aviana and Owen. Were you even aware of how much more you talked than them?”
“I was excited. The news lady gave me the mic first. And I let them speak when I was done.”
“Yeah, so that was her fault. But did you even consider giving Owen the mic before you started talking? You let them speak. Shouldn’t they have been letting you speak, considering their families were actually, like, directly affected by the internment?”
“But everything I said—”
“And you kept saying at the meeting that you did us a favor.”
She still looks puzzled, so I cast about for something that would make her understand. “Imagine if a straight person grabbed the mic from the main speaker at an LGBTQ-plus marriage rally and made a big speech about how they were so stoked when their gay uncle finally got married, and how it’s really important to support LGBTQ-plus marriage rights. And then they wanted you to thank them for being a good ally.”
“Oh.” Her eyes open up a little wider as the understanding sinks in. Finally.
“Like, it’s cool to support us, right? But it’s not cool to take over and expect us to be grateful.” Now that I’m not furious with her for everything she ever did, I find that I can be a little kinder.
“I’m sorry. That was fucked up. I should have known better.”