Center the Margins Zine (2018) by May Dinh

[ A FOREWORD FROM THE EDITOR ] Art has always been a form of communication for me in a country where the majority was caucasian as an alternative to verbal communication. Which is something amazing for a couple of colors and lines that line up on a blank canvas. Through the Center the Margins Zine, I wanted to be able to showcase student work of unsung heroes, daydreamers, and diligent workers. Although the process was difficult it was worth it in the end because now you are holding it in your hands. Thank you so much for picking Center the Margins and please, enjoy. Summer Nguyen

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OUR MISSION STATEMENT AT THE MULTICULTURAL CENTER Positive social change Personal growth Cultural pluralism Multiplicity of identity Intersectionality Community education

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[ MESSAGE FROM MCC CO-DIRECTORS ] Dear reader, First off I would like to thank the artists who contributed to the zine——your work is raw, moving, and needed. Secondly, I would like to thank Summer, May, and Jasmine for putting together this lovely zine. And thirdly, I’d like to thank you, the reader for picking up this precious piece of work. As students of color, I feel it is necessary to leave our mark on this campus, to leave our stories and legacies engraved on this campus. This institution never intended to hold space for us and it still threatens to treat us as if we have no past here and no future. So I ask artists, storytellers, and activists to be as loud as possible during your time here. We come from a legacy of MCC leaders who have paved the way for us, and I encourage you to always start a ruckus. Shake the campus upside down. Take up as much space as possible, to grow, to learn, to yell, and let yourself and your work spill so much over and take back what has not been given to us. Leave your legacy so upcoming leaders and enemies can see we have been holding it down. Leave your mark on this campus. Leave your mark in history. Just leave your mark. In loving unity, Maria Alejandra Gallegos-Chacon, She/They ____________________ Hey friend, You ever think about why you hate certain parts about yourself? I have. It doesn’t always help me not hate those parts though. Why do you want to change certain things and not others? I don’t have any solid answers but I know in my heart we weren’t born self-loathing, we weren’t born jealous, we weren’t born stigmatized for things unbeknownst to ourselves as “abnormal.” And also I hate people telling me what to do. Fuck normal, fuck pretty, fuck productive, all that whack business. In an ideal world, we’d be creating for the sake of creating. But for now let’s direct our fire towards creating, in the hope that those, including ourselves, who long for truth and liberation, may find in these creations the faith that they have the power to redefine themselves——and, by association, redefine this poorly designed, awkwardly decorated world. May Dinh, She/They

BEAUTIFUL I used to hate how I looked I wanted the pelo rubio and the sky blue eyes I wanted creamy white skin and pale pink lips I wanted people to look at me the same instead of looking at me different I wanted to be equal These were the thoughts of a five year old girl Fast forward 15 years and now I am a woman I no longer want the anglo features I love my caramel brown skin I love the fullness of my rose colored lips The way my ebony black hair shines in the sun I love the way my chocolate eyes are framed by long thick lashes I love the way I am a combination of two I love that I no longer wish to be you SHEYLA MARTINEZ

MAMI “Damn Mami, you look so fine” It’s such a common line, while people look at my body, my temple, my shrine Beautiful curves of femininity, with a pretty face on top “Go girl, go”, they say, “get it, don’t stop!” Maybe it’s in the way I show off my chest Perfectly round, soft caramel brown breasts Or maybe it’s the way my pants hug my ass It’s big and it’s bouncy and matches my sass “She looks like a hoe, probably fucks everyone” They think the whispers are whispers but they’re really a shout Shut the fuck up before I come take you out. What they don’t know is the war I’ve had with myself for years How my body is marked with scars of it expanding and shrinking They don’t know about the stares in the mirror convincing myself I’m beautiful Or staring at a barely touched plate telling everyone I’m full They don’t know about the lows that were so low my body shook with sobs Or how I screamed at the top of my lungs because it hurt so much to be me About the days I would go without eating How I hid my body under sweaters marked X3 My body is my temple and its been reconstructed a few times I’m now learning how to bring flowers to it to decorate its scarred walls I’m rewriting its prayers and creating a peaceful place I can now go into public in tight clothes without hiding my face My curves are beautiful, and my scars even more so I will never ever tell myself “no” Every crop top is a small victory for me So please, save your comments and let me be free

SHEYLA MARTINEZ

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in January 5th, 1929 in Atlanta. He was a rather intelligent and gifted individual as he was enrolled into Morehouse College at only the age of 15. Martin Luther King Jr.’s father and grandparents were active members of the Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta, and this is one of the reasons that he studied theology and became a pastor later on in his life, as much as he was a civil rights activist. Martin Luther King Jr. met the love of his life, Coretta Scott in 1955 and the couple was blessed with four children. Out of the numerous speeches that Martin Luther King Jr. gave, he is known for his ‘I have a dream’ speech that he delivered in 1963 and is the inspiration behind the art piece that I created using the words of the speech. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech to approximately 250,000 individuals that had gathered at Lincoln Memorial. The main message behind the ‘I have a dream’ speech was that of equality for all and formed the inspiration behind the civil rights movement. The main reason why I decided to use the words from Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ speech is because of the significance and impact that he had on not only the African American community, but also for all humanity. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message is equality I still believe applies to today’s society, considering I am an Arab in the United States, and I can somehow relate to the discrimination, prejudice, and stereotype that African Americans faced. The art that I created with the words was a sign of homage and appreciation for Martin Luther King Jr. in a unique way, and I believe the addition of words, especially in Arabic, goes to show that even individuals from different cultures appreciate his efforts, not only African Americans.

FAISAL ALBALAWI

Tell me You white student you look me in the eye and tell me about your racist grandfather as though you don’t benefit from my pain the same way he does You white instructor you look me in the eye Tell me my behavior isn’t policed because my skin is a knife cutting through your iris A drop of blood staining your milk

Look me in the eye and tell me what rules requirements what bridges you have crushed to keep your classroom so pure You look me in the eye and tell me that the stories dripping from my tongue and the flowers in my mind have no business in your classroom That the soil on my skin isn’t soaked with languages with romances and tragedies And I will ask you Does it hurt to see me paint your paper that you worked so hard to keep pure ANONYMOUS

CENTER THE MARGINS [ 2018 ] CONTRIBUTORS Faisal A. Albalawi IG @faisal_.albalawi 20-21 Thach Bui IG @radicalthach 26-27 Hieu Dinh IG @roi_du_fromage 4-5, 9, 30-31, 33 May Dinh IG @mmfmfmfmmfmfmf 16, 24-25, 28-29 KayDen Garner 17 Samantha Ignacio IG @samaign 13

Sheyla Martinez IG @shey_29 8, 15, 27, 28 Kaitlyn McCafferty IG @lynliane 23 Aiyana McClinton IG @y.eeen 10-11 Sandra Nguyen IG @sandyysandals 22 Summer Nguyen IG @spamsquares Cover art, 18-19 Kezia Setyawan IG @keziasetyawan 6-7, 12 Jasmine Vitale IG @jaahzzi 14