#anmol chaddha
I don’t want to mythologize or co-opt the memory of someone I admired so much, and I want to be especially cautious as I didn’t meet up with her much in person or get a chance to work with her often. But I felt compelled to share this nonetheless. One of the only times I’ve ever been speechless in my adult life was when I met Yuri. From what I recall, it’s because I agreed to be a part of an awareness-raising event for Viet Mike Ngo and Eddy Zheng, two inmates trying to start an Asian American studies program in prison. And at the same time, students at Berkeley were trying to raise awareness about deportations. Yuri was involved in both causes, no doubt many more, and activist Anmol Chaddha asked me if I would like to meet her. What do you say to her? She had done so much through history, for so many different communities and people, was inspiring countless young Asian Americans and other people. And yet, she never projected a demand for respect or to be deified. She was sincere, down to earth, fierce, smart, humble, inquisitive. She had political stickers all over her walker. Pictures of loved ones and I seem to recall, Hello Kitty, all over her walls. I wanted to learn all I could about her but instead found myself answering her questions about me as she jotted down notes in various notebooks with different colored pens. Anmol gave her a ride to a poetry reading I did on his motorbike. I was an even shittier poet back then, yet she was gracious and kind about my work. I didn’t get to hang out with her much or work with her much. But she did so much in her long life that inspired me. I feel like a failure all the time. All the time. Yuri’s great gift to us was to show by example that through all the important work she did, she remained a supportive, intelligent, warm and generous human being. Activists don’t have to be cold, strident, or stoic. Activists are human beings. They are not hero figures but members of the communities that they fight for. There are not words enough to thank her for that. My heart goes out to her family and the members of the community she worked with most closest. May she rest. And may the rest of us work.
Bao Phi is a poet & activist.
