“The tinikling offers a visual explanation of how bilingual writing
works. Like the agile dancing feet of a tinikling dancer, a bilingual
writer’s mind is connected to her feet at all times, transferring and
translating the beat of clapping bamboos from a hearing experience to
a whole body experience. Living in a predominantly English-speaking
culture means you cannot stop to think or even attempt to explain
your actions and your meanings, or you will lose track of the dominant
beat and find yourself caught in the thorns of misunderstanding. I can’t
help but relate this to the spate of recent attacks on black bodies we
have witnessed. There is never time to explain your black skin or your
brown skin to someone intent on eradicating your black or brown
body because he or she feels threatened by the mere sight of you. You
have to keep dancing between the clapping bamboos of race
perception. Those who tried, hands up or not, have ended in tragedy.
Is this a far-fetched metaphor? If it is to you, you’ve never had to
dance/write between bamboos.”–Marlina Gonzalez, How Dare We! Write
Excerpt from How Dare We! Write
