This poem was originally written and performed as part of PMA's 2023 Vision Convocation. You can learn more about red-tagging and the experience that inspired Cathy's poem here. 

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You want the 411

Here’s the 411

You say that I am red –

You know what’s red

My lips are red

Red is my lipstick

My painted toes are red

My menstrual blood is red

But I am not red

What do you want people to read on my garage?

Read that I am a terrorist

Read that I am a communist

Read that I should get out of the country

Read that I should be condemned

Read this – I am not red

I bleed, I paint, I gloss

I am what I am – and not what you say I am, who I am, or where I should go

I am

Cathy Chang serves as Acting Regional Liaison for Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Regional Facilitator for Migration and Human Trafficking for the PMA.