Author / Katelyn Taira
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Being Human
Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum My senior year of high school, my AP English Literature teacher assigned The Handmaid’s Tale as the very last book we would ever read together. I didn’t expect much. Thirteen years of Catholic education tempered my expectations of what would be read in the classroom—probably a “canonical” classic (written by a…
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America’s “Enemy Aliens”
America’s fraught relationship with Islam has a recent history. After decades filled with embattled rhetoric and devastating wars, America has arrived at a juncture where refugees and fear are the tragic results. This crucible is where Presidential candidate Donald Trump stands, talking about tracking Muslims, stopping Muslim immigration, and surveilling Muslim communities. In November 2015,…
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“Da Kine” Cultural History
“What, you guys no stay go eat yet?” This is a familiar sentiment frequently expressed by my grandmother, perpetually baking in her tiny kitchen in Aiea, Hawaii. “No, we no stay eat. We jus’ pau hana ‘das why,” her neighbor responds. My Caucasian mother—hailing from the distant mainland coast of California—desperately needs a translation. “They…
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The Other Side of Paradise
BY KATELYN TAIRA “It’s gotten worse,” my Aunty Aileen says as we talk over lunch. It is difficult to reconcile the images of picturesque beaches and sunsets with the hunched figures shuffling along the streets and crouching next to buildings we have both seen. With half of my family living on the Hawaiian island of…
