AYOKO NA:My_Immigrant_Story, highlights the notion of “only being seen in this society after a horrible tragedy”. In the performance Dela Peña continuously wrote the words “Ayoko Na”— which translates to I’m tired in english, in an attempt to cover the headline news, only to reveal in the end that the words from the news report can still be read. This performance serves as a commentary on the global reaction regarding the rise of anti-asian hate crimes in North America. 

 

Our daily life is engulfed in a subconscious attempt to be invisible. We are told to be silent when we face discrimination. We are told to forget about bad experiences and move on. We are told that we are not victims of oppression. We are dismissed when we cry for justice. We are boiled down to as a model minority and we are blamed for our traumas because of it. We have been subconsciously programmed to live in furtiveness constructed by white supremacy.