!["[diversity] doesn't mean we want white people to write asian stories. what i want is to foster the asian-american writers and directors and producers and actors... foster their stories to come into the spotlight a little bit." -@wonstancecoo](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/536cdda1e4b0ef7a9fb7e40e/1501340320282-O9R8MT0IKG4H0CRMHJ99/JQ_representasian_1)
"[diversity] doesn't mean we want white people to write asian stories. what i want is to foster the asian-american writers and directors and producers and actors... foster their stories to come into the spotlight a little bit." -@wonstancecoo
"hollywood likes to put actors in boxes, and it likes to put asian actors in really small boxes." -@iamsandraohinsta
"when I was 8 and 9, my mom forced me to take mandarin classes on the weekends and i HATED it. i remember thinking, 'why is she making me do this? i don't have any friends who speak mandarin! she barely speaks it herself these days, and this class is not even for cantonese!' (my mom is from hong kong where they primarily speak cantonese). it just didn't seem relevant or important to my life. after getting fed up with all my bitching, my mom finally let me stop taking classes, and i immediately emptied it all out of my brain.
fast forward 20 years and i'm so mad at myself for not continuing to learn. now i realize she was trying to give me a major skill that would help me stand out and maybe connect me to my heritage more, but i was too shortsighted to see that back then. it's honestly one of my biggest regrets." -@lertiene
"not only do i not want to be stereotyped as this asian girl who fights... but also i have more to offer than that." -@maggieq
"growing up in china, the only western movie i ever saw was james bond. of course, in all the movies people lived in villas with swimming pools and drove aston martins. my parents went to the U.S. on a work exchange program where china sent their best and brightest to learn all they can, hoping they return with the knowledge to better the country. my brother and i remained in china, living with our grandparents. after seeing the revolution from aboard and wanting a better life for us, they decided to remain and immigrate. at the time, they shared a small apartment with another couple, making ends meet and living off of instant noodles. the apartment complex had a public pool, which was common for the area. their first car was a beat up brown station wagon. my dad was very proud of his car and the life he made in the states.
when my brother and i heard that there was a pool and we had a car, we immediately thought they lived like james bond. of course, nothing could be further from the truth. when we saw his car upon our arrival, "that's your car? this is our apartment?" we asked. that day our dreams along with my dad's pride was crushed. what followed was much better. from day one, they instilled in us the value of hard work and determination, not unlike most first generation families. from that first day on, we expected nothing but worked for everything." -@markgongphoto
"born and raised in queens as a 2nd gen, i grew up in an asian community. i never heard any derogatory terms about my ethnicity, but rather snide comments on how i forgot where i came from and how i forgot my culture. i may not speak the language, but i never forget for a second that i'm chinese and also american." -@jlaudesign