Through My Eyes Exploring The World While Being Asian

Vicky Zhou started writing Through My Eyes at the start of the pandemic as she witnessed some of the inequitable and discriminative treatments against Asian people across North America. She was inspired to tell her personal stories as a Chinese immigrant living in Toronto and travelling to different parts of the world. From a sociological perspective, she wrote extensively about subjects that she discovered during her journey and are important to the Asian Canadian community. You will hear stories and topics like: "The In-Betweenness" in which Vicky explored her experience of navigating in a binary, racialized world as an Asian person. "Through the Lens of Intersectionality: Race, Gender, Class" in which Vicky delved into the complexity of Asian experiences, such as racist sexism and sexist racism faced by many Asian women. "From Black Lives Matter to Stop Asian Hate" in which she examined the historical division and social distance between the Black and Asian communities in North America and called for intercultural awareness and compassion between the two groups. "Intertwined Path and Allied Future: Asians in Indigenous Canada" in which Vicky highlighted the hidden history between Chinese railway labourers and First Nations in B.C. in the 19th century and encouraged more immigrants to honour the history and participate in Truth and Reconciliation as allies for the Indigenous peoples.Although Through My Eyes is written from her perspective as a young Chinese immigrant, the book aims to open up a dialogue about race and equality in the Canadian context. It is in Vicky's hope to create a more safe and positive space for marginalized groups to share their joy and pain, laughs and tears. Take a closer and compassionate look at the Asian immigrant experience and history, rethink our “differences”, unlearn the harmful stereotypes, and be a part of the positive change for racial justice and social justice.