#CIDLoveLetters: Ayanna K Jordan

Artist Bio 

I wouldn’t call myself an artist per se, but I’m a Japanese-American and African American, chronically ill, Pacific Northwest lifer who is a big fan of writing, paint and togarashi. 

Artist Statement  

One of the many things I love about our community is our resilience. Asian Americans have faced discrimination, racism and xenophobia from yellow peril propaganda to the Chinese Exclusion Act to WWII’s incarceration of Japanese Americans to the current xenophobia surrounding covid-19 and much more, but we continue to persevere and fight for our right to exist and to be proud of our heritage. The stay at home orders has made me realize how much I miss our community events. When we’re all gathered, albeit from different backgrounds, faiths, or locations, we’re together in our pride and celebration. It’s hard to choose my favorite places in C-ID but I’d have to say GoPoke, Oasis Tea Zone, Daiso, Uwajimaya, Wing Luke and Kobo at Higo top the list. But it’s easy to say that my favorite part of C-ID is just walking the streets and feeling like I belong here. I don’t have to feel like a half of something or an “other”, I feel at home. For me, C-ID is roots and I can’t imagine not having a vibrant community center like C-ID in my life. For my love letter to C-ID I chose to draw on my own Japanese-American heritage and paint a Daruma inscribed with the word hope to represent our hopes and wishes for the future. After a quick sketch I decided to paint him on a canvas board. Underneath him is written 七転び八起き (nana korobiya oki), fall down seven times stand, up eight. Surrounding the Daruma doll is a collage of tags inspired by Japanese ema plaques often seen at shrines written with prayers and wishes for the future. We’re going through an unprecedented time that is rife with uncertainty so I chose to look instead to the future when we can come together again and celebrate our recovery and resilience. What are your wishes for C-ID?