"Rise"

"Be yourself," they say, I know
But does this apply to the American disowned?
People help themselves and go
Is this why it’s easy to feel so alone?

And I’ve seen it too many times and it hurts
The sacrifices made to a country cursed

When the land of the free leaves you feeling betrayed
And the Dream you’ve dreamed is a galaxy away
And everything that you’ve ever known
Has scarcely made you feel at home

It’s hardest to hold onto where you’ve been and who you are
Love your broken body, see the beauty in your scars
And piece the world together and make it your own
Lift your head up higher and make yourself known

People like her should be caught, should be hurt
People like him are inferior
People like me should go back to their country
Even though I’ve been here since my birth

And I’ve seen it too many times and it hurts
The sacrifices made to a country cursed

When the land of the free leaves you feeling betrayed
And the Dream you’ve dreamed is a galaxy away
And everything that you’ve ever known
Has scarcely made you feel at home

It’s hardest to hold onto where you’ve been and who you are
Love your broken body, see the beauty in your scars
And walk a little faster to leave the words behind
Speak a little louder to push against the tide

And maybe we can give the world one more chance
Hope for the Dreamer who listens at last

And finally
Lifts their knee
And turns the key
To liberty

Yeah, it’s hardest to hold onto where you’ve been and who you are
Love your broken body, see the beauty in your scars
And every day’s a battle, but we’ll fight till the end of time
Till Lady Liberty sees her people rise
Rise
Rise

In writing “Rise,” I chose to address the essential question: “How do I reconcile my own truth with the existence of other simultaneous (perhaps even contradictory) truths?”

As a person of color who grew up in predominantly white institutions, I found it difficult in the past to stay true to myself—especially throughout middle school and early high school. Because I was always surrounded by mostly white peers, I felt like my appearance and my family’s culture weren’t “normal” and felt the constant need to “prove” my Americanness. As a result, I pushed away my Asian identity and attempted to change myself to assimilate to my white peers as much as I could. My assimilation resulted in a drop in confidence, a loss of identity, and a sense of confusion and isolation from both my peers and my family.

When I finally learned to love my racial and ethnic identity and saw the beauty in my own culture, I understood for the first time what it means to truly “be yourself”—a phrase that I mentioned in “Rise” along with the confusion that comes with it for people of color who are encouraged to assimilate in America. In order to reconcile my own truth with the existence of other truths, I must not give in to internalized oppression by pushing away my own culture and assimilating to the dominant culture just to feel accepted—even though it can be challenging. I mentioned this challenge in the song with the lyrics: “It’s hardest to hold onto where you’ve been and who you are / Love your broken body, see the beauty in your scars.” It is also important to bounce back from discrimination and work to make change: “And walk a little faster to leave the words behind / Speak a little louder to push against the tide.”

Throughout the song, I alluded to some of the metaphors and motifs that Ta-Nehisi Coates uses in Between the World and Me (like the “Dream,” the “galaxy,” and the “body”) because I found them especially powerful and poetic. Ultimately, my goal was to make the song uplifting and to inspire people to take action, so I ended it in a major key, with a call for continued resistance and the image of hope represented by Lady Liberty.