In 2015, when I was beginning my PhD in New Zealand, I was hit by a car while crossing the street. Instead of receiving any reparations, the police mangled my statement to show that I was equally at fault for what happened, ignoring key parts of my testimony (like the fact that I the driver stopped when I held up my hands and screamed, only to drive straight into me). I used this experience to write about institutional racism in New Zealand, and how people of colour carry a lingering trauma from having their rights routinely ignored in white settler states. This essay was rejected several times before finding a home with Another Chicago Magazine, thanks to Sandi Wisenberg, who helped me make this essay the best it could be with her astute edits. Read the full essay here.
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