ABOUT ME
My name is Pearl Low | 劉寶珠 and i'm a non-binary Story Artist, Comics Artist, Writer and Illustrator of Cantonese and Jamaican Descent.
I was born and raised on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations or so-called "Vancouver BC", and now I am currently settled on unceded Tongva land (Los Angeles).
Ever since I can remember, I've always wanted to speak Cantonese. Cantonese is my heritage language spoken on my mother's side, and it was something I grew up around all my life. Cantonese was never taught to me -- as a result of generational trauma, assimilation, anti-Black racism etc.-- and I always wished there was a resource I could pull from, to start my own journey of reconnecting with the language.
Cantonese Connection is my way of carving out space for my learning journey, for someone who exists at the many intersections that I do. I hope that I can also create space for you to join me in this adventure, and learn not only something about Cantonese culture, and the language, but perhaps about yourself too.
Thank you for visiting.
INTENTIONS
I'm going to be completely transparent here:
I am a beginner at Cantonese, and I fully lean into that.
There are lots of cultural expectations that come with Cantonese culture, and one of them that's quite common is Excellence. Perfection, you could even say.
But the thing is, it's hard to excel at something when you have a complicated history and relationship with learning Cantonese, and trying to take up space in places that are often gatekept.
So in this space here, my intensions are to create an open, safe, supportive and encouraging environment, as much as I can! That means including Queer language! That means including Black folks like me! This includes making mistakes and finding our ways through obstacles to make it to the other side, as well as sharing our stories with one another.