Adopt a Quilt
It has been 15 years since the raid in El Monte
There were 72 garment workers
Only five stood audaciously in front of the City Hall
Reminiscing how they have survived
Through the smiles in their eyes
Seeing their stories being televised and honored
Their hands tightly griped the quilt they have sewn
Commemorating their liberation in 1995.
It has been 15 years, yet words of ignorance still lingers
among the mouths of 1st generation aristocratic Thai business owners
Criticizing the garment workers
“They are unappreciative of their employers”
“At least it’s better than working in Thailand”
“They are lying and have shamed our Thai Community”
Denying the worker’s testimony of working 10 hrs a day
Getting paid only $7 dollars a month
“People invested in these illegal immigrants,
They needed to confiscate the passport incase the workers runaway!”
Excuses, lies, and illogical justification
Grants them the right to keep yapping
Without guilt
It has been 15 years,
Sutjai is a survivor
attending therapy session with C.A.S.T every week
working as a massage therapist.
She is a mother of two daughters
A grandmother of two grandsons
No deception
No scandal
No one’s word
Could ever deny
Her truth.
It has been 15 years
She looks back and never regret
Speaking out on behalf of the garment workers
demanding her rights as a human being
Believing and praying for justice
To smile again with hope
She would stand here 15 years later
A woman free of captivity
