"Making Space for All Ways of “Seeing”

How our different perspectives enrich democracy and make our world beautifully diverse

Reflection from Arielle del Rosario, Associate Director: Making Space for All Ways of "Seeing" - A powerful exploration of what it means to lead with authenticity in a pluralistic democracy, informed by their Filipino American identity.

My spouse has color blindness. There are moments when he thinks an orange flower is green, or when he has to explain he only sees the red in a stop sign because he knows it’s “supposed” to be red. When I ask if he wants to try colorblind-correcting glasses, he says, “No, because the world is beautiful the way I see it.” 

This notion reminds me how important it is to recognize that our brains can engage with the same object or reality and interpret it in vastly different ways. It’s fascinating—and essential—to share these differences and to realize that our bodies, identities, and lived experiences shape how we navigate the world.

Educating for democracy rests on this very understanding: you see the world differently, and it’s important to share that so I can better live alongside you. If I don’t understand that my spouse Jimmy can’t tell the difference between the blue and purple folders, I can’t communicate clearly. So instead, I say: “Get the folder on the left.” The point is not for me to live his experience, but to honor his way of seeing the world—and to use that knowledge to build a more inclusive, shared reality.

He identifies as white and midwestern, and I am Asian—Filipino, to be exact. When I see a new musician rise who is part Filipino, or when Trader Joe’s begins carrying ube ice cream, or when I struggle to explain why it’s painful to have a stranger assume I’m a nurse—it matters that he tries to understand those implications for me and provide support. Historically, I believe Filipinos have thrived culturally in America due to a mix of factors: the legacy of American rule causing many to have English language fluency, a culture that demonstrates deference for authority, a propensity to assimilate, and diasporic movements in pursuit of tapping overseas wealth. These factors echo across many Asian diasporas and have contributed to the myth of the “model minority”: compliant, professional, economically successful—and quiet.

As someone with Asian and Filipino identities in the field of civic engagement and in the “business” of making change for social good, these cultural tensions and expectations have always caused dissonance for me. What do I contribute in spaces where I don’t see others with similar lived experiences? Where do I step in—or step back—when the models for leadership don’t look like me? Who teaches me how to lead when the path isn’t clearly marked or expected for someone who holds my identities?
There are no universal answers. But I return to one universal truth: my perspective matters. It matters in building a society for people similar to me and those who are not because this is the heart of a pluralistic democracy: not only being seen, but being understood and valued.

It has been incredibly powerful to witness contemporary Asian American civic engagement leaders rise like Eric Liu of Citizen University, Jahnavi Rao of New Voters, and our very own Jason Vadnos here at Pericles; and organizations like AAPI Vote and the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD) doing critical work. Filipinx leaders like Nadinne Cruz—who served on Project Pericles’ founding Board of Advisors and now has a Campus Compact award in her name—have shown what it means to bring one’s full self, heritage and all, into public work.

My grandparents, parents, and their siblings lived through martial law and witnessed a people’s revolution toward democracy. These weren’t abstract political movements. They were deeply personal. They taught me what it means to hunger for freedom and to believe—sometimes against all odds—that democracy is possible when people show up together. Around the dinner table, stories weren’t often told aloud—but they live in my marrow, as I navigate my own civic journey in America. America is my community now. And I am committed—to a greater, more inclusive American society and higher education experience.

That commitment began in college, where I first learned the language of belonging, cultural difference, and identity highly influenced by my experience as a Bonner Leader.  I recognized the feeling of being seen, of being invited to connect personal history to public purpose. Higher education became the space where my identity as an Asian American could fully inform my understanding of leadership—where I first discovered that my story wasn’t peripheral, but vital. It’s no surprise that high-impact practices like common intellectual experiences, diversity/global learning, and community-based learning are at the core of building not just critical thinkers, but lifelong engaged citizens. Paralleling my own commitments–Periclean institutions also carry these same core beliefs within their curriculum and campus experiences.
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Just as I make space for my colorblind husband’s perspective, I believe we must make space for all perspectives. We may live in the same world, but we perceive it differently. And, the world is beautiful precisely because we each see it differently. Higher education, at its optimal state fulfilling its public promise to advance societal good, creates these learning opportunities to for all people to thrive in diverse, dynamic communities—and I am proud to support this endeavor through Project Pericles.