Angela Dimayuga, executive chef at Mission Chinese Food, could have quietly turned down a request for interview from IvankaTrump.com. But she knew her response could be an opportunity to talk about something bigger. "I read the request while I was expediting service, and I nearly screamed," she told ELLE.com of the request from writer Adi Heyman to spotlight Dimayuga as a "strong female entrepreneur" on Ivanka Trump's lifestyle website. "I knew that it needed my full attention, so I waited until after the weekend to get back to her. I knew I definitely wanted to say something."
So she started brainstorming.
She reached out to her friend Shakirah Simley, an activist who works in food justice, about the ways she could use this opportunity. "We worked on some ideas, there were so many angles! I could either go the 'thanks, but no thanks route' or use the opportunity to speak my mind. I went with the latter. I felt lied to—I wanted to disagree with her statement that '[IvankaTrump.com] is a non-political platform to empower women' and do it graciously in disparaging the brand and not the writer."
In her response, Dimayuga gracefully spoke of the damage the Trump administration is doing to marginalized communities. "I realized it was really important to ID myself, to remind her of who I am and the communities IvankaTrump.com, their family, and the Trump administration affects on the micro and macro level," she said. "I wanted to say a little something, and was given the opportunity to speak."
It now has nearly 1,200 likes on Instagram, and almost 200 comments, mostly of support. She said a friend even shared it with their family at their Passover Seder. "I'm not surprised at the reaction I'm getting," she said. "People, especially in marginalized communities are feeling more encouraged to speak and have their voices and narratives heard, and we all want to hear from them. We are beginning to be both more willing to share with no bullshit, and at the same time learning how to be better listeners."
