 Hi everyone, my name is Arsima and I am an SFPL Yell Intern and I will be hosting this video project and I will pass it to my peers who will also introduce themselves. Hi, my name is Winnie and I am one of the SFPL 2021 Yell Interns. Hello, my name is Julianne and I'm one of the SFPL's 2021 Yell Interns. Everyone, my name is Kelly. I am a 2021 SFPL Yell Intern. So for this next question, we will show you guys our character Rain. Rain is our success story. They are our ideal narrative. They are the type of life we want to achieve. Rain is someone who looks just like us, but leads a very different life. Here is Rain. Hi, I'm Rain. I'm 16 years old and I'm born and raised in San Francisco, California. My parents are both immigrants who came to the United States looking for a better life. They worked hard and were able to provide a home for me and my siblings. They came to this country with little money in their pockets and worked their way up into the middle class. My hometown has many interesting sites from the Twitter building to countless fellow shops to the Golden Gate Bridge. My family has always had a roof over our heads and food to eat on our table. I came up to my parents as non-binary and they accepted me with open arms. We go to Pride every year together and I'm not ashamed of that part of myself. I live in one of the greatest cities in the world. We have so many opportunities and programs to help people like me. Our liberal government cares about the well-being of all residents in San Francisco. I have access to an abundant of resources at my disposal. I feel safe through every street I walk in. I have a network of support I can rely on at all times. Thank you so much for listening to my story. Now we will be interviewing the creators of Rain. I do see a lot of myself in Rain, so I center our identities and I'm also a young person of color. And I think what really separates me from Rain is that they are like I said before, this sort of ideal they were able to achieve this unachievable notion of an American dream, although definitely more updated and more specific towards what we think of the American dream in California. And they were able to sort of access these resources and be in this really comfortable position that a lot of my peers and me personally as well have not been able to access or really achieve. And I think that it's really saddening because we see California as this place that's sort of very inclusive and it's for all different types of people, but we don't really get that support. Rain to me is an individual that shares a lot of like a lot of hope and a lot of happiness. And that's something that our team really wanted to portray in this video and illustration. I relate to Rain as a young queer person of color living in San Francisco who also comes from immigrant background. When we were first building Rain's character, we were really focused on how do we portray a person that a lot of young queer folks wish that they could be, look up to or even relate to. And to me, I think this kind of correlates to Rain's iconicness because, you know, them being able to be self expressive to the way that they wear their hair, do their makeup, wear their clothes, etc., have pride with their identity and be so in tune with themselves. I think that that comes with a lot of privilege. A key thing is a lot of people don't have the things that Rain does, such as a support system or family that can uplift them and support them in their journey of self identity. My opinion on Rain, I think Rain is actually really cool for going through all the social norms, going through just what society puts you through as someone who's a non-binary or going through changes. I think that was really inspiring and how I identify with Rain. I have a family who's actually really supportive of me and very loving. And I'm really grateful for that. They're always supportive of me with everything I do. And they're just there for when I need them. So, yeah. Rain to me is like a rainbow. They hold this special, colorful and strong energy within them, which further motivates me to want to try and gain the same confidence, strength and pride and optimism that they constantly radiate. And I can identify with Rain through their parents' immigrant backgrounds because as I previously mentioned, I myself am a Filipino immigrant. And I know my parents also sought for more opportunities in America, just like Rain's parents did. And Rain's parents are also truly hardworking, which I can connect with because my mother has also been continuing to strive at work as a frontliner and even throughout this entire pandemic to support our family. And I think one message I'd like to spread is that, you know, you're not alone in this. A lot of people want to have sort of Rain's experience and will never stop wanting to have Rain's experience, but majority of us don't and there is strength in numbers. One message I want to share with you all is no matter who you are, no matter where you're from and no matter what experiences you have, don't let hate take over you. Fight for justice, fight for love, fight for equality and fight for humanity. One message that I want to let everyone know is that San Francisco is really much of the exceptional place or paradise that many people perceive it as on the outside, because there are many serious and real issues like the ongoing gentrification and over-sexualization among the streets or hidden within its households. And all the Rain's story of living in San Francisco is purely fictional and unfortunately unrealistic for many. I believe that we, including you, who is currently watching this, can help make Rain's story become a reality through doing impactful things, including spreading awareness about the ongoing issues such as gentrification and speaking up against acts of oversexualization. I hope that we can use our voices to create the change that we need to because I believe that adequate housing is a vital life essential that everyone should have access to and teenage girls need to stop being over-sexualized, not just in our city, but also in the media and elsewhere in the world.