Indriana (Ina) Demers - December 2022

Teacher, Portland Reiche School;
Interpreter, Catholic Charities Maine

For Indriana (Ina) Demers, thinking — and looking — different has been second nature since she came to Maine from Indonesia 25 years ago. A teacher and interpreter, she is passionate about helping new generations of newcomers. “I serve the students, especially the parents who are also in need, to learn English and be able to hold their heads up. My main mission is to help immigrants be able to live here with pride and be respected and recognized for their contribution.” Having come to America in search of freedom of speech, she’s often found herself struggling to enjoy that freedom: “Looking like this, if I speak up, sometimes I would be perceived as being aggressive, not assertive.” She has been calling out racism whether she sees it at a graduation ceremony or in the preamble of the Maine Democratic Party. “As an Asian woman, and old, that doesn’t sit well with people sometimes, because they feel that I can’t do anything anymore. But I think they’re wrong. I’m a lady but I’m a fighter.” Ina recommends visiting Adila Muhammad’s Third Place (@thirdplaceportland), a collaborative and coworking suite for Maine’s Black community of professionals, community builders, and entrepreneurs, and reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo: “Everything is possible, but it will take a lot of people getting together.”