Earlier this year, Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran deleted her Instagram following a slew of hateful comments and harassment by Star Wars “fans” which, despite prompting a fiery reaction from the cast and crew of The Last Jedi, still left the galaxy just a bit darker than it was before. Now, almost three months later, the actress has released a powerful statement about the obstacles she has had to overcome throughout her entire life, and that she “won’t be marginalized” by online harassment any longer.

In an op-ed piece for The New York Times, Tran opens up about the difficulties she has had on social media ever since her role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was revealed, and how it eventually served as a catalyst for the realization that the world, rather than her, is at fault for the shame she has felt her entire life. “It wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them,” Tran begins. “Their words seemed to confirm what growing up as a woman and a person of color already taught me: that I belonged in margins and spaces, valid only as a minor character in their lives and stories.”

Their words reinforced a narrative I had heard my whole life: that I was “other,” that I didn’t belong, that I wasn’t good enough, simply because I wasn’t like them. And that feeling, I realize now, was, and is, shame, a shame for the things that made me different, a shame for the culture from which I came from. And to me, the most disappointing thing was that I felt it at all.”

Tran later says that her abuser’s words “awakened something deep inside me – a feeling I thought I had grown out of. The same feeling I had when at nine, I stopped speaking Vietnamese altogether because I was tired of hearing other kids mock me.” She then says that she realized she had been brainwashed, and discussed her hopes for a brighter, better world to live in.

I want to live in a world where children of color don’t spend their entire adolescence wishing to be white. I want to live in a world where women are not subjected to scrutiny for their appearance, or their actions, or their general existence. I want to live in a world where people of all races, religions, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities are seen as what they have always been: human beings.”

Kelly Marie Tran’s entire op-ed can be read here.

Thoughts on Kelly Marie Tran’s powerful statement? How did you feel when you first heard that she had stepped back from social media? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news. Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed.