Kadijah Webster; Blog #2; Where am I from?

I was born in Richmond and partially raised in the small town of Hopewell, Virginia.  I say "partially" because my family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina when I was nine years old and we stayed for seven years.  I have never really identified with Raleigh as my home because my heart was never set there.  They say "home is where the heart is" and I have always identified my home as grandma and grandpa's house.  For me, there was nothing like going home on the weekend to be with my grandparents.  For my entire life, Hopewell has been my home and when we finally moved back, I'm sure I was the only one excited for the departure from North Carolina. Now I reside in Williamsburg with all of you, which feels more like home than the place I laid my head for seven years.

When it comes to nationality, I can only identify with my mother's side.  So far, I know that I am African American, part Irish, and part Cherokee.  I could call up my paternal grandmother and easily ask her of my ancestry at anytime I want, I just haven't yet.  Maybe I will one day and maybe I won't.  Maybe I'll just pay to run a trial on Ancestry.com. I guess only time will tell.

Today, we viewed some of an episode from Roots.  When slaves were brought over to unwillingly work for men, they were stripped of everything they know.  Where they were from, was a distant idea fading with time.  Kunta Kinte was forced to call himself Toby.  By no longer going by his true name, he was being pushed further away from the place that he knew as home.  You could also see the pain in everyone around him when he answered that his name was Toby.  Personally, I feel as if I was forced to give up my name given to me at birth, I would not be whole.  Where you are from and what you have gotten from that place, builds you up into a whole person overtime.

In closing, I would like to add a thought that came to mind after watching Roots, reading and watching the interview of Anna Deavere Smith, and viewing Triumph of the Will.  During decision, the idea of power of authority and belief were brought up a few times.  Briefly, the idea of words and there affect was also discussed.  Well I believe that words, whether written or spoken, have the most affect on people everywhere.  Those in authority use their words to get them to even higher places of power.  We grow up hearing words which leads us to have certain ideas and morals.  Words, along with our surroundings, have shaped us into the characters we are today.  Without words, the world would be a mess.  No one would be able to communicate their ideas to make a place better, or even worse.  Of course, the total population can come to universally use sign language, but then that'll would be a whole separate topic.

Sam Quinn Blog #1

What is a nation? Well I feel like everyone has provided some awesome answers and perspective with this first blog, and being one of the last posters means I will probably be reiterating many points. However, when I first think of what constitutes a nation, I think of the word unification. People can unite for many reasons: similar values or goals, freedom from oppression, familiarity amongst one another, or similarities shared between people. While unification does not always imply 'similarities' as a prerequisite to form an alliance/group/nation even, it can help to have a common background. In some nation's cases though, unification occurs simultaneously with independence and formal declaration of the formation of a nation: meaning that the first thing to unify residents is their linked involvement in this process, and later their role in determining the course of their nation.

Nations need many things to thrive. Usually, the first items that come to mind as requirements for a nation are a government, taxes, a defense system, laws and regulations, justice department, and marked citizens. Yet there is so much else that goes into DEFINING a nation. For example, think of all of the culture in America, or any other nation! The music, the dancing, the food, the things kids are taught to value in school, the way kids are told to act at home, the nuances behind daily interactions, holidays, and more! All of these things help distinguish nations form one another: they are what makes a country unique!

We should never forget to value these things...not only that, but we should never forget to continue to develop them, to make room for our culture to blossom, so that we can make ourselves proud of our nation.

When I went to Kenya over this past Winter Break, I saw a picture on the cover of a book titled America: 24/7. The Front cover had this photo on it:

This is America alright.

In all seriousness though, it made me wonder what we choose to emphasize about our culture, and what we make easy to stereotype about our nation. I wish sometimes we really were a melting pot, but even in our WM community I realize that this is not always the case. Nevertheless, when trying to explain what a nation is, this picture is not ideal to me when trying to describe America. I'm proud of our nation, not always, but I think we are more than blonde, blue eyed cowboys and girls--let's show the world the many sides of our nation, and the many sides to our culture. 

Brittany Liu's Blog #2 American Melting Pot

I don’t know what to call myself and from what I’ve learned from class last week I’m not sure I really need to label myself.  I guess I am multiracial, being half Chinese and the other half: German, Irish, Belgium, and Native American.  That being said I have never really felt like I fit in with any of these nationalities.  Sometimes I feel ashamed saying I am Chinese when I don’t know the language or the customs of Chinese culture.  This actually reminds me a lot of Nathan Adolfson because although he is Korean, he was raised with American traditions and did not seem to feel quite at home when he traveled to Korea.  I know this is a little different because I am not a first generation immigrant and I am not adopted, but I still do not think I would feel connected to China unless I learned more about it.   Also, based on my appearance I don’t feel “white” even though I have European blood.  Although I follow the customs of most “white” Americans I know there is more to me that I need to explore. 

However, doing the race activity in class I felt more connected than ever being an American citizen and a student at William and Mary.  Being a “bridge” and seeing the other “bridges” within our class emphasized the links we all share as human beings and as a community.  Although we have been taught for so many years to look past race, I think that distinguishing ourselves and embracing our race brought us closer together when we found the links in each other’s races that we did not expect to be present.  A striking question that was brought up in class was “when the whites stopped separating themselves?”  I believe this has come out of the idea of trying to look past race in order to accept everyone, but instead this has put up barriers of appearance.  One can’t help, but label someone by his or her appearance and if we are told to look past nationality, appearance will be the only thing left.  Instead of generalizing, we should be finding how everyone’s race is unique.  I believe this really created a community within our class last week. 

This previous half of my blog was written before we watched “Roots” and “Triumph of The Will.”  Now that I have seen these films I thought more about identity rather than nationality.  In “Roots” the young slave chose to preserve his name in face of extreme torture.  For him as a slave that was all he had left to call his own.  His name represents his heritage, his family, and his own life.  This really made me think about my own name and what it means to me.  My name is my identity and my nationality; it reveals my past and present family and it gives me pride that I would also fight to preserve.     

I Want to be Stereotyped, I Want to be Classified

This blog is largely in response to the debate in class today, January 30th, and specifically the clip from Alex Haley's Roots that we watched. In that clip, power was divided along a progression from omnipotent master to the whipped slave, with seven delineations:

1. White male Master
2. White Female Wife of Master (still property, children were not onscreen but would fit into this category)
3. White male overseer
4. Slaves that worked in the house (mostly female, but designated by finer clothes than the fieldhands')
5. Black slave overseer (the one actually doing the whipping)
6. Compliant field slaves (mixed gender, Fiddler is demoted to this position)
7. Noncompliant field slaves (Kunta Kinte)

While the brutality attached to the violence in that scene was certainly jarring, I charge that the same violence exists today, and it is only our position in relation to it which keeps us compliant and ignorant to the larger power structures at play, and in particular those who occupy the roles at the top of this hierarchy. 

Tam's response to my positioning of a racial reversal in the officers involved in the beating of Rodney King was telling. She posited two options; in an idealized world, a black police officer would not beat a black man so savagely. However, her second possibility is closer in line with the truth: it does happen and we just don't hear about it. Is the word deliberately kept out of the public eye? Why does a story which incited racial divisiveness get 24 hour airplay?

So, with our knowledge that such brutality does occur, can we posit the hierarchy of power above and see which roles the players in the Rodney King incident occupy? The King/Kinte relationship is obvious. In Roots the master is easy to identify, both by skin and by action. In King's case, naming a specific person as master is impossible, but identifying the State as the ultimate arbiter of justice in this case gives us a framework through which we can better understand. Even the woman who actually shot the tape, she can be said to mirror the assembly of slaves who are forced to watch Kinte's beating..

It is when we reach the case of the overseer that the truly interesting connections come to life. First, the linguistic connection between overseer and officer: they sound the same, and they both do the same thing. Both are positions designed to keep power concentrated in the hands of the Master/State, by the systematic seizure of the rights of the oppressed. In Roots, a black man nearly beat to death a fellow slave in front of his community, acting on the words of a white master, all of whom are controlled (to different degrees) by the ultimate master. Today, police officers shoot and maim, disenfranchise and arrest a disproportionate number of young black men, in order to keep other oppressed people (oppressed by the state, based on class/race/religion/etc) compliant and nonviolent. 

What would have happened if the slave refused to whip Kinte? What would have happened if the assembled slaves would have rebelled, and stopped Kinte's beating?

What would happen if WE refused to be passive anymore, and actively refused to continue our part in the system of oppression which is inescapable?

In closing, some words from the Teacher


"You need a little clarity?
Check the similarity!
The overseer rode around the plantation
The officer is off patroling all the nation
The overseer could stop you what you're doing
The officer will pull you over just when he's pursuing
The overseer had the right to get ill
And if you fought back, the overseer had the right to kill
The officer has the right to arrest
And if you fight back they put a hole in your chest!"

Coleen Herbert, Blog 2, Where are you from?

   I'm from the ham capital of the world, Smithfield, Virginia. My parents are Yankees. My mother is from Boston and my father is from Brooklyn. My family has strong Irish and German roots, but the focus of my ethnic education has always been centered around the Irish side of my family.
  To be honest, however, I've never felt that connected to my roots. My extended family still lives in New England. Growing up in southern culture made me feel as if it really didn't matter anyway. None of my friends were concerned with their ancestry. Being from the South was always their primary cultural identifier. You either were or were not a southerner. I identify as more of a reserved observer of southern belles, cotillions, and buck season than a participant. The Hampton Roads region showcases several different modes of southern culture. I know people who grew up in Isle of Wight and Suffolk who proudly identify as "country" or "southern" (I prefer "Kuntry," and I use the term appreciatively). Yet, I also know people who live in Newport News and Williamsburg who would never identify as Southerners. I think the High Art/Low Art dichotomy can be used to analyze why people resist being labeled as a Southerner or as someone who belongs to a rural community. The culture that I grew up with will always be foreign to my parents and lampooned by my northern relatives.  The area in which I grew up constructed my sense of community. Although almost all of my friends throughout my childhood belonged to families that had lived in the South for decades or even centuries, I never felt purposefully excluded. What I lacked was a sense of history, but I've learned that history is something that each of us can build in our own lives. It's not necessary for a sense of belonging.
  Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 is a historical document. To reference Tony Kushner, I think that the L.A. rebellion cracked history open. In fact, I think that our class viewing of the film ripped the history of our community open as well. Two decades is not a long period of time. I think that part of the reason people had  trouble accepting the artistic interpretation of the film is that we had to first accept that the events leading up to the rebellion happened. The Rodney King beating happened. The Latasha Harling shooting happened. The acquittal of the policemen who beat Rodney King happened.These are facts. Regardless as to how they are artistically portrayed, we have to first accept that our national problems and obsessions with race and class helped lead to this violence. These were also preventable losses. The racial tension in Los Angeles before the rebellion happened could have been addressed with more community discussion, much like the discussions we have in class. Fear can be restrictive, however. I was afraid to share my own viewpoints even though I know that they will always accepted by our community. I was afraid of simply saying the wrong thing, even though my fear presumes that there is a "right" thing to say instead.
   The history of the rebellion has been documented several different ways, much like the history of the South.   Some sources called the rebellion "riots". The President called the rebels a mob. N.W.A. said that 90% of the police were bad. The police offer a different story. What's troubling about the mainstream media representation of almost all rebellions is that they analyze the rebellion through a hegemonic lens. Oppression is not considered. The intersectionality of race, class, sexuality, and gender are not considered. Pieces like Twilight present the histories that we do not hear.

John Wang Blog 2

I was born and raised in the United States. My family is from Taiwan, and before that, China, and before that, Mongolia. I come from a lineage of warriors descended from Genghis Khan and before that, his ancestors. The same warrior’s blood that has flowed in my ancestor’s veins, my veins, and will flow in my son’s veins, has largely been responsible from changes in location of where my family is from. After the Mongolians conquered China, my family lived in China for a long time and owned a lot of land for many generations all the way up to WWII and then the Communist takeover of china. My grandfather was one of the last officers off the mainland and he was responsible for covering the president’s escape and escorting the president to Taiwan. My father was born in Taiwan where he was raised. My mother’s family also had fled to Taiwan in order to escape the communist takeover. After serving in the military in Taiwan, my grandparents and father decided it was best for him to immigrate to America. If my family returned to China, my grandfather would have been imprisoned and likely executed. He’s actually still a wanted man in China. America was the land of new opportunity and gave hope to be able to regain the old quality of life my family had enjoyed. My mother and her parents made a similar decision after she had finished college in Taiwan. My parents came to America and met in graduate school, got married and had my sister and me. If you ask me what nationality I am, I will say Chinese. China is my “lao jia” which roughly translates into old home and will always be where I’m “from from.” America is my home and is where I have pledged my allegiance.

Rachel Choi Blog #2 Origins

Whenever the conversation leads to origins, I always find myself saying, “Oh, I’m Korean but I was born in America.”  I don’t believe I could say I am just an American when my roots are so obvious.  There are many ways one could answer where they are from.  Geographically, I am from Alexandria, Virginia.  I grew up in Nova so I usually say I am from nova but I lived the latter part of my life in Sova.  Korea doesn’t even come into the conversation unless the other person asks me “what nationality are you.”  I am not actually from Korea, my parents are.   My parents immigrated to America from Korea 24 years ago.  I was exposed to both languages as a child, which helped me become fluent in both English and Korean.  I realized that because of my perfect English accent, not one person at William and Mary would question if I was an international student.

Growing up, during the Olympics I found myself rooting for two teams, team USA and team South Korea.  A lot of my Korean friends wondered which team I would root for and I would enthusiastically reply “Team USA of course!” “I’m an American!” But as I grew older I grew prouder of my Korean roots and started to cheer on both teams. 

In Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, origin showed to matter significantly.  As Smith navigated through countless personas, she provided the perspectives of not one but many sides of those who witnessed and lived through the riots.  The gestures, language, tone, etc. so prevalently differed from one perspective to another.  The film highlighted ethnic and racial diversity and how often times, we are suffer from prejudice and arguments surrounding these factors. 

The question “where are you from” can result in so many answers.  All of them are important in understanding and piecing together the person whom you are questioning.  Anywhere you go, you will find diversity. The term American envelops so many more people now than ever before. 

I was born and raised in America and I love my home country.  I am also from Korea and love the country that my parents were raised in.  

Jessie Dzura, Where are you going? Where have you been?

When one asks the question, "Where are you from", I automatically assume that someone wants to know what physical city I was born and raised in. To answer that question, I was born in a hospital that is 5minutes away from the house I have lived in all of my life. Richmond has become an integral part of my personality and my interests. Digging deeper into the question, I am from a small family with Northern roots. My mother was born in Massachusetts and my father was born and raised in Pittsburgh. My family loves cooking, football, and story-telling. I have been raised in the legacy of both of my parent's families. My mother's side of the family still gets together every Fourth of July to catch up and eat (badly) barbequed chicken made by the local fire department in Vermont. On my father's side, I was born into a Steeler's nation, where we bleed black and gold during the regular season. Both sides of the family have deep roots in their historical culture: my mother's family hails from England, and came over on one of the first ships to America; my father's family is VERY Czech. Many of the cooking traditions of the family come from our Czech background. This includes a love for good beer.

When asked on a college survey or test what I identify as, I would say white/Caucasian. Until our in-class exercise, I did not consider how diverse we all our (even within a white identity). For example, my family has entirely different traditions than someone who situates themselves in Irish or Spanish culture. What I found most poignant about the exercise was the connections that each of us shares with each other. Race is still heavily prevalent in our society, and is completely unfounded in its importance. We are all connected by some sort of cultural or physical heritage, we all have traditions that relate us to each other. Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 really served to identify how harmful racial discrimination can be in our society. Rather than uniting Los Angeles in support of Rodney King,  a man physically assaulted by over-vigorous cops, race served to divide and destroy the community. So when I consider where I am from, I would like to say that I am part of the Richmond community, the William and Mary community, the U.S. community, and a global community that should unite to solve the problems of today.

Victoria Olayiwola Blog #1: Deconstucting a fully Constructed Nation

LAND OF THE FREE. HOME OF THE BRAVE. OR SO THEY SAY.

It seems a very simple question: What constitutes a nation? 


But how simple a question is it? In this discussion board, I aim to answer this probing question. A question that continues to affect us as a people, as a group and as a society. A question that continues to attune and inform our understanding of the world every hour of the day. 

So what is a nation really made up from? 

Some will argue that it is people that make up a nation: People of the same feathers flock together as the saying goes. I agree I think a nation is made up by the very fact that the people who classify themselves as part of x nation feel a sense of belonging and have a shared identity. 

These people not only share a sense of identity but they also share a common purpose, customs, shared values and strive to work towards the same aim. These aims might include working towards greater economic prosperity or equity-but of course these aims are changeable depending on which society one is talking of. However the fact remains, the fact that a group of people can identify with each other and endeavor to achieve utilitarianism only further cements the view that they are a nation or striving to be one.
 
Some will argue it's a unique culture that makes up a nation: this they may say includes its food and clothing. The fact that a group of people share the same culture and can identify on the level of food and culture gives further credence to the idea that calling them a nation is not so farfetched.  For even the little things mean a lot and carry a lot of weight when we consider the construct of a nation.
 

Others will argue it's unique language, shared history and common heritage: The very fact that people can come together and identify with each other through language, adds more weight to the notion that this attribute makes up a nation. The importance of communication can never be overstressed or stated. For a language builds bridges.

 A shared history and a common heritage further binds the ties these people have in common. The fact that they share a history and common heritage and language no doubt will help solve problems because people of x nation will be able to draw on shared past experiences-they as a collective have gone through. And everyone in their midst will understand without explanation or words.  

It reminds me of a part of Roots (how convenient :) when the assumed leader of the slaves down in the decks says we are all we have let, every man must endeavor to learn another man's language, another man culture, another man's story, we must talk to one another of  about our different tribes and histories.  Here the journey from Africa to the Americas, this "leader" aimed to create and consolidate a nation. This he hoped will help them achieve their ultimate goal which was to break free. 

Nations are created for different purposes. A nation could be created to improve the lives or set interests of one group or a group of peoples.

A nation can be created for the purposes of owning and consolidating land or for the purpose of warding off unwanted terrorist activity. A nation can be created for protection or simply because the ideas and notions of the peoples on matters of life are shared.  

Nations are created for different causes and for different purposes. Nations are created at different times and are of different types-no one nation being the same as another. 

People will use different attributes to know whether they identify with a nation or not.

For me I know I identify with a nation when me and the people of that nation are able to relate whether that be on a social and political plain. At this this stage I know I am where I am meant to be. When we speak the same language and understand our idiosyncrasies; when we share the same history and the same culture and the same cultural understandings I know I am where I should be.

For me it is about feeling comfortable, it is about feeling right: at home. When you reach this mark in life you just know this is the right place for you, the nation for you. Of course different people get to this stage at different times.

Some may even be in the position of arguing that they do not identify with the culture and history they were raised in. They may say they do not share the same values with other compatriots of theirs. 

In other words they don't feel like they are part of the nation they were born into, even though they were born and raised in it. This scenario highlights that just because you are born into a nation doesn't mean it is the right nation for you. In this scenario I guess one searches for their nation by seeing which cultures they fit into and how you fit in i.e. is it their history, their language or their culture you identify with. Can you or will you be able to assimilate well?

In my case it just happens to be that I am very happy with my nation. I wouldn't change it for the world.

But maybe it is easier for me to say this given that I am a product of a nation where I am content; I give a perspective of one who is satisfied. I find it hard to relate with one who is cut off and far removed from any nation and has never identified with a nation or its unique characteristics before. There is only so much one can say to compensate for this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXFc2Q2C6nQ

(I think the film is in the right place)

Jessie Ede Blog 2 "Where Are You From?"

When people ask me where I'm from, I answer with my home state - Iowa. Sometimes. Other times, when I anticipate a comment about being far from home or just want to blend, I say I'm from Northern Virginia because my parents moved there my freshman year at William and Mary so it is where I live even if it's not where I grew up. At the beginning of elementary school, I told people I was from Arizona because that's where I had moved from, even though I was born in Iowa - just not the small town where we'd moved. The "where are you from" question always struck me as needlessly complicated - people should answer where they were born or grew up and that was that. My mom's family is exclusively from the Netherlands (as far as anyone knows, that is) and my dad comes from early American settlers of the English/Irish/Scottish type. Claiming any of those nations as where I'm "from" feels inauthentic, though, because America is the only country in which I have ever lived. Aside from an appreciation of Dutch cuisine gained from my grandmother's cooking, I don't feel any intense connection with any of the countries my ancestors immigrated from.
The first time I thought seriously about how people categorize one another based on their nationality was after talking to my boyfriend's mom. She immigrated here from South Korea in the 1980s, and came home livid after a man she was helping at work asked her, "What are you?" Her response stuck with me: "I'm a human being. What are you?" She said she doesn't mind people asking where she's from since she does speak English with a slight accent, the easiest giveaway (in my mind, at least) that she has not always lived in America, but phrasing mattered in a way I never encountered before. As a white girl from a predominately white area (the number of minorities in my school could be easily counted, and the most exotic transplants were from Minnesota), I grew up around people who were exclusively born in the United States. Asking people where they were from meant which town or state, not which country or about their ancestry. I understand it is a far more complicated question for other people, and I love hearing their perspectives because it's a vantage point into society that I just do not have.

Sarah Smith Blog 2: From Many Places, Including Here

Where am I from? I'm from the western suburbs of Chicago. That's what I say. To be frank, rarely in my life have people sought another answer from me. My hometown, my school, and my circles of friends have nearly always been predominately white, predominately American for many generations. My best friend from middle school to the present day is a first generation American who was born in England, where her Nigerian parents had immigrated for schooling and then stayed (their story has some commonalities with that of Victoria's parents) for many years before moving to the US. Her heritage was unique within our school community. I remember her explaining many times that she was African, but not an African American. Her history was Nigerian rather than American. In retrospect it doesn't seem that complicated, but as a twelve-year-old in our environment, it was a novelty.

I have always seen myself as simply American. My family does not celebrate our national heritage except for a fruitcake-like pastry called stollen that my grandmother would order from Dresden each Christmas. Most of us didn't like stollen, though, so no one really talked about it or about any related heritage. We are just, in my eyes, Americans. All of our relatives are here, and we've been in the Midwest for as many generations as are ever referenced.

I'm a religious studies major, and the Abrahamic religious tradition are where I have drawn my conception of nation. In Genesis, God promises Abraham that he will make him a great nation. Nation, a group of people with common birth, is distinct from a state, which suggests a physical location. Abraham and his descendants (i.e., his nation) were nomadic. They moved around from place to place. The Biblical nation of Israel was a people united by common birth.

While somewhere some generations back my family tree ties me to the Netherlands, Germany, and the British Isles, my nation is here. I was born here, as were my parents and my grandparents and my great-grandparents. I don't deny my heritage, and I am not ashamed of it, but I also don't cling too tightly to it and I don't feel badly about that. My heritage ties me to many peoples, but I believe that first and foremost I am an American. For much of my life I felt badly about that, bored of my deep-seated American identity, and envying the wealth of cultural traditions a few of my friends' families held. That ill-feeling has been changing in recent years, and particularly this summer through my work with a refugee resettlement organization outside of Chicago. Refugees leave their home countries not by choice but because of oppression. Many of them are resettled here, in the United States--which I claim as my nation. It struck me that I am fortunate enough to call this place home, this place that others flee to out of their oppression. That is a blessing and I am grateful. Over time, and through the generations, the web of people from foreign places ties itself together here: new births connect us to each other, so that while we come from many places we also share this nation. I think it is good to know where we come from, but that should not trivialize where we are now and who we share it with.

A few years ago, my friend who I mentioned above chose to become an American citizen. She loves her Nigerian heritage, but she also appreciates the United States and has been active in advocacy since gaining citizenship. Both her heritage and her present are significant. While we spent time in class debating whether one woman should or should not have played the many roles in Twilight, I thought the portrayal was powerful because it connected people who might otherwise seem entirely disconnected. We may have all once come from different places, but we also come from here, from this nation, and, cliche as it sounds, I believe that links us together.

Tenille J. Blog 2

I was born in Trinidad and Tobago which is a Caribbean country off the coast of Venezuela. I lived there with my family for a couple of years before I moved to the United States – I was really young when I left. Trinidad is an interesting place because it is extremely diverse due to its history of colonization and slavery. There you will find a blend of Spanish, African, European, Indian, and indigenous influences and culture that all come together to create the island vibe that is Trinidad and Tobago today. Despite my mixture of Indian, Danish, Polish, and French, my nationality is West Indian (or Trinidadian to be exact).

Although I have lived in the United States the majority of my life, I mostly associate myself with my nationality. Reflecting on it now, I believe this is done as a reflex; throughout my entire life I’ve had to deal with the “what are you?” and “where are you from?” questions. This prompt is interesting to me because when people ask where I’m from and I say Virginia, the second question that usually follows is “No, where are you FROM?” because clearly, being the brown skinned Virginian automatically makes me a target for those kinds of questions :) I don’t mind it at all, in fact, I love those questions! I’m very proud of where I’m from and Trinidad is a pretty small island so many people aren’t very familiar with my country - it’s a great way to exchange culture and learn about people. I would rather tell you what I am than for you to assume what I’m not. And I’m not Mexican, Puerto Rican, or mixed (who are also equally cool and amazing!).

What does bother me is when I tell people where I’m from and they don’t believe me because I’m not black! Excuse me.....what? Unless you have done extensive research on T&B's racial demographics followed by a dissertation on the current racial background of Trinidad and Tobago (or any nationality for that matter), I think it’s rather ignorant and lazy to base your findings on perception or what you think something is.  That’s why I loved the exercise that we did in class the other day because I learned something new about perception and was relieved of  my own ignorance of what I thought people could or couldn’t be for that matter. Knowledge is power!