Jamar Jones- Blog #2: Finding YOUR From Place

            I think the process of simply knowing thyself will be a continuous work in progress and it is never an easy thing. I always loved the saying, “in order to know where you are going, you must know where you came from.” It’s kind of funny to think about, because how many of us actually know where we are from…because I sure don’t. I have always lived in Richmond, VA, but I don’t know much more beyond that tidbit and where my mother and father’s families originated. Our exercise in class when everyone began to discuss where they were actually from made me start questioning who all of my ancestors were. My knowledge only goes back as far as one great-great grandmother I am aware of. I don’t know how accurately any of us can claim where we are from because when you stop and think about how much history there is behind one person who knows where any of us are from? The best assumption I can make is that I am an American who has a lot of other pieces to his make-up.

            In watching Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 it was interesting to see how many different types of people were affected by the Rodney King case. All of these people represented different social classes and racial backgrounds yet they were all affected by the same thing and concentrated in one area. I pondered throughout the performance who were the people Anna Deveare Smith portrayed and what their individual stories were. I realized that while these people were from different places they were places they were representative of Los Angeles at a pivotal moment in history. The city was torn by the legal system and by riots, and the people were emotional. I think because there were groups representative of so many different cultures the impact was so much stronger. People bring who they are and where they are from to new destinations all the time. Twilight shows how such a difficult period of time also shifted and restructured a community. I think the variation in individual’s nationality is highly complicated but necessary.

            Finding where you are from is a challenge, but it can really help you move forward to where you want to go. I think there is a great power in blended nationalities because even though all of our nationalities are unique as you live there is no way that they won’t become blended because of basic interactions with others. I think we are from everywhere.