Shonekan, S: Race and the American Story

"I didn't know I was Black until I came to the United States. The journey to my personal understanding of Blackness has been long and rife with pain and passion, excitement and exasperation. The fact that the facets of my identity seem to stretch across the Diaspora--Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States--means that this journey has not been straightforward. It has been treacherous, with many frustrating moments when I was not sure how much lower my self-esteem could go. But it has also been exceedingly rewarding as I stumbled upon new paths to convert each disappointment into an opportunity to grow and become more confident in who I was. Sometimes, that has meant becoming overzealous in my own self-affirmation, the tone of my voice taking on a sharper edge as I explained to others why pride in Blackness was a requisite characteristic of any kind of Black progress. But I justify that stridence by thinking of the dearth of encouragement from sources that are not bothered by the profundity of Blackness--including the educational system, popular culture, and mainstream media. The bitterness that comes with the construction of race as a state of being and the making of racism as a behavior and attitude can be tasted potently in the New World. It takes a fundamental encounter with whiteness for one to truly appreciate the meaning of Blackness. However, a picture of tribalism and ethnic tensions is vividly displayed in the midst of Blackness, in the heart of Africa. So my story has been a two pronged journey through tribalism and racism"--