Who am I? It’s a question I have struggled to answer since I came out the womb. Of
course I’m a human, a female to be more specific, and my skin is brown. But what does that
mean? Who do I identify with? I have struggled to answer these questions for most of my life
and I only recently came to terms with my identity. Both of my parents were born and raised in
Ethiopia, but later moved to Sweden due to political unrest in the country. They met there and
got married, and were blessed with the presence of their second child: Marta Kiros. When I was
1 years old we moved to America, so it’s safe to say I know very little about what life was like in
Sweden. America is where I learned how to walk, talk, run, play, and grow as any other child
would. But for some reason, I never felt at home. I never felt like I mixed well with everyone. The
life I had at home was so different than the life presented to me at school, and soon enough I
became ashamed of my Ethiopian heritage. Kids who looked “African” at school were often
made fun of so I asked my parents to only speak English in public so no one would know.
Even though I spoke English fluently and was well accustomed into American culture,
things didn’t feel right. I was labeled as too “White” for the most of the Black kids and too “Black”
for White kids. Being stuck in this middle ground was confusing and pretty harmful for my self
confidence. Even though I had plenty of friends at school, I never felt truly accepted because I
hadn’t even accepted myself. As time went on, social media platforms such as Twitter exposed
me to thousands of other Africans just like me. I was finally exposed to people who experienced
the same feelings of loneliness and confusion because we came from different backgrounds.
Over time, it became easier for me to claim and identify myself as an Ethiopian and I began to
do extensive research about my country and its history. I realized that I am lucky to even have a
culture, and surrounding myself with other Ethiopians has definitely helped me gain more pride
in my country.
Fast forward to this past summer: I was fortunate enough to visit Ethiopia for second time and
my I was left in awe. The thought of there being a whole different side of the world is still mind
boggling to me. After meeting so many family members and visiting so many historic sites, I
realized how selfish I was in being ashamed of my culture and background. By attempting to
erase that part of me, I was erasing the hundreds of family members I have back home, the
fierce bravery of my ancestors who fought for Ethiopia to be the only African country to never be
colonized, and the love for community that is so strong there.
Even now, I still don’t feel 100% Ethiopian, American, or Swedish, but I have learned to
embrace every side of my background, especially my Ethiopian heritage. My culture, food, and
language is so beautiful and I would encourage everyone to dig deeper into their own. The
mixture of our backgrounds is what makes America great, so I will never let anyone convince
me that I have to let go of my Ethiopian culture to become a true “American”. Embracing my
background has helped me learn so much about myself and I have met so many wonderful
people through the process. I hope everyone can one day come to terms with their heritage
while respecting and appreciating other cultures as well.
27 comments:
I really enjoyed your piece. I liked the use or rhetorical questioning at the beginning because those are very important question that I, myself are still struggling to figure. I think that this topic is one that many can relate to especially because we are teenagers in a world that is hard to "fit into". I'm greatly motivated to learn about my own identity and cultural values.
It made me laugh when you said, "blessed with the presence of their second child: Marta Kiros", I love you Marta! This was an amazing piece that I can definitely relate to, because it was incredibly difficult to find beauty in myself and in my culture. It makes me so happy to know that you have found your peace and have learned to take pride in where you come from. Thank you for sharing!
Your parents weren't the only ones blessed with you, but your friends too(: and others who read this! Reading this made me feel more enticed to connect more and have more knowledge of my culture and parents' backgrounds. I enjoyed reading this and understanding how your connection to your culture has developed over time.
This piece seemed very well organized and had a clear message. Being proud of where you come from is harder for some than others, but I am glad that you came to embrace your Ethiopian heritage. I really enjoyed this piece and appreciate how sincere it was and how meaningful this topic is to you. Great work!
I loved your piece Marta! You displayed your emotions well on the surface of your story by using imagery and diction throughout the piece. The structure of your story made it easy for the reader to follow and fully enjoy your piece. You did a great job of writing an inspirational story with a wonderful message that we can all learn from. Great job!
I can relate when you say you didn't really fit in with the kids at school because I, too, was seen as too "white" for some groups and too "Black" for others. It's hard to find that common ground when you're not even sure of yourself yet, but I'm glad you were able to finally embrace that part of your identity. I appreciate you including the important point of accepting our culture, but making sure not to degrade others' in the process because I think this is a prevalent problem in modern society. I enjoyed reading about this aspect of your identity, great job!
Amazing and inspiring piece Marta! As a Filipino, I can relate as a kid because I always thought I wasn't "American" enough but as I grew older I learned to embrace the greatness and wonders of my own culture. I love how you encourage others to embrace the significance of their own culture as well! Thank you for sharing your enlightening story:)!
Your story line was amazing and finally accepting who you are as a person is one of the greatest qualities anyone can have because it leads to confidence. You shared such a meaningful piece that was funny, inspirational, and full of hope. It makes me happy to know that you are not phased by what goes on at school nor the hateful comments from people. Thank you for sharing such an amazing piece!
Wow Wow Marta this was such a relatable and enjoyable piece. It was great to have a little insight into your life. We have a lot in common as we are both Ethiopian, and reading this makes me 10x more excited to visit Ethiopia this summer. You sense of humor made this a great piece to read. Thanks for sharing and I am glad you have come to terms with your culture elelelel
I loved this piece, and most importantly I love the confidence that radiates off of you! I can see how much you love your culture and that is something that is just so amazing to me. Your use of detail helped to make your piece unique. I especially like how you showed your own personal growth throughout the blog. A truly inspiring and great blog piece. Well done, Marta!
Marta, I loved your piece because of your telling of how much you have developed as a person going from being more reserved about your background to so proud and embracing your culture. You have also inspired me to gain more knowledge of my Japanese background to develop a greater appreciation for it than I already have.
This piece is incredible, I love the appreciation of and how you treasure your beautiful culture! You did a great job expressing your feelings and showing that you have found peace in your confidence and overall how you have embraced the real you!
This is all too true for me, growing up as a kid I was ashamed to admit I was Pakistani and even then when I tried acting like I was someone else I still felt as if I could never be completely American and that I would never fit in with anybody. Thank you for having the courage for talking about this, I also really respect and admire Ethiopians and their culture because my neighbor is from their and he's a nice guy who also taught me more about my religion. Unfortunately I haven't visited Pakistan ever but after reading this I feel more motivated to do so and I feel that it's important to embrace all sides of your heritage. Great job!
This piece was really heart-warming. As you hinted toward, many people have this type of dilemma where they are caught in between two identities that may conflict with each other. This piece gave a sort of closure to some of those people experiencing this type of problem.
I really enjoyed this piece, Marta. Your use of rhetoric questions in the beginning created a tone of confusion (if you may say) and that sense of being unable to fit in from the beginning further intensified your message. You took that insecurity and created this beautiful piece to share the importance of knowing your roots and where you come from. You were able to tell your experience vividly in every sentence through imagery and diction, and your it was very easy to follow. Good job!
Great piece, Marta! Even though I do not come from many cultures as you do, I do understand the feeling of not feeling comfortable with your culture. I grew up hanging out with friends that weren't Chinese, and I often found myself neglecting that part of me. Fortunately, I learned to embrace the amazing culture that my family comes from and I wish I could go visit my relatives! Learning the differences in cultures and appreciating each individual for who they are and where they come from is such an important aspect of life. Great Job!
Marta, this piece was amazing and so well written. The use of the rhetorical question "Who am I?" was a perfect way to intrigue readers, and the details that you provided about your feelings and emotions about yourself really gave the audience a large insight on how your culture and background effect your daily life. It was so heartwarming to see that by the end of your story you began to accept your culture and more importantly, appreciate it. This story was not only heartwarming, but it was also very inspiring to every reader and specifically those facing the same dilemma/situation as you.
This piece was really great and well-written! I liked the transition in the story and how you learned to appreciate your heritage as many other people should. This piece really helps people who are stuck between two identities and was very heartwarming as well. Great job!
This is such a beautiful piece Marta thanks for sharing. I really appreciate the order that you did your story and how you finally accepted who you were, it is were inspiring. Your story is relate able because myself I was ashamed when I was younger about my culture and who I was, but as i grew older I learned to love who I am as a person. Great work!
Amazing piece, Marta! I can really relate to your experience since this was also an issue for me since I was little. I never truly embraced my own culture only until recently. No one should ever lose their culture and where they came from. Thank you for sharing this with others and I love the advice!
Great piece! Its awesome how you've learned and grown from your experiences when you were younger to learn to embrace your Ethiopian heritage. Diversity keeps America great. 👍
Wow, this piece shows the importance of embracing our cultures and backgrounds as well as self love. I think everyone, including me, can relate to the difficulty of creating and finding ourselves. I really appreciated how personal you decided to get. Wonderful job.
This was a really good piece Marta. It's an important lesson for everyone of owning who we are. I think this piece is relatable to so many people. I like how you talked about your own experience and how you learned from it. Really nice piece, good job!!
Marta, it takes a lot of courage to speak about your discomfort and confusion of your identity. At this age, many teens have identity crisises but this piece helps all those tthat do. Thank you so much for sharing. Your writing allows your readers to find comfort in their own heritage and encourages them to dig a little deeper.
I liked your use of rhetorical questions in which I too felt as if I could question myself the same things. Emotions of confusion and distress really added to the sincerity and detail of your piece, but I loved how at the end the tone shifts to a more comforting and embracing stage where you were able to answer all those questions of your identity.
I really enjoyed this piece marta, not only because it was really telling of your background and experiences, but also because it was really easy to read it in your voice which really shows off your individuality. I myself relate to getting back in touch with my culture as you have your own, and your perspective on the embracement of one's definitive culture was well worded. I also thought it was really funny when you said your parents were blessed with your presence, don't change marta. Overall a really good piece!
I loved your piece Marta! You were so real and genuine when talking about your own heritage and culture. I especially loved the shift of trying to find not only your voice but who you were as a person into becoming the blessing that you are in your parents as well as everybody else's life. Embracing who you are and where you come from can be so hard especially in today's society because of stereotypes, racism and so much more. I love how strong you are and how you despite the circumstances we as teenagers and as a black women prevailed and are proud of who you are. Great job
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