African American

One of my former 7th graders posted something on Facebook that really struck home with me. The post said, "To be African American is to be African with no memory and American with no privilege."

What a duality to live in. Both "to be and not to be" at the same time.

Is this like multiplication where something times zero equals nothing times two? [(1x0)2 = 0] = African American?

It's been suggested that I do one of those DNA profiles for Black people to find out where I'm from. However, learning about your culture is different than knowing your culture. Learning about it different than breathing its air, the smell of familiarity and the comfort of its warm embrace. Somehow, it would still seem like cultural appropriation to take on these characteristics. They are original to me but not original to me at the same time. Can I claim this as my own?

I have always been on the marginal aspects of society. I am Brown (but told I act white), I am Woman, I have Disability; no one wanted me around. No one wanted to claim me as one of theirs (not even within my own family). Do I even have the right to put on the clothes of these cultures so foreign to me? Will I be considered another outcast because I do not fit that mold quite right either? Do I want to subject myself to the possibility?

I don't think I do.

But would I gain a power I didn't know existed? Would I be able to claim a strength completely unknown to me? Can I successfully claim this unknown culture to be my very own? Will I understand its nuances and innuendo like a "native" born sister?

Will it turn it's back on me?