What's Her Story: Identity Crisis

If someone were to ask you how you identify, what would you say? All my life I have considered myself to be African American. I identified as someone who was a descendant of slaves, and who had ancestors in Africa. I felt that in my soul. Traveling to different countries in Africa became a main part of my bucket list. Imagine my confusion when I began tracing my genealogy looking for that distant African relative, but I didn't find one. Not to say there aren't any at all, but so far I have only found a hidden heritage. I found many native Americans in my family. This caused me to question my identity in a serious way.

I do believe that as black people in America, it is drilled into us that all of our ancestors came from Africa. For me, it always made me feel that Africa was my home, instead of America. It made me feel that I am just living in a land that doesn't belong to me, and doesn't want me here. Without knowing exactly where we come from, I do think that many of us are suffering from an identity crisis. Our history has been hidden from us, so we are lost in a lot of ways.

This journey of finding myself has been the most eye opening experience I have ever had. I know that it is not over. I plan to continue searching for the missing pieces as long as it takes.