Personal Narrative: My Life As An African American

All throughout time people have been “the other.” Pratt refers to the other as being “Someone who is perceived by the dominant culture as not belonging, as they have been

Too black for the White kids, yet somehow too white for the Black kids, oh the perils of a cappuccino mixed race kid. But it’s true. My life since I was young, at least younger than my eighteen year old self, has been about which group do I most fit in with. Between the four school changes over the course of twelve years, all in white suburban towns I’ve molded myself into an array of characters.

I am an African American. You must be wondering what’s my name since im “black”, you might be thinking that its ghetto, right? No need to know where I came from, you must think that I come from the projects right? It’s not like it’s important to you. You probably think that my future plans are that I won’t finished high school and that I will become pregnant. One look at the color of my skin is all it takes. Right? Look again.

The worker contacted Misty Black who is a friend of Brittany Hardin. Mrs. Black stated “Brittany was in a situation where her ex (well she told me they were already broken up at the time) had assaulted her. Brittany had called me after Ronita Grady had hit her so I immediately called the police and made my way to Brittany. When I arrived the OCPD were already there speaking to Brittany. The officers also spoke to me and I told him I was the one who called them. After the police left Brittany and the boys stayed with me for a couple days because Brittany was still shaken up. The boys all seemed okay, I don’t think they really knew what had just happened. Brittany thanked me for helping her, because at the time we weren’t really speaking to

Living in Chicago in the 21st century is not a necessarily easy thing. Everyday, I live with the fear that a loved one of mines could be taken away from me at any moment. Or the fact that my life could be taken away just from walking out of my front door. I dream of going to college and making something of myself. Often, other students tell me I can not achieve my dreams because I am an African American student. I pushed and struggle so hard to prove these students wrong. Because I am African American, many people view me as just a number. And that number is 33.1%; which is the college graduation rate for Black males. I would like to be one of the many people that will increase this percent. Recently, I was given the opportunity to take part

Today was a great day, it was time for someone to make a change. Four African American college students were brave enough to start the change and they were Blair, Richmond, McCain and McNeil, they attend the same college as I do, but I don’t really talk to them as I might get caught from the professors or even my peers and can get a beaten.

Life was to challenging for a young African American boy like me. My mother always yelling at me, “Jonathan stay inside, you are more safe in here!” People tell me I am different in a bad way. But when I try to enjoy my life, I am told to leave. I can not go to many places, as they have many signs saying, “No Negroes Allowed” Or when I am able to live a normal life, I am separated and put into a certain spot. Life was very challenging, but as life went on and I went to school, I gained more knowledge on what was really happening. The whites were being biased on African Americans. They thought they were better than us, and we were the minorities. This was very unconstitutional of them. I realized that we did not have the equality rights of others.

I am an African-American male who grew up in a community that was not fortunate enough to have access to many luxuries, especially a computer science education. Seemingly in every aspect of my life, I have been the exception. Many times I was the only African-American student in my Advanced Placement courses in high school, in terms of sports I had always been the sole African-American and the shortest player on all my lacrosse teams, and progressing through school I often times was the only person out of my group of friends who wanted to do something more with the life I was given. People like me are not supposed to escape the cycle of poverty and inequality that plague the community I call home. I am not a product of the ‘projects’ or come

In life many times those who come from nothing and excel, neglect the past and forget where they have come from. Oftentimes this comes in the form of disregarding old friendships, shunning once close family members, or even publicly disowning their own culture on national news networks. When reflecting on Mr. Brown’s quote, I am reminded of my own maxim by Marcus Garvey, which states “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”. However, I say this not solely within the focus of my Black heritage, but within the context of my home town and school. As I claim the blessings that have been bestowed upon me, I make it my priority to encourage others to reach for the same, if not better. To do so, I have worked hand in hand with my principle to reform my school’s dismal college acceptance rate of 40%. However,

I put on a brave face, hiding the nervousness I truly felt. I had stepped into the building the heat felt more unbearable, whilst the slight breeze from the open windows gave some chill but it has still not helped. I stood next to the door, because it was open and the breeze that was coming from the door had calmed me. When settled my eyes scanned the crowd concluding that I was the only black women there. I felt my heart in my throat; my stomach churning, I took two deep breaths calming myself. ‘It won’t matter that you’re the only black women, your opinion matters as much as theirs,’ I told myself willing to believe it. The sound of a glass getting tapped dragged my attention to the front of the room where a woman stood holding a wine glass

​​As a young Black African American girl I looked at myself as worthless, because I didn't have certain things that other girls in my generation had. I realized that this was a serious problem because you're told at a young age, you're beautiful and to also love what God gave to you. My steps to growing were hard, but some came to e easy. The first step I tool was meeting my best friend, he will always tell me that life is to short too complain about life

I am a woman of color. I grew up in a city with 90% hispanics yet my community still has ideas that the entire world believes, white people are better. Although that was the collective thought of the city, my parents did not allow that thought to resonate in their parenting style. My parents came from El Salvador and became American citizen just before I was born. I grew up with them showing me how the world was viewed, full of race, but explaining that the concept was something my generation could push through. They believed in me and allowed me to express myself in any way. My parents understood that having multi languages and playing sports were ways of surpassing the boundary that white people have put on colored communities; so even in

I am thankful to say that I hopefully will have the opportunity to birth and rear you into a mature young man who will then flourish into a powerful, strong willed, black male. Your mother and I will chaperone you through your days of being an adolescent. Even so, the time will come when you will be forced to learn to accept yourself as a guide and move forward from that point into making your own decisions. Then from this point on, you will be in the pursuit of harnessing your manhood into what you find to believe it is meant to be. Challenges will seem to become your reality and they will have to be accepted, battled, and mastered.

Life is different for everyone. I am different than the common student in the United States. The topic I am writing deals with my experience as an african child born in the United States. I am very appreciative to be raised in the city of Columbus, especially in Dublin. Dublin is in the North-west border of Columbus. My address was not directly in Dublin but I went to Dublin City Schools due to my address being in the Dublin’s school zone. Dublin is an extraordinary place to have a family and raise your kids; it gives children opportunity. Dublin City Schools is top rated schools district and is somewhat a diverse community. Now living in Dublin I consider my self, but even so I still have to live a life away from school.

Unacceptable asking whether I was white or black? MIXED RACE? Are you mixed with something? I would respond by saying "YES!! With Confusion, " I am standing there staring like what would be your reasons for asking these hurtful questions? Already frustrated and filled with animosity dealing with this type conduct was like being in middle of a river in a canoe with no paddles or car that lost its engine. Evidently asking me all those questions didn't help matters,