Personal Narrative: True Black

Growing up as an african american male it was hard to identify my character throughout my educational career. At a very young age my dad alway wanted me to succeed in life, but in the back of my mind I always thought “ Am I really cut out to becoming successful”. I grew up in a culturally diverse suburban area. Growing up in the suburban area I made unbreakable bonds that will forever exist.

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

I identify myself as a seventeen year old African American female. I was raised in Washington D.C. in a 5 family member household. I went to an elementary school with Latino and African American students. My mother is from Sierra Leone in West Africa and my father is from Washington D.C. Growing up i was taught to be proud of my heritage and my dark skin tone. My parents taught me that black is beautiful .Contrary in television ads and TV shows they only portray caucasian females as beautiful and smart and African American females as lower class , unintelligent and urban ghetto. While growing up I’ve learned that black features like having a big nose or big lips were seen as unappealing and badlooking but recently there have been trends

I am a spoiled rich kid. I live in an upper middle class town located in one of the prosperous countries in the world. I attend to a competitive school with qualified teachers who care about their students. I have seemingly endless opportunity to participate in my community or gain experience in a job. I have fair skin, living in a world where is being Caucasian is advantageous.

“I'm stuck between who I am, who I want to be, and who I should be.” - Unknown

Every person identity with their known heritage. For myself, I identity myself as African American or black because that is what I have been told for a young age I should identity with. I am envious of everyone who can trace their heritage back and proudly pronounce their ethnic group instead of using a generic term for their racial group. For example, my supervisor is Spanish and German but raised in France. The scenic designer is Portuguese and English. Lastly, an assistant stage manager is British but was raised in American.

I have been taken by rival a tribe from my homeland and since sold to outsider white men. I have done no wrongs in my lifetime. I have served an honest life doing my upmost to provide for my family and tribe. Now, I find myself restrained in this horrific place. I am laying in not only my own feces, but the feces of nearly 100 others. I am restrained to the floor of this boat with many others that look very similar to me, yet I cannot understand them. The man to my left will not stop sobbing and speaking in what sounds like gibberish to me. Every so often he gets so enthusiastic with his sorrows that one of the white men comes down and beats him within an inch of his life, he too yelling in a language I do not

Is it worth being tracked by dogs to become a free person? I am a black woman I've

Starting on my mother’s side of the family, I will start with her mother background. My great grandmother, was black, and as far as we know he parents were black as well. However, my great-great grandmother, the mother of my great grandfather was Panamanian and my great-great grandfathers, the father of my great grandfather had a Panamanian mom and a Spanish Indian and Jamaican father. My great grandfather however called himself a British subject, he was born in Panama however lived in the British west indies. My great grandfather followed his aunt to Boston because allegedly his mother died giving birth to a younger sibling and his father remarried and the step mother and my great grandfather were unable to get along. Therefore, my grandmother would be considered

Most people would look at my tall, slender frame of African American descent and assume what my most favorite food items are. The majority of people probably think that my daily meal consists of crispy fried chicken, collard greens, and to top it off would be an oven-baked sweet potato pie. Well, they have sadly mistaken because when it comes to food I sometimes tend to step out of the conventional image of my people. My favorite foods-pecan pie, spaghetti, sushi-accurately expresses my personality.

”Take off your hoodie, open your pockets, and don't move, be still cause I saw you steal that.” If your are a black male or any color but white, Then your chances of hearing that are way higher because of the color of your skin. Unfortunately that happen too me,this Summer.

AC/DC’s “Back in Black” blared over the weight room’s speakers as I first sized up a dull iron bar. Staring straight ahead at the blank white wall, time slowed down. I racked my brain trying to recall what I had seen the lifters around me do. Phil, our weight room coach, commanded me, “Get over the bar.” I inched closer to the weight, toes beneath the bar, and attempted to lift it first off the ground, and then up on top of my shoulders.

I stay in the south so I really experience racism a lot in my lifetime from a business standpoint and just everyday living. I remember when I was in junior high school, and a white teacher saw some black kids fighting and she said, “I just don’t understand these black people”, which she didn’t think no one heard her, but people still overheard her through all the commotion that was going on at the time. The teacher had a meeting with the principal and got suspended, but I think she shouldn’t have taught at the school anymore. I have endured racism from my own race as well because I been in grocery stores and I’ve seen black employees tell white customers thank you and come again after they have paid for their groceries, but after I pay for

Dixie: I would like to take the speaking part about color and song that we choose as a group. That leaves to things for Nicole to cover. I like your idea about wearing the same color of clothes if it works out. I would like to hear Nicole insight too. We could all pick our own color I don’t think that we would have to have just one color. What is your thought on this?

As the gun goes off, I almost simultaneously burst out of the running blocks, exploding into a sprint. My adrenaline is pumping as I come up close onto another girl in my race. It was overwhelming just being at the state track meet, let alone running in the 4 by 100 relay. My speed picks up as the distance to the next person in my relay grows less and less. As I get closer to Brianna, I realize that our race isn’t going to go exactly as we had planned. Actually, our race was going to go differently than anyone had expected, and definitely not in a good way.