Taking pride in my Ethiopian heritage, on my terms.
It’s such a simple question, yet loaded with so many connotations and assumptions.
It’s a question for other people. It puts people of colour into the category of ‘foreigner’ and questions their belonging.
When people become curious about where I’m from, my identity becomes a guessing game. People have guessed Pacific Islander, Indonesian, South American and so on. And it still baffles me why people feel the need to guess in general. Do they just want the satisfaction of guessing correctly? Do they want to seem culturally aware, or something?
It merely feels like a plot to fetishise my cultural identity. I feel like I’m some exotic treasure, not a person. It doesn’t let me take pride in my Ethiopian heritage, on my terms. I just don’t want people to see my skin colour and use it as an excuse to other me, especially when Blak people own this land, and have done so for thousands of years. Don’t look at my hair like it’s an exotic animal, it’s not there for you to gawk at. It’s crazy how many people ask to touch my hair like it’s their right. And this is the thing, people feel like they have a right to know my ‘true’ identity. But I’m not obligated to tell anyone anything.
Growing up as an Ethiopian-Australian kid in Australia was confusing. We live in a society that views white culture as superior, and that meant that I almost forgot about my Ethiopian heritage because I was rewarded for being white. Succeeding seems synonymous with being white - that’s privilege. But I have a connection with Ethiopia, which is so special. I feel it through the music, I taste it in the Injera. I can still hear those prayer calls that woke me up to go to school. I’ve come to a place of peace with my mixed identity, and I’m so proud to call Ethiopia my true home.