Identity

Captured from QAGOMA

This will be my first time delving into James Baldwin. I didn’t know of him last year until I had a conversation with a friend about feeling displaced all the time. Every place seems temporary and I’ve never had a place I called mine. Because I move a lot, I gravitated towards Chimamanda books which have characters who always experience a cultural displacement because they experience new cultures than those they were born in. .

Because someone said I wasn’t ”acting black”, I went on a rampage learning all the things I could about black culture. I started with my own history, asking my Grandfather where he was from. About our family history. Usually, this is tough because we don’t keep family trees so we can’t track our origin. But I learnt something. I went on to learn about African history, starting with my home, Botswana. I’m still at the tip of the iceberg regarding that. But I’m learning.

I went on to listen to African Jazz because once you listen to the Jazz Pioneers of Africa, you learn their history and their country’s history. I started with Fela Kuti, and now I’m stuck at Sipho Gumede because that’s the artist that was always playing on the radio when I lived with my grandparents. I’m still at the tip of the iceberg with that.

I plan to move on to African American history and culture. I feel a little overwhelmed but I will do it. For myself.

Anyway, I began this journey because I wanted to prove I was black and that I knew every version of black. The different layers and textures of black. The many shades of black. But now I’m doing it for me. .

So like my friend suggested, I picked up a James Baldwin book. Because it’s essential to read a black narrative, and I’ll learn gradually, for myself.