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Friday, April 13, 2012

I LOVE WHAT I AM

People who know me know my facial expressions tell it all, but there are times that I can’t facially express what I am feeling because it’s just pure nonsense. I am a Haitian American and very proud of it. I’m proud because I love how my people have such a beautiful culture whether it’s the food, language, look or just the country itself.

Coming up as a little girl in Brooklyn, NY I always had an “either you like me for who I am or you don’t” approach. I wasn’t going to change myself for anyone else’s approval, even if it was something a lot of other younger Haitian Americans around me were doing. A lot of them changed because of negative stereotypes associated with Haiti. Whoever knew me knew I was Haitian and at times my background surprised them; why I don’t know. I constantly heard “Oh you’re Haitian? You don’t look like it”. That’s something that always upset me. Please someone explain to me what exactly a Haitian looks like? I am proud of my Haitian background but being a Haitian American is still hard. There are people that feel I'm not Haitian enough, possibly because of the fact I wasn’t born there and I don’t speak fluent creole. My parents made sure that their 1st generation Haitian American daughter learned to speak English as best as possible so even though I can speak it, my comprehension of the creole language is about 1000 times better than my speaking ability.

Realistically this all goes back to one main point: We all came from the same issues and struggles and have used our strong will to overcome them. I’ve often felt like my community looked at Haitians as a poor people from an ugly country. I have not seen it for myself but the pictures that my parents have show the beautiful mountains and beaches of Haiti. That side is what needs to be shown and not just the poverty that it's been plagued with. We need to see the strong, proud Haiti; the same Haiti that was the first country to gain independence in the Caribbean.

Fernande Deolus- Assistant at The Black Latina Movement
Guest Blogger

Labels: Caribbean, Creole, Haitian