therealljidol week 7: Where I'm From

[j0ydivided]

When you're four, your mother sits you down to explain to you what your life will be like.

"Some people will try to tell you to feel bad about yourself," she says. "Because of..."

She hesitates, then skips over the because"The important thing to know is, you're not like the others, the ones they're trying to make feel bad about themselves. You

Comments

[halfshellvenus]

I don't know if this is your story or that of someone you know, but it could be the story of so many people-- and this shows so well how hard-- how tiring-- it is to be hit again and again with the label of "otherness," and to have your origins and your history questioned on an unending basis.

I'm sorry it has been true, and sorrier still that it is likely to get worse in the coming years. It's so unfair.

[j0ydivided]

It's mine.

Thank you. I'm part of an activist group that is trying to offset the worst effects of what's to come, but it's a long and hard journey.

[oxymoron67]

It really is a feeling of instant alienation, and you captured that well.

[j0ydivided]

Thank you.

[eternal_ot]

Marvelous! The way you wrote it. I esp liked the " they want to slot you" paragraph. Very well written. I could identify with it in more than one way coz I keep dodging this question of "where I'm from" Nice work!

[marlawentmad]

Thank you so much for writing this piece. "You watch as politics get worse and worse, as the personal suddenly becomes political, as merely existing becomes a revolutionary act," resounds powerfully. I would love to share this with my friends off LiveJournal. May I do so? 

[j0ydivided]

Please, feel free.

[rayaso]

This was such a great entry. The personal (whether fictional or not) depiction of race/citizenship issues can be more powerful than an essay. This is a perfect illustration.