Where I Come From
Where are you from?
With ease I reply, I am from the Midwest.
But this answer doesn’t seem to satisfy
The eyes that are continuously
Burning, questioning, yearning for a reply
That makes sense in their eyes.
The eyes of my classmates,
Of my teachers,
And even of my cousins.
I am Black.
However, where I came from
Does not compare with the color of my skin.
I come from negligence and compassion,
Obedience and persistence.
Irish, German, English, Native American, and French
Describes the main percentage of my mother’s ethnicity.
Her father’s heritage had made his tongue as sharp as knives
And his back hand as tough as the leather on his belt,
Which he so wrongly used.
Hope and compassion
Lived on in my mother’s eyes
Influencing me to a life of faith.
Religious faith deeply intertwined
In my family’s roots.
My father grew up deeply rooted
In ways of obedience,
And the fact that I am here today
Shows his persistence.
He believed a great education lead to
The greatest opportunities in the future.
He sought destinations
Outside of his homeland Ghana,
A country built on the finest of leaders
To make its nation great and strong.
Who knew a one way ticket from West Africa
To America could be so life changing?
Promises of a better tomorrow
Were on the horizon,
Left on the lips of the freedom fighters.
Discrimination still dared to stare
At my father, face to face.
Never once has he stopped moving forward.
Not when he committed to an interracial marriage,
Not when my parents faced poverty,
Not when doors slammed in his face
Due to his skin pigmentation.
My family fought these challenges
So I could have greater opportunities today.
Where do I come from you ask?
I come from determination
And intelligence and love.
I am Ghanaian, Irish, German, and Native American
So much more then what is the label of Black.
I can not and will not
Change the accusations and lingering glances,
Because I wish to prove myself,
Make my family proud.
This is what makes me
Where I came from
And forward is how I am always moving.