Final Narration

"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences" Audre Lorde

Upon my return, one of the questions I have been faced with is, "Did you face any racism?" This is a tough one to respond to, honestly. It is a giant in the room. I was actually all tensed up as I wrote this.

At the point of entry into the States, if my sight did me justice, we were two blacks on that flight, and if we were more, we could not exceed four. While rushing to check in for this particular flight, the other black/African and I were pulled aside for drug testing. We definitely complied, but honestly, no other race went through the testing the whole time we were at the gate waiting for boarding. It was more of racial profiling but I barely even gave thought to it. With time I learned that racial profiling is one of the most profound happenings, and these, at times, can go to the extreme in some instances.

Secondly, the first few days, I was so frightened by the idea of jogging. Yet my sporty life continuously demanded a workout. The first time I got some courage to jog, I moved from our camping site to the main road and immediately sprinted back to the camp. All I could imagine was someone shooting at me. I had these images of getting abducted. Generally, I was engulfed by fear. Before this jog, I had asked one of my co-workers what it entailed for a black/African to jog early in the morning in the community. I thought I had to wear my Passport around my neck so that in case of anything, at least my body could be retrieved. In addition to this fear, while traveling, it hit me hard when we got to the port of entry and couldn't trace our boarding gate. We were scared to approach anyone other than blacks/Africans to ask for directions. We feared what they thought of us.

An afternoon jog to the beach.

Looking back at these moments, I just laugh it off. I was honestly engulfed by fear because of what I had seen on television since childhood. Even in recent times, the continuous uprising against racial injustices and gun violence have been a significant issue, as shown in International News. Gun violence, racism, acts of hate, colorism, I can't name it all but all microaggressions that are portrayed in movies or news in the USA. It is like the African narrative on other continents. Africa is looked at as a primitive country nearly eaten up by starvation, living in the jungle, surviving on hunting, and having barely any reason to hope for the next day.

Another interesting incident was at a shopping center. Our camp was deep in the woods, and once in a while, we would get staff runs to the store. I was shocked by how a black client was followed stealthily by a worker at the store. It is actually creepy.

Most definitely, strolls through the neighborhood once in a while, you would observe someone watching you vigilantly. There are also other small microaggressions, such as the repeated questions, "How is Africa?", "How come you speak good English?", "How did you come to the USA?". This reminds me of one afternoon I was asked how I came to America for the 100th time in a day. A co-worker from South Korea responded on my behalf, "She swam across the Atlantic Ocean. She is one of the best swimmers in her country." Sometimes, these questions are honestly out of curiosity and lack of knowledge about other places. But at times, some questions hit hard, and you are like, "Wait a minute, did you just ask me that question?" One afternoon, I found some staff listening to Unforgettable by French Montana. I thought this was a quick one to at least brag that the video was shot in my country. So I called up the people available to watch the video. After all the creative dancing and fun in the video, I was slapped with this, "So you live in the ghetto?" It is absolutely not bad to live in the ghetto, and if this makes it better, I have once lived in the Namuwongo slum for a couple of months. Such a question needs to be answered with all the grace you can gather. I calmly explained that the way America has rich and poor people, Uganda also has rich and poor people. I mean economically challenged by the poor.

One of the best Uber drivers I have interacted with. He gave me a reason to support Brazil in the coming World Cup games.

One morning, I failed to carry out online transactions through my bank. I needed to visit the bank. My brother from Haiti gave me a ride to the bank. Our conversation while on the journey was mainly about the dos and don'ts of a black/African. He shared his experiences, and among what was shared, we talked about the Confederate flag. I quickly rushed to check out the flag and forgot to delete my search history. Once at the bank, the lady attending to me offered to help me check out a couple of stuff using my phone. I immediately handed it over to her; all she meets is a Confederate flag. I was scared about how she would react. She was very apologetic about the racism we face. The pain it brings about. She actually offered me a hug. I felt so bad that I had to make this lady feel this way on an early Saturday morning.

At the end of the day, there is racism, but remember, some people that is the best they know, and once they have interacted with you, they are so excited about their new findings. I can't count how many people told me it was their first time interacting with someone from Africa. How they loved my Afro-centred stories and accent. Actually, one of the ways to bridge these gaps is to tell your story. I made sure that every opportunity I had to tell a story, I would talk about our rich culture, the kingdoms, the communal living, the organic food (of course, I spoke about matooke), the good weather, the diverse languages, and everything good that I could tell about Uganda. By the end of my stay, color or race met nothing to me. I enjoyed how unique we were all, and I believe its two way.

Finally, if you approach your stay at a new location with fear and thoughts driven by the media, you will create a barrier around you. It is funny that some of the closest and best people that happened to me during my stay were of different races. Color or racism are all constructs by a few individuals that have overshadowed the good in other people.