Today's Black August prompt for thought was:
How has migration touched your life?
"Without migration, I wouldn't be who I am. My
mother, who raised me, and her family have resided in Minnesota for
generations. My mom grew up in Floodwood, MN though, which is a tiny town up
north. Her Scandinavian family comes from northern MN. She moved down to
the Twin Cities for college and has been here ever since. My father is
Kenyan, born and raised. He is the first generation to come to America. Now he
lives here with his wife, kids and grandkids. Both parents often visit their
homes. I have been in MN my whole life, Twin Cities to be exact. Grew up in the
Cities and found my true place in the Cities."
"My life has been filled with migration. From age six I
had moved houses four times. Different cities, neighborhoods, and states. My
most major migration was moving to the East Coast in 2009. The experience was a
sour one at first, but I've come to value moving to Boston. It put my mind into
perspective seeing a whole new part of the country and seeing how others
live. My migrations definitely bettered me, making me more social, accepting
and well rounded. Everyone needs to move and experience change in order to
change your own way of thinking."
"My grandma and older Aunties and Uncle, two generations
above me, are refugees from a war in Uganda. The dictator Idi Amin took over
the government and kicked out other cultural influences that were not
"truly" Ugandan (migrant workers). This was for cultural
preservation, but tribalism meant some groups were targeted, and we had to
leave. My grandma always thinks of "home" as Uganda and I do not know
what that means to me. Because of how my mama raised us I wasn't very connected
to the traditions and mentality. I think like an American. I connect to
immigrants and other uprooted people. I am still trying to figure out what
home means to me, but I can say I've found family with other descendants
of migrants from wars, slavery, poverty...We know how to create connection
where we're at."
“How has migration touched my life? I would not have been born
without it. Most recently, my maternal great grandfather came here from Finland
and my maternal great grandfather from across the globe. So many of my
ancestors come from all over Europe, North Africa, and North America that if
any one of them had not migrated I would not exist. On top of that, most of my
neighbors and friends were immigrants and I would be very different without
them.”
“My family is from Natchez, Mississippi. They didn’t travel up
to the North during the great black migration during the Reconstruction. They
were those that stayed. When my great grandmother who had diabetes was sent to
Minnesota for better care (supposedly the air and hospitals were better) in
1980. Her eight children followed her. The middle child, her namesake, came
with her two daughters. One of the daughters was my mother. Then came me. First
Minnesota Born generation.”
“Migration has touched my life by not feeling al the way
complete. I’ve had to move so much throughout my life that I don’t know if I
would actually be comfy and welcomed into a place because I’m not comfy with
it. So now when people ask me where I be or where I live I wouldn’t know how to
say it because I travel a lot.”
Today's Black August prompt for thought was:
How has migration touched your life?
"Without migration, I wouldn't be who I am. My
mother, who raised me, and her family have resided in Minnesota for
generations. My mom grew up in Floodwood, MN though, which is a tiny town up
north. Her Scandinavian family comes from northern MN. She moved down to
the Twin Cities for college and has been here ever since. My father is
Kenyan, born and raised. He is the first generation to come to America. Now he
lives here with his wife, kids and grandkids. Both parents often visit their
homes. I have been in MN my whole life, Twin Cities to be exact. Grew up in the
Cities and found my true place in the Cities."
"My life has been filled with migration. From age six I
had moved houses four times. Different cities, neighborhoods, and states. My
most major migration was moving to the East Coast in 2009. The experience was a
sour one at first, but I've come to value moving to Boston. It put my mind into
perspective seeing a whole new part of the country and seeing how others
live. My migrations definitely bettered me, making me more social, accepting
and well rounded. Everyone needs to move and experience change in order to
change your own way of thinking."
"My grandma and older Aunties and Uncle, two generations
above me, are refugees from a war in Uganda. The dictator Idi Amin took over
the government and kicked out other cultural influences that were not
"truly" Ugandan (migrant workers). This was for cultural
preservation, but tribalism meant some groups were targeted, and we had to
leave. My grandma always thinks of "home" as Uganda and I do not know
what that means to me. Because of how my mama raised us I wasn't very connected
to the traditions and mentality. I think like an American. I connect to
immigrants and other uprooted people. I am still trying to figure out what
home means to me, but I can say I've found family with other descendants
of migrants from wars, slavery, poverty...We know how to create connection
where we're at."
“How has migration touched my life? I would not have been born
without it. Most recently, my maternal great grandfather came here from Finland
and my maternal great grandfather from across the globe. So many of my
ancestors come from all over Europe, North Africa, and North America that if
any one of them had not migrated I would not exist. On top of that, most of my
neighbors and friends were immigrants and I would be very different without
them.”
“My family is from Natchez, Mississippi. They didn’t travel up
to the North during the great black migration during the Reconstruction. They
were those that stayed. When my great grandmother who had diabetes was sent to
Minnesota for better care (supposedly the air and hospitals were better) in
1980. Her eight children followed her. The middle child, her namesake, came
with her two daughters. One of the daughters was my mother. Then came me. First
Minnesota Born generation.”
“Migration has touched my life by not feeling al the way
complete. I’ve had to move so much throughout my life that I don’t know if I
would actually be comfy and welcomed into a place because I’m not comfy with
it. So now when people ask me where I be or where I live I wouldn’t know how to
say it because I travel a lot.”
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