By Adaeze
I identify myself as Nigerian-Black-American, as I was born in Nigeria and raised in the USA with dual citizenship. My background is definitely a source of pride especially as I get older and become more aware of the high’s and low’s all sides. I love the customs and history of all three.
Being a woman of color (brown specifically), I am usually just seen as Black American. While I do claim both identities, I always introduce myself as being Nigerian, because it’s 100% Nigerian blood in my veins and the crowd goes wild. I get asked a million and one questions, ignorant and well thought out, about African culture: music, food, clothes, language, climate. One thing that never fails is having to correct people and repeat that I am Nigerian specifically, and that Nigerian culture cannot and will never be generalized to the whole continent of Africa. I think America has a certain fascination with race, because it’s always talked/inquired about and tap danced around, good or bad. From what I’ve seen in France so far, people here just assume that you are French and if you're not, well... you're not.
So a Nigerian-Black-American walks into a French room... and the rest of that story is changed everyday that I'm in France.