What Are You?

I’m 8 years old

My peers ask me, what are you?

I’m biracial.

Oh, you’re mixed.

No, I’m biracial. My mom’s white and my dad’s black.

See my mom always told me that I’m not a dog, therefore I’m not mixed.

I’m 12 years old

Taking a standardized test and I quickly realize there’s no box for me under ethnicity.

My teacher tells me to mark black, but some how it just doesn’t feel right to deny a whole half of my being.

See my mom always told me I have the best of both worlds.

I’m 16 years old

One of my friends greets me

“Hey white girl”

Another “Hey mixed breed”

And in that moment I realized black people had deemed me white because my hair isn’t like theirs and white people had deemed me black because my skin isn’t like theirs.

I’m 20 years old

Como estas?

Bien, but I’m not Hispanic

My mom’s white and my dad’s black

And it was in that moment I realized I didn’t fit in anywhere in this world.

I’m 24 years old today

I am black

I am white

I am American

I am a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend.

I am a feminist.

I am a liberal.

It’s taken me this long to realize I cannot let America define me, only I can do that.

I’ve realized that I don’t want the best of both world.

I want my people to be able to exist together in one world.

Today I realize I was never meant to fit in.

I was born to stand out, to stand up.

To stand up for what I believe in.

To stand up against injustice.

To stand up against inequality.

You see discovering who I am finally is my very first step on a very dark staircase, but my faith in God will take me to the top.