It is human to miss those who we leave behind as we travel the globe. Rather than dwell on what’s missing, this is the time to honor your opportunity by fostering your own home in the place that you are in. The experience of transcending boundaries is the very thing that pushes you to look within yourself to discover something new.
Read MoreNot one person in my travel group was white. On the contrary, we are all people of color who consider ourselves to be passionate about dismantling systems of oppression and inequality. Yet, in the eyes of a black South African girl we were perceived as white.
Read MoreI cannot help but notice that the majority of the people who are on the plane to South Africa do not look like me. I am immediately reminded that the South Africa I am go to is a South Africa that was once colonized, that has suffered through apartheid, and that is still fighting to end struggles of inequality as a result of European settlement. It is where my people were snatched, dehumanized, and sold. Nonetheless, this is our Africa. Despite enslavement and oppression, the essence of who we are persists throughout the diaspora.
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Experiencing objectification in a different country has made me realize that women of African descent share common struggles that follow us everywhere we go. Our femininity, and subsequently our humanity, are constantly at risk due to the legacy of colonization which continues to instill the myth that we do not belong to ourselves. The struggle to continuously maintain autonomy over ourselves in places where we were once enslaved is difficult to grasp, let alone accomplish.
Read MoreWhen I arrive in the Dominican Republic, I yearn to discover that there is more to life than the things that I acquire. I am excited to leave my material comforts behind, to rely more on my mind and less on my phone, to drop English and to speak something new. I am excited to be challenged in ways that make me continue to define who I am as a Black woman.
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