First Gen Diasporan

I am who I am

That is complex

Who I say I am

That is complex too

But you

Really don't understand

The complexity

Of being free

To create your own space

Where color and race is erased

Simply because that's all that matters to you

I don't racialize myself

Simply because my melanin speaks for itself

#teamchocolate in winter and #teamdarkchocolate in summer

Sun kissed rays say I am a child of my Bantu ancestors

Although some would fight me for that

I'm not Black, I'm African, they say

I'm not really Ugandan, I'm American, they claim

However, I eat kawunga and Hot Flamins with nacho cheese the same

I know of hood snow cones, sandwich bags of tootsies, Tootsie Rolls and lindazi equally

My heart beats are covered with Afrigo, Franco et le TP OK Jazz, Kaskade and Boyz II Men equally

I am an immigrant kid

My parents flew thousands of miles for college and opportunity

So I sound all Midwestern with an African upbringing

My name holds a few stories

And the weight of Baganda legacy

Yet you fight me for my culture

My experiences

My identity

My roots

I am multicultural

Your basic understanding will not limit me

I reject that

So I find solace

In the space

I have created for myself

To be free

Culturally

To be me.