Proud to be an African woman!!

So many people always wonder why I constantly have to say these words, “I’m proud to be an African Woman”, so I figured why not tell you the reason in my blog .Moving to the US at a young age of 13, I was always proud to be from Zambia to the point where I would share everything about my country to my classmates. At the time, I actually thought it was cool to talk about Africa, not realizing that the things I was sharing like what we eat, how we dressed, what we did on a daily basis were considered uncool to my classmates. I also learned that while I was proud to share, my classmates were actually making fun of my heavy African accent at the time. With all of this, I became very discouraged and embarrassed to talk about where I was from. Within a few of being in the U.S, I became a lost child who would deny that she was African when asked. Anytime someone asked me where I was from, I would immediately respond with a defensive answer like, “what do you mean where am from?” or, something like “I’m from here, where are you from?” Keep in my mind I was only 13-14yrs old at this time. I cared about what people said and thought of me.

As I got older and more mature, and moved to a whole new state, I noticed I had a whole new attitude. I honestly give credit to one of my advisors, Mr. Thomas. From the day I started school at Southport High School, he would have on an African outfit and I made it a point to avoid him for fear of him asking me where I was from, until one day he called me into his office, which was decorated in everything African. It was at that point that I realized other people actually loved Africa. After speaking to him for almost an hour, I gained the confidence to boldly say I was from Zambia. Seeing Mr. Thomas proudly embrace his roots, although American born inspired me. Long story short, he encouraged me to participate in a few events on culture where I had an opportunity to share my culture as well as use my voice. I also was proud to wear my African outfit. (This was in the 11^th grade, I was only 17). From then on I promised myself to never be ashamed of where I was from. At the age of 18, I was the first African to be crowned as prom Queen, something I never thought I would be. I vowed to stand up for anyone who was bullied no matter the reason. I got the confidence to proudly say I am African, Zambian born with a slight accent that I hope I never lose. So I share this with you all just to say, I was once upon a young girl who was embarrassed to say she was African due to being bullied about my skin, accent, and what I wore. At the age of 28, I can boldly and proudly say, I will NEVER be ashamed of where I am from. I am AFRICA, I am ZAMBIA and always will be!!! Unapologetically African!!