In Need of an Exodus ("You may be a citizen but you'll never be American")
When it came to patriotism, no American citizen was as determined to scream his allegiance to the States as much as Eddy. Originally from Nigeria, he had come to the USA, a wide-eyed, overzealous foreign student; a sponge, willing to soak up everything about the much disseminated and celebrated American culture. It didn’t take long before he dropped his birth-name in favor of an English one; one that lacked the clicks and clangs that came with stringing together native phrases to produce the esoteric rhythm of an African name. He learnt to pronounce his words the American way, dropping his t’s and inculcating as many Ebonics in his sentences as he possibly could because it made it easier for him to fit in with the African- American crowd. But sounding American wasn’t good enough; he needed something more, he needed to BE American, Literally.
I encourage you all to read this article. It might be considered a long read but it’s worth it. It speaks to a specific audience (the African diaspora), but it’s a general call for us all to return to the communities that produced us and invest back into our homes. Read the article. Perhaps even comment. Tell me what you think. You won’t regret it.
