« Even though my skin is fair, not once have I considered what it would be like to somehow transform myself into “being white.” I wouldn’t even know where to begin.
“choice of identity may be the most important ‘economic’ decision people make.” »

…I have always been brought up with an awareness that I live in a structurally racist society and therefore am engaged with on the spectrum of blackness. Accordingly, I politically align myself to Blackness. I am Black.

All mixed people are entitled to self-identify how they please. But, for some, it is very simple: you are mixed, but you are Black – not in a reductive sense, but in a reflection of a structural reality. In my case, whilst I recognise that I am mixed (my father is white), I have always been brought up with an awareness that I live in a structurally racist society and therefore am engaged with on the spectrum of blackness. Accordingly, I politically align myself to Blackness. I am Black.

Sekai Makoni, “I Am Mixed And I Am Whole,” Ain’t I A Woman Collective, October 19, 2015. http://www.aintiawomancollective.com/i-am-mixed-and-i-am-whole/.

Tags: ,

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2015 at 03:40Z and is filed under Excerpts/Quotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.