“They got that mindset where you can only do one thing. We, we ain’t got that.” – Jay Z
These may not have been the exact words, but he said something to that effect. A then 21 year old me, nodded my head in agreement. By “we” I felt he meant people like him and me. People who knew that we shouldn’t be restricted by a single label, because we worked to master many crafts.
As a child, school was everything to me. I liked it so much that I played “school” after school. Of course, I was always the teacher. [LOL] I also liked other things. I liked sketching and painting. I liked writing short stories. I liked music and singing. I liked playing sports. However, school is what I liked most, or so I thought. Years later, I realized my preference of school came from other people.
For a long while, I didn’t mind being recognized solely for my book smarts; it obviously wasn’t the worst recognition one could receive. However, it started to feel like a cage. I remember being scolded for clowning with my classmates. At 11, a “gifted” me should’ve been more mature than the other children. I should’ve known better than to laugh and play. At least, that’s what my teacher said. I just remember thinking: Well, why can’t I be smart and playful? Does my being “advanced” mean I have to be just that?
As a teen, similar questions would cross my mind when my peers seemed surprised that I could draw or taken back when I knew rap lyrics word for word. Eventually, I found myself fighting to be recognized outside of the classroom. I entered art contests. I started writing books. I started having more casual conversations. All of which I felt would allow people to experience different sides of me. Honestly though, by that time, that label of the smart, quiet girl had already stuck. I made myself okay with that.
Now, four years after hearing my favorite rapper speak about "we", I don’t find myself fighting labels as much. I now understand that people will box you in wherever they see fit. Hence, labels stem from people’s experience of you, and that experience may just be of you as one thing---a professional, an artist, a scholar, an athlete, etc. This is why it seems you’re overlooked in some areas. This is natural, but this is also inconsequential. What’s important is that you realize that people’s experience of you doesn’t define you. You acknowledging yourself as a multi-faceted being is all the validation you need. Ultimately, you only find yourself fighting if you, yourself, have settled for doing and being just one thing.
