It is extremely important that African Americans join the Peace Corps. Not only do we need to show the best a diverse society has to offer, but we need to show people of different colors and races and backgrounds, around the world that we are a beautiful, intelligent, ambitious, creative, free people that can do anything. We are not the stereotypes and caricatures they see on bad American TV, but instead we are just as complex, interesting and heterogeneous as any other group or culture.
The very reason I exist, in the complex, multiplicity in which I do, is because of the work that has been done in America. By no means is America a perfect place (just look at the nonsense happening with the presidential election and senseless police violence), but like President Obama has said several times in his campaigns, “in nowhere else in the world is my story possible than in America.” And he is absolutely correct. When I am in my host country or anywhere else in the world for that matter, I am a total and complete conundrum.
A highly educated, native English speaking, young, well traveled, politically astute, single, childless, DARK SKINNED, Black woman, financially stable enough to choose to volunteer abroad. I can hear the world collectively thinking, “Who is this girl? ……Where did she come from? …….Why is she here?......... And why is her very presence making my head hurt – she doesn’t fit any of the stereotypes that I have about Black people, Black women, Black Americans or Americans in general. How is this even possible? I can’t put her in a box!...... The dissonance is making me dizzy!!!!”
This is the reaction I get on a regular basis from people that are not accustomed to me. In the town where I live it has subsided and most people just leave me alone, but when I walk around other parts of my host country, even without the qualifying effect of my white peers, I still get a look, people are still aware that I am somehow “other”.
And it is exactly this otherness that I am learning to embrace and use as a development tool. My otherness, my American-ness, my audacity to live a free, independent, autonomous life on my own terms, without permission or qualification is absolutely mind blowing to the rest of the world; especially to young black and brown women.
To them, I represent an alternative:
No! You do not have to get married before you are ready
No! You do not have to accept a life of silence
No! You do not have to get pregnant before you are ready and delay getting an education
No! You do not have to live your ENTIRE life trying to please your family and friends or conform to social norms
No! You do not have to worry about what you look like or how much you weigh
No! You do not have to live your life according to some ancient, sexist, misogynistic, patriarchal book that says you are the root of all sin and childbirth is your punishment and being subservient is your only path to redemption and salvation
No! You do not have to feel guilty about wanting more out of your life or wanting to travel the world, fall in love and be happy.
You don’t have to do ANY of these things – all you have to do is live, love, and laugh.
Period.
These are your God given rights and you have every right to exercise them.
These words may not have originally been written with Black folks in mind, but “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is one American ideal I fully embrace. It is precisely because of these words that I can be who I am, in all my complexity.
The movements for civil rights, sexual rights, women’s rights, youth rights, immigrant’s rights – have all impacted my experience as an American and made who I am possible. It is how I was able to be the successful child of immigrants, speak perfect English, receive scholarships to the most expensive schools, travel the world and dare to live a life not originally meant for Black and brown folks, but have the freedom to do it anyway.
So, yes, I am happy to answer questions about America, speak my “white girl” English and live my life on my terms because maybe, just maybe a Black or brown girl may see me and be inspired to start an educational revolution or challenge a sexist social norm. Maybe she will see her education as a way to develop her country and not just as a way out of her country. Maybe she will think that one day she can be President or Prime Minister and make real, lasting change.
It only takes a single spark to start a movement. My mission is to hand out matches all over the world.
