On my way to work this morning, I rode in a taxi. The radio was playing a Spanish radio station of NYC. They were discussing the territory of Puerto Rico. Now mind you, I’m wearing my hair in a hijab not because I’m Muslim or so, cause I wear one when I don’t do my hair. So when I asked the driver to raise the volume, he was surprised and asked if I spoke Spanish…if I didn’t understand why would I ask to raise the volume? Even if I didn’t maybe I am learning and like the language…but then again people constantly stereotype. Anywho, he asks where I’m from, I begin to say I’m Puerto Rican and then he yells at me and tells me I’m American. Since I was not born in Puerto Rico, he also had the audacity to judge my Spanish. It is so sickening…languages do not define us completely. If SPAIN had not colonialized my ancestors I would not even speak Spanish or English. Language is imposed on us in this country and I really was quite upset because he was trying to label me an US American and subtract my Afro Latinidad. Yes, legally I am a citizen and born here, but I’m an outcast because of my skin and surname, because my ancestors were and are a “threat” to white supremacy. It is a shame how the colonial mindset plagues us every day 😦 even when it comes to describing your own identity. 

In all, I just hate how people just judge you and try to identify you by the way you look or even speak. I went to Anglo American schools all my life of course my English may be better than my Spanish, they don’t want us to have the skill that people pay thousands for to obtain. This country is far from free…it is oppressive and assimilates the oppressed to oppress themselves and those around them.