To the Children of Immigrants

If you are the child of immigrant parents, you should be able to relate to Bassey Ikpi piece below.

"those arms mothered my mother
taught her how to mother me
i inhale the history from her skin
and she tells me of a small, scared girl
carried away on an iron bird to america
seems like that same bird has returned
only to replace that perfect girl with me
this strange tongue-tied woman
the one that can barely say hello
without the clicks and moans
the dips and tones
of the white mans language
it breaks my heart to realize that i can only love her clearly
in english"

Unless you're one of us, you can't fully appreciate how unnerving it is to feel like you're living in limbo between two cultures. Never truly feeling like the motherland is home. But not ready to recant your native citizenry for this new, American one. I feel you. Despite the cultural schizophrenia we have all inherited, I'm still amazed by how awesome our parents are. Can you imagine leaving all that is familiar for something you "hope" will be better a better world? So, to my mother - who braved lands unknown to bring us up in a world of greater opportunity...thank you. Happy birthday Mommy!!

ps...if you love Bassey as much as I do, check out her FB fan page.