taiye selasi
intro’d to Taiye here:
Don’t ask where I’m from, ask where I’m a local – tedglobal oct 2014
how can a human being come from a concept (a nation)
i’d fallen into the limiting trap that the language of coming from countries sets..the privileging of a fiction – singular country… over reality – human experience
i’m not a national.. i’m a local.. a multi-local..
i’ve never had a relationship with the republic of ghana.. writ large..
my experience is where i’m from..
where are you a local.. this would tell us so much more about who and how similar we are….
rituals, relationships, restrictions
diff from where are you from and where are you a local.. isn’t specificity of answer.. but the intention of the question.. asks us to shift our focus to where real life occurs…
as a unit of measurement for human experience.. the country doesn’t quite work
you can take away my passport.. but not my experience.. it goes with me..
what i’m questioning is primacy.. ie: beginning with nation.. what are we really seeking when we ask where someone comes from… on possibility – basically… countries represent power..
it’s possible we’re playing a power game… the question where are you from or where are you really from .. often code for.. why are you here…
human experience.. gloriously disorderly..
the myth of nationality and vocabulary coming from .. confuses us into placing ourselves into mutually exclusive categories..
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