Don’t ask where I’m from, ask where I’m a local Reflection
In this video, I have seen the question “where are you from” from a very different perspective and that is the most important thing I learned. To elaborate, countries are concepts not naturally occurring things. They can change, disappear and even expand. They are not constants. Actually, experience is what defines a human being not the place they were born in or where they lived. It is all about what they passed through. The rituals, relationships and restrictions shape us not land or location. In addition, a major outcome for me is this statement: “where I am from comes wherever I go.”
Regarding my own life, I lived in Barcelona for two months this summer and that was the peak of hearing the question where are you from. I have always been asked this when I travel abroad but not with this rate. What was surprising for me is that they got shocked when they heard the answer. People view others based on which land they were born not the life they experienced, which actually shows the link between the question and stereotyping. Furthermore, another point is that I have always been proud of being an Egyptian with 7,000 years of art and history. I never thought about it the way Taiye Selasi did; however, now I believe that people are from where locality occurs.
Questions:
Where are we actually from?
Why don’t people get to live anywhere they feel local without visa or any political restrictions?
Ooh what does this question mean: where are we actually from?
When I thought about the whole video, the question of where are we actually from popped up. I meant that if countries are concepts, should we still say we are from Egypt or our locality?