Exactly a week ago, I was in a gathering with Kathleen Manning, the co-author of "Where I'm From..." The book is a collection of very short narratives about individuals. At the beginning of the exercise she read what she had written about herself and had two other people read. Then she asked us to write about ourselves. I thought, "right here?" but then the words started to flow and here is what came in that moment unedited:
I am from Nigeria West Africa - a country so rich with oil yet plagued by poverty. I am my father's daughter, the proud native of a city called Ikere Ekiti in the deep of southwestern Nigeria. A city full of promises yet limited by tradition and struggles with its past. I am a child of promise and carry a sense of urgent mission yet I struggle with the notions and ideologies that are thrust on me. The definitions that are given to me before I am allowed to be me. I am a woman, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a mentor, a friend, a minister and an individual - like many others but yet different. I am the product of a praying mother like my home town of Ikere Ekiti is surrounded by mountains, my mother's prayers has fortified my lif eover and over again. I am troubled by what the world thinks I should be, a model of the past. No! whay can't I be a model for the future? a promise for those coming behind me that life should not be mapped by your accent, your color, or gender. That rules of accomplishment and happiness are not generated by other voices, but by your voice and my utmost inner witness. I am my mother's daughter, curvy, full lips, powerful and daunting - a carrier for the generations to come.
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