Thank you for sharing this. I grew up in Alaska (which already has a tenuous relationship with being part of the United States), but I am a dual US/Canadian citizen descended from Loyalists who fought against the American Revolution, and I lived through a formative part of my young adulthood in Canada. One part of my family is Russian (with Tatar roots as well). I speak Russian (though not as well as I'd like) and have always felt deeply Russian, though I have never been there (and am too gay to legally go there unless *a lot* changes). Still, my top artists on Spotify wrapped last year were Russian, so many of my favourite books and movies are Russian, and my life has been filled with Russian friends. Another part of my family is Scottish, and I speak Scots, too, and have even published poetry in that language in Scottish magazines. And for all this, my experience of multiculturalism has so often not been one of broad belonging to many worlds, but of somehow falling through the cracks between all of them. So much of what I read about multicultural experience is purely celebratory, and it rings so hollow to me. I really appreciate your speaking frankly about the fact that this is sometimes an intensely painful way to live, too.
Thanks for sharing such a lovely comment and so happy you related. You’re right, it’s a beautiful but often complicated and sometimes painful experience. And definitely a sense of falling in the cracks “in-between.” I ultimately just think it’s what the future will be for humanity as our world continues to globalize beyond our imagination
Thank you for sharing this. I grew up in Alaska (which already has a tenuous relationship with being part of the United States), but I am a dual US/Canadian citizen descended from Loyalists who fought against the American Revolution, and I lived through a formative part of my young adulthood in Canada. One part of my family is Russian (with Tatar roots as well). I speak Russian (though not as well as I'd like) and have always felt deeply Russian, though I have never been there (and am too gay to legally go there unless *a lot* changes). Still, my top artists on Spotify wrapped last year were Russian, so many of my favourite books and movies are Russian, and my life has been filled with Russian friends. Another part of my family is Scottish, and I speak Scots, too, and have even published poetry in that language in Scottish magazines. And for all this, my experience of multiculturalism has so often not been one of broad belonging to many worlds, but of somehow falling through the cracks between all of them. So much of what I read about multicultural experience is purely celebratory, and it rings so hollow to me. I really appreciate your speaking frankly about the fact that this is sometimes an intensely painful way to live, too.
Thanks for sharing such a lovely comment and so happy you related. You’re right, it’s a beautiful but often complicated and sometimes painful experience. And definitely a sense of falling in the cracks “in-between.” I ultimately just think it’s what the future will be for humanity as our world continues to globalize beyond our imagination
Thank you for sharing.
Yes all of it!
I immigrated to usa
Born in Bombay today Mumbai to Iraqi and Egyptian Jews who fled said native lands — and then Japan
Growing up in Israel loving Mizrahi Diaspora communities the HYBRID in food language manner is a mix i miss here in san francisco