Tired of American Culture (1/2)“I do know that my recent family comes from Ireland and Germany, but I dont know much about anybody beyond my living family members. I'm a big history nerd so I would love to know more, but the information just doesn't exist anymore. Knowing that my family is Irish and German gives me a confusing feeling when I try to describe my background. Because basically, I'm a white American. I don't participate really in Irish or German culture, but some degree of connection still exists. I do think about my heritage a lot, mostly because I know so little. Sometimes honestly I get very tired of American culture and it’s nice to have an imagined connection to somewhere else in the world.” - Katie. Lower Frankford Township, Cumberland County, PA. 2019
Tired of American Culture (2/2)Lower Frankford Township, Cumberland County, PA. 2019
Far away (1/3)“My family tree is Colombian, but the roots before my mother and father are hidden below the soil. I was born in a country where my parents were originally strangers, but for a while my summers were spent returning to Colombia. Colombian culture was more given than experienced sometimes. Some days I do wonder where the roots would go if I followed them. Do the Arangos come from Spain or have they been in Colombia long before "civilization" arrived? Colombian culture seems all to familiar and all too distant from day to day. American culture, being the most experienced and often seen in my life, makes up most of who I am. But when I hear cumbia from the homeland or see videos of the country, I gain this quiet property of being Colombian. I feel in those moments a sense of not necessarily unbelonging to the United States, but like something very far away is missing. Sometimes I do question how artificial is my Colombianism if most of it has been given to me, exported not experienced.” - Alejandro. Carlisle, PA. 2019
Far away (2/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Far away (3/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Searching (1/2)“I’ve always known that I’m adopted from Guatemala - it was never something my parents chose to hide from me but instead encouraged me to celebrate. I thought that knowing this was enough to sustain my sense of identity but as I grew up and people began to ask questions about it, or compare my origin to theirs, I realized how little I actually knew about myself. Growing up with so little knowledge about myself led me to an identity crisis, and as I tried to obtain more information about my family background, my adopted family and I realized that there was very little information offered from my adoption file.” - Liz. Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA. 2019
Searching (2/2)Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA. 2019
Unsettled (1/3)“ I’m an Air Force kid and I’ve never felt like I’ve had the kind of identity that most people get from growing up with a stable home location, and I’ve also never been close to my extended family, and I also have no idea what my heritage is” - Anna Carlisle, PA. 2019
Unsettled (2/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Unsettled (3/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Instability (1/5)“I cannot go to India because of political instability.” - Burhan. Carlisle, PA. 2019
Instability (2/5)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Instability (3/5)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Instability (4/5)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Instability (5/5)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Partialness (1/3)“I do know my family’s country of origin, but they are places I know only through their interpretation. It is my country— it is my home but only in a distant way. I think about it a lot because I always feel like I would better understand my parents and some other tendencies that are contextualized by their culture. I have been able to connect to more people from the Dominican Republic and get a bigger picture of what life there is like and what the reality is, which makes me feel more apart of an understanding of my home country.” -Kaila. Carlisle, PA. 2019
Partialness (2/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Partialness (3/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Unfamiliarity (1/2)“I sometimes feel frustrated or feel like I’m lacking something. I want to know more about where my family is from, but the people I’ve talked to know. I think about my heritage more often than I used to, especially after taking a cultural anthropology class this year. We talked about family origins and kinship. Recognize that it’s a privilege to know that information, because so many people don’t.” -Shea. Carlisle, PA. 2019
Unfamiliarity (2/2)
Missing out (1/3)“With 2 of my grandparents passing away this past year, I have felt many times that I am missing out on their knowledge of where we are from. It feels like I get further and further away from understanding my family background. We have stories to pass down, but when those story tellers pass, how much of the story do we really know? It’s an awkward position trying to attach my understanding of self to spaces that I haven’t experienced for myself.” -Isoke. Carlisle, PA. 2019
Missing out (2/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Missing out (3/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Disturbed (1/3)“I feel disturbed that I don’t know where I’m from in terms of country and origin. More so disturbed because I’m here in America because of force and for the purposes of slavery and work. I started thinking about it more in college because I noticed a lot of native African people. I honestly don’t think it’s their problem to help me feel included because my problems are with white supremacist. If I knew my family origin, I don’t think I would be any different, honestly. Because Black Americans have made western ideologies of culture to be our own! We flipped the script and owned it! We’ve paved the way for so much: civil rights, education reforms, versatile hairstyles, dance, and fashion trends!” -Keyshana. Carlisle, PA. 2019
Disturbed (2/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019
Disturbed (3/3)Carlisle, PA. 2019