Haitian American Influence

My parents are both immigrants from Haiti. I was born in America. Growing up, my parents spoke Creole, the national language of Haiti, and English at home. As I got older my resistence to speak their native tongue began to grow. I don’t know why I began to reject the language as my own. Maybe it was because kids with immigrant parents, especially Haitian kids, used to get a lot of flak from the other kids at school. Maybe it was because i couldn’t fully relate to the kids who came from Haiti and spoke to me in the language about things in the country I knew nothing about. Maybe it was because of the inevitable switch, back and forth from Creole to English, due to my lack of the proper vocabulary to speak fluently. Maybe, it was even because

I could feel that I was not whole. I pondered on what it could be and then realized that I had never fully accepted myself. I never fully understood that I could be more than one thing. That my identity could be as complex as a 17x17 rubik’s cube. That I didn't necessarily have to fit into one box. In order to find myself, I read a book. A book by a Haitian American struggling to find the middle ground of being raised in Haitian customs but surrounded by American influence. Consumed by the thought of reading stories with others who struggle to find their identity like I did, I read every book I could find. In that time I began to learn more about my hidden culture and more about myself. I learned about many customs and characteristics that come from being an American born citizen from Haitian immigrant parents, and the differences and slight similarities that shaped who I am. As I began to learn to love my intersectionality of these two cultures. I began to love myself. I now speak more Creole than ever before. I may not have the best accent, and I do tend to revert by to English but i constantly try to improve and better myself. It took me so long to try and find where I fit and belong. I now know that my identity is something unique and individual and any person growing up, with or without immigrant parents, struggle to find