As a child, I looked for ways to fit in and wanted to be accepted. However, because I am African American, instead of fitting in, often, I was a trailblazer because desegregation was central to my upbringing.

By Carla Brown, RPCV Comoro Islands 1992-1994

We often hear stories of significant civil rights figures, such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Harriet Tubman, or Malcolm X. None sought fame; in their daily lives, they sought justice. They were driven by their desire to care for their families and hope to live the “American Dream.” Circumstances thrust them into the limelight, and they did not fit in.

As a child, I looked for ways to fit in and wanted to be accepted. However, because I am African American, instead of fitting in, often, I was a trailblazer because desegregation was central to my upbringing.

Often, I have been ‘one of the first. ‘I found myself in many spaces where I was the only one who looked like me. I did not understand why my family was the only African American family in my neighborhood. Even while at university, I was one African American among a sea of 1,200 white faces. I was different.

My search for belonging led me to join the Peace Corps, where I counted down the days until I would go to Africa, to the motherland, to the home of my ancestors. I thought I would finally fit in. However, once again, I was one of the first. Most people in the Comoro Islands, a country in the middle of the Indian Ocean, had never seen an African American, except in the movies.

The Peace Corps did not prepare me for the constant stares I received or people touching me because I was different. I was not given the tools to help me manage the anxiety I experienced because I wwasn’tsure how I was going to take care of my hair. Nor did they recognize or acknowledge the isolation that I would feel being the only African American in the country. For the first few months, loneliness was my constant companion.

However, during those moments when my American experience, rooted in segregation, made me cautious of everyone, among the kindness of the Comorian community, a people who spoke a different language, practiced a different religion, and had a different cultural background than mine, I found community and acceptance. I found that people were more alike than they were different.

Through the Peace Corps, I learned the value and power of unity. Empathy became the guiding light for the rest of my life.

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