"Identities"byAreyaBlanco

What if I were to say I am maroon black and indigenous would people complain say I have no place no right to identify?

The rez pushed me away and the white folk said to stay but, as long as i go by their rules they stereotyped me and then ridiculed me “ you ’ re too black for us ” but my black brothers and sisters looked at me and only saw the mask trama had created i’m exhausted of not knowing who I am or wondering who people want me to be I am maroon and my indigenous roots flow through the ground of Guatemala, Belize and Honduras my people are apart of the Garífuna Nation

I hold my family’s name with pride as they are deeply engraved in my tribe I know little information but my elders teach me as i find more motivation They welcomed me no matter my presentation I thought my blood didn’t matter because I was separated from my land but I have traditions I want to pass and i want to join in my traditional dance i owe no one my blood percent or an explanation of my past i have found what I felt was missin and i’m taking my history back

Maroon

Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who formed settlements away from slavery. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna