BUT WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM?

Eliah

She was only 26 years old when she packed her most important belongings into a tiny bag. She had been preparing for this moment for a very long time.

Every week, when she received her salary, she hid it in a small box in the woods. A place only she knew. Somewhere, where nobody would find it. She was fully aware that if her plan worked out, she would have to leave everyone behind in Haiti. Her daughter, her son, her mom. Something that she couldn’t quite wrap her finger around yet. But nobody could know about her plan. It was considered against the popular opinion to leave one’s country. Also, Haiti was under a dictatorship at that time, so the more people would know about it, the more dangerous it could become for herself and her family.

When she was finally able to realize her plan, her kids remained clueless. In the blue of whether they will ever see their mom again, questioning why she had left them behind. Wondering why their mother had walked out on them. But this was the price she had to take if she wanted her plan to work out.

On her journey, she had to pass through many countries until eventually reaching the final destination, France. Upon arrival, she immediately looked for a job. She has always been a hard worker, but as a refugee, she did not have many options and felt invisible.  

As luck would have it, she finally got hired as a housekeeper by a lovely French family.

Instead of getting a regular salary, the family provided her a small room in their house and a daily allowance. She felt very lucky having a safe place to stay. On the first day of work, she pulled out her small box from her bag and put it onto her nightstand. She would save her daily allowance until she would be able to bring family from Haiti to France.

After one year of persevering work, she was finally able to do so. Reunited in safety.

Courageous. Brave. Loving. That’s how Eliah describes her grandma.

Eliah is her family’s third generation living in France. She was born and raised there. While growing up, Eliah has been told her grandma’s story many times. She always wanted to be just like her. A risk-taker. Someone who follows her dreams.

Now, Eliah is a 25-year-old ambitious young woman living in Athens, Greece. She adores her family back home in France, but she decided to follow her own dreams. Dreams different in nature from her grandma’s, but similar in the sense that she takes a risk and follows her heart.

Eliah moved to Athens about a year ago. Being a black woman, she was fully aware that she will stand out since Greece is a country with a predominantly white population. For example, all the time she would get comments about her hair. Eliah never gets mad at these comments. “I know that they are just not used to seeing a black person. Greek culture is so loving and welcoming, I know that most of them don’t mean it in any bad way at all”.

But there is that one question, innocuous on the surface, that brings out mixed emotions in her.

“Okay you’re from France, but where are you really from?”

It’s a question she hears regularly, knowing exactly that it refers to her skin color. But Eliah made a decision. A decision on how to approach this question. She doesn’t want to get mad nor annoyed. She knows that most people asking this question genuinely don’t mean it in a hurtful way. But at the same time, nobody’s real identity should remain invisible. So, she started her own podcast and called it by that same question. Where are you really from?

Ironic in the name, yet well thought-through within. On the podcast, she wants to interview second generation black people with diverse sexualities, genders, and from various social backgrounds. It is aimed at providing an account of their different identities, having in common their skin color and being a minority in a Western country.

“I am sure, that most black people in Western countries get asked the same question regularly. And anyone can react to it the way they think fits” Eliah explains. “But I decided to react to it by raising awareness. I want people to see that every person has their own identity. No matter the skin color.”