We Are The World

By Amara Okonkwo, Cultural Anthropologist.

The first time I truly understood what it meant to be between two worlds was at a family dinner in Lagos. My grandmother served jollof rice with the same reverence my American colleagues showed for Thanksgiving turkey. In that moment, I realized I was neither fully Nigerian nor fully American—I was something new, something in between.

Growing up in Brooklyn with parents from Lagos meant straddling two vastly different realities. At school, I was Amara with the interesting lunch. At home, I was Ada, my Igbo name whispered with pride by my mother as she braided my hair. This duality felt like a burden for years, a constant negotiation between expectations and identity.

The turning point came during my first trip to Nigeria at seventeen. Walking through the bustling markets of Balogun, I expected to finally feel that sense of belonging I had been searching for. Instead, I was met with curious stares and gentle corrections of my American accent when speaking Yoruba. I was “the American cousin”—loved, welcomed, but distinctly different.