My Name
to those who think I’m a foreigner on US soil
not native to the USA.

Don’t get it twisted
it’s HALIMA ASHA MITCHELL …
just because it has some arabic roots
and have been used amongst the muslimic crowd
doesn’t mean, I’m arabic
nor muslim

I have never been arabic
nor muslim
so don’t go into this story about
how the name of the lady who breast fed mohammed’s children
was Halima with an h at the end:
Halimah

no offense,
but i really don’t give a rat’s [bleep]
what’s my nationality
what’s my race
my origin

i’m an american
a brown-skinned american
i’m not black.
african-american?

well i don’t personally know my ancestry
but if i go along with history
and society
i’d be classified as
an african-american
because of my ancestry
supposedly
whomever they are
society knows and I don’t
What gives?!
but until i can successfully
trace my roots
all the way back to africa
i will remain a brown-skinned american
that i do know is concrete

my niece however is an African and an American
her father is Ghanan
her mother, my sister, a brown-skinned American
so that would make my niece,
their daughter,
a true African-American
direct roots for sure
and ancestry for sure

I do not deny
that which I cannot claim
since i just honestly cannot say
for certain
my roots
trace all the way back to Africa
that’s just being real
and honest
not trying to be
or claiming to be
something
i may actually not be
so I remain open
to possibility
however, refusing to claim uncertainty

let’s go down the list
just a couple for starters:
some people think i am
a pacific islander
some ask me if i’m arab
but who based upon my looks
and the color of my skin
has thought first thoughts
she must be african-american?
she must be black-american?
she must be black?
hmm?
only those who can’t see out of black and white
those whose native land is the US of A

And those whose native land isn’t the USA
they are the ones asking me my race/nationality/culture
they seem to think I’m a foreigner living on US soil
because apparently to them
i don’t look “black” nor “african-american”
let alone even “american”
interesting
very interesting to say the least.

i am said to have irish in my blood
to explain my small, thin lips
i believe my mother told me that once
as most africans/african-americans are known to have
thick full lips
i do not
but even that doesn’t mean I couldn’t be part african, no?
hehe.
i am SAID to be a lot of things

but one thing i know for certain
and certainty now that I WILL claim:
i am
a brown-skinned
american
born in america
but raised overseas
in two different countries
mostly in Japan
than in Turkey.

yes i’m a military brat
and proud of it.

so refrain from trying to classify me
if you want concrete accuracy
then do away
and listen
for those who have come to me
in person or online after seeing my photos
or hearing what my name is after I tell
or seeing it on my drivers’ license
at the cash register
assuming one thing or the other
let me set the record straight
to your many questions:

i am not turkish
i am not from pakistan
i am not from brazil
i am not from india
i am not from the middle east
i am no arab
i am no hebrew
i am no muslim nor have i ever been
heck i don’t even follow religion
nor am I a participant.

yes i know the name also means beautiful
people have a tendency to educate me about its meaning
in several different languages
and well gosh
i cannot be educated enough
about the name
thank you all
for the history lesson about it

i am Halima
without the h at the end
the name was given to me
by my brown-skinned american father
a name he found in an african baby name book
at least that’s what my mom says
when i asked her in my younger days

Halima
from the swahili language
means gentle.

Asha
from the swahili language
means life.

Mitchell
my father’s last name
who knows where that came from
haha
i’ll look it up.

I am
Halima Asha Mitchell
compared to most
I suppose you can say
I have had a gentle life.
And sure I love the flow of my name

and until i have concrete evidence of my roots
whether it be from pakistan, india, africa or other
this is what i am and nothing more:

I am a spirit
I am energy
I am brown-skinned (not black)
I am an American (North American not South)
I am a spiritual brown-skinned energetic North-American
born on American soil of the North
but south within Florida
Cocoa Beach to be close
St. Patrick Air Force Base to be exact
borne of parents brown-skinned like me (not black)
and American
one born in Florida
the other born in Texas
though I was raised overseas

This is who I am
concerning my nationality
my race
my roots
regardless what society teaches
in schools and leads the mass to believe whatever
my roots could very well trace back to pakistan
or some other country and continent
until there is concrete evidence otherwise
there it is
very plain and simple
so stop asking me after seeing my photos
or seeing me in person
if i’m arab, turkish, indian and so on.
i’m tired of repeating myself to people
the reason for this post
of which i will immediately direct you to
if you ask me one mo’ gin’ (again)

I’ve given it to you straight
so don’t
twist it!

Enough said.

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