Diaspora blues

On my mind so, here you aretoo foreign for hometoo foreign for here.never enough for both. — Ijeoma Umebinyuo I got a last minute invite to join a panel of young Eritrean women in the diaspora to discuss our experience advocating for the humanitarian crisis in Eritrea and our connection to the struggle for freedom. Neither of my parents fought in the Eritrean independence war, but a number of my relatives did and they continue to be passionately involved with raising awareness about the political situation in their home country and supporting refugees and asylum seekers around the world. I was basically raised around non-stop conversations about Eritrean politics at the dinner table and post-dinner coffee, the sound of EriTV blasting in the living room on weekend mornings, and heated social media comments from pro-government and opposition folks. The intensity was strange and unsettling as a kid, but as I grew older and more invested in social justice as a high school and then college student, I wanted to pay attention. It led me to write my undergrad thesis on narratives of Eritrean refugee women resettled in Phoenix.