Bassey Ikpi - Homeward (this poem is clean!)

I can't get over these "def poets"...
The poem below I find especially beautiful because of a friend I have here in Seattle. She is Kenyan, although she's lived in the states for over 10 years.
It wasn't long ago that I sat across from her, listening to her share the pressures she's felt to assimilate into the American culture. "To belong" - it's what we all desire, but for some, it requires much more of us.
The majority of people I encounter are similar to me; for me to belong, I'm not required to change much.
...but if my culture was different, my first language was different, the way I thought was different, the way I viewed God was different, the clothes I wore were different, my heritage was different, my history was different, my political views were different...what if I didn't grow up watching the same television shows, or listening to the same music? What if I was always left out of conversations because I couldn't relate to the cultural expressions? What if I had a different color of skin?

I can't remember the last time I cried so hard. I could barely speak, and I felt embarassed. Everyone in the group stared at me in bewilderment. Through the tears, I mustered enough voice to stammer out, "I feel sad for you, but my tears are for my personal loss of you right now. There is beauty in you that I can find nowhere else." I hated that she was forced to assimilate. It certainly was not fair to her, but it was also not fair to me...

There is beauty in her uniqueness, in her heritage, and in her culture. She adds so much to my life that I can find nowhere else, and for others to force her to forget, to leave it all behind...and for what???!!

I hate it. I absolutely hate it. Why do we exclude? Why do we force assimilation? Why can we not celebrate our diversity, our uniqueness, our individual beauty?

I love the poem below because in it, I see the face of my friend.