Ian Shad Clayman

Two countries separated by a common language.

I was done. It was the end of my effin road. As a person of color in the oasis of he United States that is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, I feel like that I have been played a pawn. I was only 7, but. I had always had a curious nature. Even at a young age I felt that I had something to say. On my 7th birthday my mother asked me what I would like. I only asked for a little black notebook so that I could write down my thoughts and my dreams for the future. I was, and I am, always curious. I did everything right, that society told me to do. I was the first to finish high school in my family, and against all odds, the first to finish college in my family. We are second a generation family descended from American slaves, brought here by Europeans, and sent back home to Liberia as free persons.