Alex Touomou

National Identity by Alex Touomou

I have a strong relationship with my national identity. As an African-American kid, I often think about my culture and background. My dad’s side, all came from Cameroon, a country in central Africa. My grandmother on my dad’s side is the person in his family I see the most. She occasionally brings huge trays of Cameroonian food for us, she is a great cook. She also sews African clothes for both me and my sister. The clothes are made beautifully and with awesome-looking cloth patterns. Wearing this clothing may seem like a normal thing when really it is much bigger than that. It shows that you are proud of who you are and where you come from. I am proud to be Cameroonian and when someone asks me where my name, Touomou, comes from, I am quick to say Cameroon.

As I’ve grown up, I’ve slowly started to notice that not many people know where their ancestors came from. In my opinion, it’s very interesting, I always see these stories of people going on these genealogy test websites and when they take the test, they are fascinated by who they really are. There is no such thing as being 100% “American” unless you are a Native. My mom is a mix of German, Irish and Czech, so I have many heritages that I obtain from my parents. My grandma on my mom’s side cooks a lot of Irish dishes with potatoes. She also has many Irish touches around the house. She even has a very Irish maiden name, Kehoe. My grandpa on my dad’s side has a very German last name, Maurer. He and his sister have traced their family and even found the original graves of the first of his ancestors to come to America. They even located where is Germany they came from. Your heritage and culture are a part of who you are and try not to let them go, you’ll find how much you can learn from them.