American

A Photo Story

By Adeola Aderounmu

One of the things we take for granted, and often too, is the basic unit of the society. Family.

Family was the major reason I travelled to the US in 2024. I will share of the details with you, in no specific order.

New York with Uncle Gbaike.

This photo was take in New York at the residence of uncle Gbaike. Beside me is my nephew who took care of his cousin (my daughter) from the first day she arrived in New Jersey. He helped her to get to school and to see that there was always a family around the corner if she needed anything. My niece did not appear in any of these photos because she got married and lives in Texas. I understood she opened up her home to my daughter during one of the holidays.

The issue of how family works, or not work is beyond the scope of this essay. I just want to appreciate the Aderounmus’ in the United States for rallying around one of their own who came calling from Sweden.

New Jersey.

This was on one of the 2 graduation days ceremony. My nephews whom i have not seen in over 2 decades and who have now become mes standing by those of us who came from Sweden. The celebrant herself was not in this photo. She was up stage getting her rewards and awards.

I have to thank Damilola John for taking care of Eniola from day one until the day of her graduation. Guarding angels are not made in heaven. They are made by kind actions of humans to humans. As mentioned earlier, Debby acted as a big sister and opened up her home in Texas. All these under the guidance of Uncle Gbaike in New York.

Lawrenceville School New Jersey

We took a table at Lawrenceville and had a great time at the graduation ceremony.

Family is everything. May the future shine bright for you.

Aderounmu.

Extra picture showing the African community of graduating students from Lawrenceville 2024 along with the school principal.

Posted by Adeola

Original story at Prince 0772

Hi, I’m American and have lived in New York City most of my life. I’ve been living in the richest part of the city and have a successful international job. I am Filipino-American. My friends come from all different backgrounds: white, black, hispanic, indian, asian, you name it. I just moved to Sweden the last 11 months and already have I experienced racism 3 times! It was nothing hostile but I can account for 3 situations and the 3rd one was today, that’s why I searched for “racism in sweden” online. Here were the incidents:

1. I was walking my bike home on a rainy night and 2 drunk Irish guys were smoking outside a pub and cracked jokes in English how I just came off the boat from China. Assuming I didn’t speak English I just said “I’m American. I hear every word.” and walked away.

2. I was riding my bike home and a guy yelled “Nee-How”. Not so bad, but offended to assume I’m Chinese.

3. Today, I went to the supermarket. 5 Swedish kids around 13 years old (I’m 32) were bullying me! I’m 32 and twice their size! How were they bullying me? They just said stupid comments like, “Having a party tonight? Nee-How.”

Again, these incidents were minor. They were just comments. It’s just surprising to me that a culture that I assumed to be so advanced compared to the rest of the world is still struggling with racism issues. I guess Sweden is a bit more homogenous compared to New York. In all 3 occasions I walked away but I feel like educating them. It’s so difficult to have an intellectual conversation when the first impression is ignorance. I sometimes feel like packing my bags and just going back to NYC.

I don’t want to experience this every 4 months while I’m here. But I also want to fight for my belief and teach these people how ignorant they really are. It’s a battle that can’t be solved through violence but education and discussion. I’m starting to believe it’s only an American Dream.