Most populous state7/25/2023 ![]() ![]() And while Keskessa's stories and experiences were unique, they also felt deeply connected to the longer, broader story of the state's - and the country's - changing demographics. I was there to learn more about the state's burgeoning Black immigrant population. I first met Keskessa in November, during a months-long reporting trip to Tennessee. Race In Memphis, Black immigrants navigate a tricky course to a coveted driver's license But one that would also be punctuated with joy, humor, discovery and recognition. It was a journey that would involve moments of confusion, sadness and misunderstanding. But she would spend the next 3 1/2 decades figuring it out. What exactly would that mean as she navigated this new country? Keskessa, like so many other Black immigrants, had no idea. But suddenly, she was Black in the United States - and specifically, in Memphis - a city steeped in all the richness of Black American culture and all the fraughtness of American anti-Black racism. One that wasn't about nationality, but something they all presumably shared: race.Īs an Ethiopian, Keskessa is Black. Looking back, Keskessa thinks this was probably one of the first moments when she began to understand that there was a gap, wide as a canyon, between her experiences and those of her classmates. "So yeah, the first six months to a year was really, really rough for me," she says.įlags fly in Nashville's Bicentennial Park, which highlights Tennessee history from 1796-1996. Understanding the political and social importance of the leader of a movement she'd never heard of was altogether too much. Homesick and culture-shocked, finding her way to her classes was challenge enough. She was the new kid at school, in a new country, learning a new language. But they were teenagers, and feelings were running hot.Īt the time, the significance of the interaction was mostly lost on Keskessa. It's almost too absurd to be satire: a Black kid threatening violence against another Black kid to defend the honor of the leader of the nonviolent organizing movement. the city where King was notoriously assassinated. It was 1987, and Keskessa had recently moved from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Memphis, Tenn. Day, who exactly this King guy was - and why he warranted a day off from school. Titile Keskessa was 15 years old when she "almost got beat up" by a classmate for asking, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. at 15 and quickly realized that the racial landscape in the two countries would be quite different. Queen Titile Keskessa poses during an interview on Feb. ![]()
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