If someone were to ask you, where are you from? What would your response be? I would start of by saying I’m from Indy born and raised; but specifically, my home is in a suburb on the north east side. This only gives perspective of my physically inhabitance, it has nothing to do with who I am as a person.
Taiye Selasi is a woman who contested this question. Career wise Selasi has dove headfirst into the life of Afropolitans and what that means. Furthermore, she posed this new question where are you local? She broke down the differences in asking “where are you from?” and “where are you local?” The difference lies within the intention not more so the specificity. When asking where you are from? One can be playing a game of power intentionally or unintentionally. The power grab for people can be unintentional and harmless but once it become intentional it is malicious. It quickly transitions to why are you here? The responses to this question vary from “London but was raises in Toronto and born in Accra” or “Lagos but grew up in Houston, Texas”. The “but” breaks the statement into fragments, making it an inflexible statement. Though altering a response, given by Selasi, “I’m a local of Lagos and Berlin” where the “and” joins the two-world making them into one, it can’t be denied. Where you are from can result in mutually exclusive categorical responses.
Selasi dissects locality into three R’s rituals, the relationship and restrictions which can all form through one human experience. The human experience is distracted from the restrictions of the place. Locality exhibits experiences, not inhabitance. I’m from Indy but really, I’d be local to Richmond Virginia, Orlando, Florida, or Bloomington. I played lacrosse all across the nation, visiting the same place year after year tying myself to the locality of Richmond and Orlando, where rituals included eating at the same restaurants and building upon the relationships made with other teams. Furthering, I’m local to Indy but more specifically with my relationships to the homeless community shelters scatter across the city, or the families and kids at Miracle Place. I am local to Bloomington where I find myself gaining educational and experienced based knowledge through course and connections across the city. Here I have developed into a person that I respect, love and want to see do purposeful work for the good of others. I am tied to Little 500, as student athlete I’ve remain dedicated, self-motivated and organized in my agenda. My experiences have shaped my locality to which I am grateful. I’m Gretchen Reeves, I’m local to Indy, Miracle Place, Bloomington and Little 500.