On Language and Belonging
Above is the full audio version, and below is an excerpt from an essay I wrote during my time as a Spring Artist-in-Residence at Mas Palou, Penedes, in May 2021.
I cannot remember how old I was when my parents insisted that we speak Yoruba at home because we were learning and speaking English in school. It must have been before I turned 6, because my brother’s first sentences were a mash of Yoruba and English. For my parents, it was about giving us a heritage that would be ours in a way they probably did not think English could fully be. Now, English and Yoruba are the languages in which I think, speak, and move through the world easiest. Still, these languages, on their own, were never able to give me an easy pass into community in Nigeria.
Having lived with neurodivergence, I know the ways my tongue can seize of its own volition, or that my mind can step out of my body while I am amongst people, and leave me unable to step into their worlds. Despite being a writer, I often struggle with words. The words to say how I really feel and to hold myself steady, moored in the worlds I have to be in. If you have experienced neurodivergence or even been the different one in any setting, maybe you know what I am talking about. How it can sometimes feel like you are an unwilling captive in your own mind at the times when you most want or need to speak.
Read the rest HERE, on the Mas Palou blog or listen to the audio version above.
Enjoy some photos from my time at Mas Palou…
