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LaToya Powell (SUNY Binghamton 1994) Where I Stand and Why Athough generations before me did not come to the United States from a different country, we as Mrican Americans have endured our own form ofimmigration. My family, originally from Lumberton , North Carolina, migrated to New York City in the fall ofl957. My grandfather Franklin Powell left North Carolina at the age oftwenty-three with his eighteen-year-old wife, Shirley Ruth Powell, in search ofa decent job and a better life for his new family. I interviewed my grandfather to find out what similarities I saw between us, drawing on the concepts ofbordercrossing and traveling. The concepts of bordercrossing and traveling entail not only the idea of moving from one space to another but also the idea of encountering the unknown. From certain standpoints, bell hooks states, "To travel is to encounter the terrorizing force ofwhite supremacy."l It is with this encounter that my grandfather was forced to adopt certain ideas and values that he instilled in his children. Since he and my grandmother are the only parents I've known, their ideas made me the person I am today, and the decisions he made for his family reflect upon the woman I will become. I started out by asking my grandfather, "To what degree did our family feel it was necessary to adapt to white America in the South?" He replied by saying, "We had no choice but to adapt to white America because they had all ofthe work; they were our main source ofsurvival. The young men worked from day to day, nothing was permanent. And your grandmother worked cleaning houses for the whites that lived nearby." I 109 Where I Stand and Why went on to ask my grandfather, "How did you feel about voting, jobs, and Jim Crow lawsl Did you live in a predominantly white or black neighborhoodl " He replied, "Jim Crow laws affected me in every aspect of public service. I was young and did not question why these laws were implemented . I would only hear my mother and the elders of the town complain ; the teenagers did not notice. All we knew was that there was a white, black, and Indian bathroom; we never asked why we couldn't all use the same one." My grandfather also told me that jobs in the South were scarce, especially after the tobacco season had ended and the harvesting was done. He also sharecropped for the whites and picked their cotton. Once this was finished, times got harder than they already were. I asked my grandfather, "How did education rank in your list ofprioritiesl " He went on to tell me that education was not a main concern in his life. He was very young and admitted that he did not look very far into the future. His only concern was work and the survival ofhis family. Once my grandfather came to New York City, he concentrated on getting a good job, and this he did accomplish. He worked for the New York City Transit Authority for the next thirty years of his life and is now retired. During this time he brought into the world and raised five children-six including myself-and in this time he constantly stressed the importance for survival in this white corporate world. He explained to me that he left North Carolina with only a sixth-grade education and was fortunate to receive such a good job. I was raised with only the best and was sent to the best school he could find in our small, predominantly white neighborhood. He felt that if I went to the best schools and had everything the white children around me had, it would make it easier for me to succeed. Mter a large number of Mrican Americans moved into my neighborhood, all of the whites left. I now had black friends, I went to an all-black school, and I spoke Black English. Ofall of the changes that had occurred, my speaking Black English annoyed him the most. Sending me to a predominantly white university enforced his conformist ideas. It also forced me to take on two separate identities. The bus ride home is just enough time for me to complete my transformation process. When I'm in Binghamton, things are different: my guard is down, there's a smile on my face, and I am somewhat carefree. Once I step offof the bus at Port Authority Bus Terminal, I'm a...

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