By, Wete Telama- Angola

Whenever I heard about cultural identity crisis my first thought would be how someone could not know who they are, why do some people feel lost, as if in between two worlds, not belonging to either of them. I thought that I would never ever feel this way because I fiercely trust in my traditions in my traditions.

The belief of traditions was always emphasized in my family. Since I was a child my father used to tell me stories about his family, their roots, and customs. He taught me how to behave accordingly to the traditions. For me, traditions are a way of living and socializing that identify us as being part of a group. And it effectively applies to the ethnic group that my father belongs to, the Bakongos. He really emphasizes the concept of traditions because it is the basis of his, and therefore, my culture. The Bakongos have a strict sense of family bonds and traditions. For example, if a woman gives birth, the other women of the family would go to her house to cook, clean, and do all the housework for her. The new mother would just to rest and worry about nothing. Another example is a ceremony where the family of the groom would have to offer a symbolic gift to the bride’s family. This ceremony would praise the bride’s values. By knowing all of these traditions’ meanings, I learned to respect and be proud of being part of my family’s traditions. I also learned that by knowing more my traditions, I will know who I am and where I came from.

My father continuously tells me to value the traditions of our family because those traditions identify me. He has always told me that this is really important when I have to live in a foreign country for a period of time longer than one year, and I believe that this is true. Since I came to the United States of America, traditions have gained a new and special meaning to me. I feel that without them, I would have felt lost, with the feeling of not being part of the Angolan culture, or American culture either. The curious thing is that when I was in Angola this feeling was not so intense because I was surrounded by an environment that did not make me think deeply about it. I lived these traditions.

Now that I a in the United States I can understand when people say that they feel lost. Now I know the power that my traditions have in my life, and in this I believe.