My mom’s blue scarf (What childhood taught me about personal identity)

I had to deliver the speech below at a TEDx Bates College event. Enjoy.

I like to think of myself as a storyteller and a musician. I haven’t been called much of the later and perhaps I shouldn’t make my debut on a stage this big, so I’d tell you a story.

I have been called many things. A student, a friend, a brother, a son, a genius, an idiot… I answer to a lot of these names due to the very specific roles I played or will be playing. But there’s one I’m still getting used to, the name that readily falls out my mouth when asked to introduce myself. Akachukwu. Predictably, you don’t ask what that means. Mostly likely, you’re not sure and sometimes, I am not sure either. So I skip to I’m a Nigerian, student of Bates College,