I stare intently at myself in the mirror. My small, squinty and brown pupils look back at me; dark features overshadow the mirror, wavey yet course hair take pride of my head and face. My long, chicken beak of a nose, large, dark full lips and white teeth smile back at me in the mirror. I can see my Uncle, we call him Red Eagle, because of the dark red skin that is common in Indian features, I see my Dad, high cheek bones and small eyes, reflect my African heritage.
In total amazement, you know, like the way you realize you had an idea or the cartoon effect of the "light bulb" over your head, I saw deeper into myself. The mirror now reflects a small cotton field in the south or a large sugar plantation in Latin America, where indigenous and African slaves meet. The mirror reflects the different mixes of foods, of oral traditions and storytelling of indigenous and African mythology and Christianity. It reflects love and solidarity.
The Mirror reflects my culture(s), the mirror reflects my many different ancestors, their beliefs and ideas. I see much more than a handsome face reflecting back at me, I see past the idea of slavery and the wrong doings of others against my ancestors; I see what is truly important, that I am a child of God, I am apart of His multiethnic family. I see what mattered to my genetic historical background, the mirror reflects the fact that my diverse culture is what will matter later in life, That I Am the World, I am dual identities, and that these identities will live on in my children and their children, WE ARE LIFE!
The Reflection of My Essence by Morales, gives us great imagery of the many cultures. I like how Morales describes the many different cultures he embodies as homes that are not able to be returned to, revisited or traveled to again!
