Though America was built on the forced labor of millions of people who were ripped from their homes and brought to the then-foreign land to make it something great, the immigrant experience is a challenging one in the U.S., particularly for immigrants of color. When my parents moved stateside from Kenya in the mid-1980s, they were not welcomed, and they both had to fight for every opportunity they acquired. Unfortunately, things aren’t much different today. America’s hostility toward those not from the country who dare to build a life for themselves in the U.S. is just as palpable today as it was generations ago. However, the Black immigrant experience has become more nuanced since the racial reckoning that erupted following the murder of George Floyd . Blavity spoke to three Black immigrants about their experiences and relationships with their Black identity to unpack that shift. “Prior to coming to America, the only experience of Blackness I had was what was portrayed by...
