Represent your culture. Your heritage.
Be proud of the tongue your great grandmother spoke.
Be proud of the land your parents left behind;
the home they long to go back to.
Be proud of the thousand and some stitches that go into your people’s clothing.
Be proud of the foods that took thousands of year to perfect.
Be proud of the skin color that you carry with you- it weighs more than any flag.
Be proud of your culture,
because when you go out into their world,
They won’t care about what you’ve accomplished,
what you’ve become.

They’ll tear you down and look at you with disdain,
they will speak slowly to you so you “comprehend” what rubbish they have to say but won’t give a damn that your vocabulary spans two oceans, four languages, and countless generations.
Be proud of where you came from because,
be it from a mile away,
or a conversation face to face,


they will treat you like the dirt they step on,
when you are silken rugs of Iran,
the dunes of Rajasthan,
the lakes of Pakistan,
and the sounds of Delhi.

Be proud.