Amy Joy Myers,
New Haven, CT
I grew up in a small CT town where most people were White, including my friends. My family is Black. A friend is high school told me once that I was just like her, that she didn’t even notice I was black. At the time I took it as a compliment. I did not realize how much of my identity I compromised just so I could blend in, seem familiar to my friends, make others feel comfortable around me. So naive. My dad explained it to me one day, that I had become an Oreo cookie. Black on the outside. White on the inside. As an adult it has been my goal to be authentically me. It can be hard.
