Who Do You Think You Are?!!

This may sound like a rude question, right? It’s not really; if you think it is, you need to think about the answer to it some more. Sometimes I do forget who I think I am. Let me tell me who I feel I am at the moment....

I think I’m a global citizen, a human being first of all. African with ties to 3 continents so far by way of residence; with friends and people that I consider family from all backgrounds, creeds and places. I think I’m an international social chameleon; a quiet giant with a versatile, open mentality on any social issue.

As a 24-year-old man born and bred in Accra, Ghana by Ghanaian parents, the question of who I am is closely associated with who I should be. Ethnic or religious identity has never been my trademark. Although having lived in Ukraine since 2003 - my whole young adult life - I have developed a strong identity of a black man and an African with all it means. I have created my own country, "Humania".

It lies between the heart and the mind with no territorial claim and I feel the whole planet is my home. The complexity of being human and our obsessions with fixed identities and categorizations mesmerizes me more than anything else.

As a psychology and computer science student, I do believe that African union is the only way out of the quagmire. People should be able to move freely and transcend all forms of mental and physical boundaries.

Family and national belongings should not be used to divide us but to better understand each other and bridge our gaps because we have a lot that unites us. I have become a black man in Europe but I try to move beyond that and not to let others impose their will on me.

I am what I am because of circumstances and choices I make in life. I believe I am my own country: the clothes I wear are my national flag; the song I sing in the shower is my national anthem and all my body parts are the different departments and ministries of my government.

The social ministry goes to the eyes, mouth and ears. The home affairs ministry functions through the heart and the brain and my sexual organs have the most important portfolio covering foreign affairs.

To be a human being is to understand oneself by understanding others. This can only be achieved by creating relationships with other fellow humans on the basis of true humanism: one love; one heart and one destiny.

All this is subject to change though. So now I ask you again, who are you? Who do you think you are?!! Express yourself!!! If you don't other people will do it for you; and that is where the stereotypes set in.