i am displaced.

It’s something I’ve always been aware of but as this project progresses and more conversations are had with family, friends and strangers…I become increasingly aware of the misconceptions we hold of refugees and displaced people. To get my point across I’d like to share a personal story.

I was displaced. Born in Wisconsin, I am and always have been a citizen of the United States. I was born in a home with domestic violence, which is a story too common and too often untold. I was young when my mother worked up the courage to leave my father and our home. I was young enough not to remember a second of it but not young enough to be forever scarred.

My mother left our home with nothing. She left nearly everything she had accumulated over her short 20 (something) year life. There was no other choice, it was now or never. We had no where to go with no resources or money. There was a rift between her and her family and when you’re in an abuse relationship, friendships are hard to come by. We ended up at a woman’s shelter where we lived until we could put back together the pieces of our lives. At that time we relied solely on the goodwill and generosity of strangers. Thanks to beautiful strangers turned friends and healed family relationships we eventually made a life on our own, but for a moment we were internally displaced.

There is no single story to being a refugee or displaced person. Millions of Americans are displaced each year because of gentrification, domestic abuse, poverty or natural disaster. Thousands more international refugees and displaced people are relocated to America from numerous countries throughout the world. Yet there are an estimated 62,000,000 refugees and 25,000,000 internally displaced people in the world. It’s an epidemic that shows no sign of seizing.

I find often that people assume that refugees are African and some are, but many are not. Displaced people come from every country and continent. The displaced are black, red, white, brown and any other color you can think of. It spans race, religion and culture. Much like I believe no one is free until we’re all free, I feel we’re all displaced until no one is displaced. i am displaced.

~Candance