1/7 I constantly bring up my wife and her being from the U.S Virgin Islands because through her I am knowledgeable of her and her families history.

My wife was born a U.S. citizen because St. Thomas is a U.S. territory. But because of their unique history and culture..

..she does not identify herself as an "American" even though technically she is. She identifies as St. Thomian and Caribbean. St. Thomians have a unique accent and dialect but people consistently assume she is Jamaican (which pisses her off) and in part this is why she "yanks"..

..when talking to Americans.

U.S territories are afforded most rights of American citizenship but because they are not a "state" they can not vote for president which causes many to be disengaged when it comes to national politics... which creates a lot of issues on its own.

St. Thomas has a lot of problems that Americans/government ignore so many leave to come to the states for better opportunities.

My point is justice for my wife's family looks different from the justice my family is owed. But we both were deprived of the justice promised..

..by the citizenship we both were granted with at birth. Fixing my family won't fix hers and vice versa because our histories are different our needs are different. This is why lumping us altogether under the banner of "blackness" politically does us both a disservice.

To get to a place were we are all equally "American" we have to acknowledge or differences or we will forever be chasing this idea of an "African" sameness that does not exist. Because Slavery was different in different places it set us all on different pathways..

Freedom for all DOS people comes when we all retrace those pathways to the different institutions an governments who enslaved our ancestors and demand that we receive redress for the painful journeys we all took to be here.