Daniel’s Story

“I believe America allows you to create your own world.”

This is the 3rd edition of Inverted Blackness, a photoblog documenting Africans living in the United States.

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DANIEL: “I believe America allows you to create your own world. You have the freedom and liberty to do whatever you want. As for me, I’ve been able to create a rigorous academic lifestyle. I don’t have time to sit around and join any recreational talk, like gossiping, as some of our people like to do. There’s no one here to drag me into a conversation I don’t want to be a part of. There’s no one expecting me to come to a funeral or a wedding ceremony by force. So, time is the determining feature of events, right? Here, you cannot create any excuse for not doing what you’re supposed to do and not give an attestation to that effect. The most important thing in my life right now is to get the job done—to get the dissertation written. I am currently writing a paper for one of the courses that I took under Histories of Modernity. I cannot show up at my supervisor’s office empty-handed. I think we give too many excuses in Africa. Coming here makes you think wisely. You cannot come here and be sleeping. Like, you need to die first. Once you die, you have perpetual rest. But so far as you’re breathing in America, you have a lot of things to do. So, you wake up.”

“Life is independent in America. You must be ready to live independently before coming here. If you don’t understand something, your teacher will not ask your classmate to teach you because that classmate probably doesn’t have your time. Everything has to do with navigation. You must know how to navigate around circumstances with little or no help. Especially if you’re here alone like me. And you can’t navigate without abiding by the rules. I think without America we would still live our lives. We don’t necessarily have to come here. But once you’re here, you are trying to limit yourself to the prescriptions of America. So, you must follow the rules. Part of the rule is that you must be ready to take initiative by yourself and work.”

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Daniel was born and raised in Ghana. At twenty-nine, he moved to the United States and currently studies for a Ph.D in African Environmental History at Brown University.

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Thank you for reading Inverted Blackness! This photoblog publishes stories and photographs of Africans living in America, offering a glimpse into the African diasporic experience in the United States.

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