Humans of 黑料社: Ashrakat Hassan '24

Humans of 黑料社: Ashrakat Hassan ’24

Jamie Aiken '23
March 10, 2022

Ashrakat Hassan ’24 is a sophomore Politics major and African American Studies minor.听

“The thing that鈥檚 very interesting about being a part of a diaspora is that I鈥檝e only been to Sudan once before. So as much as that鈥檚 where I鈥檓 from, I do kind of have this mini identity crisis of who I am, and where I’m from. And I will always claim Sudan no matter what, but it’s hard when you’re so far away from there. The culture and traditions are kind of far removed from you. And there are people that are so much closer to their country than I am because they go to visit every summer. So, it can feel a bit isolating, and a bit different. But whenever I鈥檓 back there, I鈥檓 like, this is home, this is where I鈥檓 from.听

Both of my parents are from the Eastern part of Sudan, in the countryside. When they were coming to the States, they had a transition period in Cairo鈥攁nd that鈥檚 where I was born. We moved here when I was a baby, and have lived in Clarkston, Georgia ever since. The thing about being an immigrant is that even when you try not to assimilate, it鈥檚 kind of forced upon you. You wear different things; you look a different way. Now, all that ties my family to Sudan is our DNA, sometimes the media that we consume, the music we hear, and the food we eat. That can be very disappointing and depressing. But it鈥檚 a product of being an immigrant鈥攊t’s hard to hold on to something millions of miles away from you. But my parents make every effort to cook the foods they ate as kids, dress us up in clothes from back home, and make sure we talk to family as often as we can. It鈥檚 nothing like the real thing, but it鈥檚 all we鈥檝e got.听 My younger brothers were both born in the States. But when we went to visit Sudan, they were much more immersed in the culture than I was鈥攂ut I think that was just because I was 13 and being a little bit of a brat. Hard time going through puberty when you don’t know the culture, miss the luxuries of home, and miss your dad. 听 But it was interesting to see how immersed they were. They really enjoyed seeing the Nubian pyramids, going to the markets, playing with our farm animals. They had a much richer connection to being home. Because I鈥檓 the one who speaks Arabic best, I鈥檓 the one who watches Arabic shows. For me, that鈥檚 the one connection that I have to my culture. Whereas for them being born here, they鈥檙e American, in the full sense of the word. So, I think for them, it was just like, desert, sand, donkey! But for me鈥攎y identity is there and due to my age and everything else I feel like it was harder to appreciate it. If I were to go back, say, tomorrow, the trip would mean the world to me. Sudan isn鈥檛 just where I鈥檓 from, it鈥檚 who I am.听 I don鈥檛 want to say that there鈥檚 a disconnect between Africans and African Americans. Because if anything, I feel like that will divide us as a community even more. But being an American descendant of slaves versus an African immigrant…the experience is the same, in some ways, but different in other respects. We鈥檙e treated the same way in terms of face value, like skin color, right? But in terms of being at home, with Thanksgiving dinner and everything鈥攎y family, we don鈥檛 do that.听 It鈥檚 a very different world and experience, but there are things that unite black people in America. And I think that learning about that is important to me, to understand their experiences and how they鈥檙e different from mine. If anything, it鈥檚 why learning more about Sudanese culture is imperative to me; learning about the culture of my fellow Black folks here is just as important as learning about my fellow Sudanese people back home.听 That鈥檚 why I added an African American studies minor. Because these conversations need to be had, and I just wasn鈥檛 having them before in grade school. It鈥檚 really interesting to get an in-depth look at history, and I love those classes so much. Disciplines where students can get closer to other cultures and histories can also mean learning more about their own. I鈥檓 doing my honors thesis on Sudan and the coup that occurred this past year and several years ago. Each day I鈥檓 learning something new about Sudan and myself and I鈥檓 so thankful to 黑料社 for giving me that opportunity.” 听