I chose to live in America for a year because as a Londoner, I always imagined nyc as the next big ‘home’ for me. That’s mainly because of my visit there three years ago. But I also needed to stretch myself and being 5000 miles away from home, really did that. It’s been a great year and I can say that I’ve made friends for life on the other side of the pond
I’d say Americans are a lot more open with things, and completely raw about how they feel. That’s a cultural difference I’d always admire about them, I feel as though Brits can be a bit conservative – it’s ok to free yourself and speak your mind.
As a natural introvert, the rawness of people threw me of at first, but now I can’t sit still. If something moves me, I’ll rant on for hours… I’d say I definitely found a part of myself there.
The food was perhaps the most obvious cultural difference. I was spoilt for choice everywhere. Popeyes though will always have a place in my heart.
Fashion sense. You either love it or hate it over there. However, I would say that a lot of the styles I saw there were influences of European fashion in New York and the most obvious being London.
I think the craziest fashion I saw in New York was a girl topless. With dotted painting and piercings all over face. She styled the look really well with her baggy denim jeans. This look was in Union Square, where a lot of the craziness happens in NY so that was no surprise.
I admired the girls confidence, because her look was all about liberating herself.
I visited the ‘Brooklyn Museum’ and ‘The Studio Museum’ in Harlem. Both of these museums capture the cultural environments of both Brooklyn and Harlem. The exhibition that I saw at The Brooklyn Museum was mainly focused on the representation of ethnic women. Mostly Arab and black women. Each exhibition demonstrated the woman’s desire to escape the marginalised box that society has put them in.
The Studio Museum in Harlem was only representative of black culture which was perhaps my favourite. It made me realise that I was learning more and more about myself as an aesthetic art form. And to recognise my melanin as a form of power and life at the beginning of 2016 is still mind boggling.
Nevertheless, both exhibitions reminded me that I am a young black woman, still trying to find my ‘place’ in this world. Whether it’s through art or literature, I’m still trying.
All images taken by Romany Francesca and if used, to be credited appropriately.
