Mel, Why do you travel?
Mel, Why do you travel? When I was younger I was very fortunate to be surrounded by a diverse group of people. My first group of friends were Black, Filipino and Iranian. My parent's friends were Haitian, Jamaica, Iranian, White, Italian, Japanese and Hispanic. My parents moved us from Brooklyn to the DMV, but we would travel back to NY almost every weekend and I would be surrounded by Caribbeans and Puerto Ricans. I was raised in a Haitian-American household, but my mother is part Italian and she would tell me stories about how her aunts would speak Italian and tell me about their culture. My dad is part Hispanic and would always remind me of his Cuban and Dominican roots. He would speak about his Cuban grandfather with the good hair. Every summer we would go to Miami and I would hang out with my Cuban and Dominican friends. I grew up constantly learning about the world. When I was a kid I thought everyone was surrounded by diversity, but I was wrong. Mel in Haiti My
