IDENTITY

IDENTITY is a lecture written by Peter Roberts. It establishes the way people identify themselves through, culture, nationality and language. In the lecture it is discussed what is home to different people. Some call home the place where their family and loved ones reside. Others call home the place they were born in and some people call home the place where their first language is spoken.

To me home is the place where my family is. I have lived alone in San Juan for the past five years while studying in the UPRRP and I have never been able to call it home even when I like it there. This is because no matter how many friends and distractions I have in San Juan when I'm alone my mind drifts off to my family in Arecibo. Surely some would say that feeling does not go away even when you move on, get marry and make your own family. I agree with them. One of the reasons I am trying to become a professional it's so that I can get a good job while staying close to my family and loved ones.

Strangely sometimes people call home or identify to people who speak their same language. When we travel to other countries that speak a different language and we hear someone talking in Spanish or English they almost immediately make us feel safer and they become our friends. Last year I went to an internship in New Mexico. I thought I was the only puertorican there until one day when I was waiting in a bus stop and a couple of interns that seemed to be older than me started speaking Spanish but with a particular accent. Puertorican accent. I remember at that moment my mom called me and they heard me talking with her. When I hung up on her they introduced themselves and said it was nice to meet another puertorican there. From that moment on the three of us became good friends.

My father used to be in the US NAVY. I told him about this reading and what he thought about it. He said, more than the language, was the nationality. He never suffered racism from other militants but he said that militants from the same country did get along better. They became almost instantly identified with one another. "Being away from home the next best thing you have close to home is a person from the same country and culture", he said.  

Identity is part of all human beings. 
We do it by nature and by need, whether it's by a language, a religion or a nationality. Identity creates new bonds with new people and break bonds with others, sometime for the better, sometimes for no good reason at all.