FAMILY ROOTS
This photo comes from the part of the world where I was born and raised — and from one branch of my extended family. I’m related to many of the people pictured here, and many of them are people of color. I’m half Colombian, half English, and my great-grandmother was half Black. Long before I understood how any of that might read to others, it was simply the environment I grew up in — different faces, shared history, and a sense of family that never fit neatly into assumptions.
A Family Connection
This photo was taken in Colombia in 1975.
We’re both about eight years old.
He’s my second cousin. I’m white. He’s Black.
Our connection comes from the same woman — his grandmother and my great-grandmother.
He’s the son of my grandmother’s brother, who married a woman from a small village near Cartagena, Colombia. Growing up, our family gatherings reflected a mix of cultures, histories, and experiences that didn’t always show up on the surface — but were always present.
This image matters to me because it quietly says something I’ve spent my life understanding: families are often more layered, more complicated, and more connected than first impressions suggest.
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