Third Culture Kid Vibes
In case it's an unfamiliar term, here's Wikipedia's definition of Third Culture Kids (TCKs):
Children who were raised in a culture outside of their parents’ culture for a significant part of their development years. The definition is not constrained to describing only children, but can also be used to describe adults who have had the experience of being an ATCK (Adult Third Culture Kid). The experience of being a TCK is unique in that these individuals are moving between cultures before they have had the opportunity to fully develop their personal and cultural identity. The first culture of children refers to the culture of the country from which the parents originated, the second culture refers to the culture in which the family currently resides, and the third culture refers to the amalgamation of these two cultures.
Sinkane, the musician responsible for this dopeass song and video, is a TCK. He's of Sudanese descent, was born in London, lived his early years in Sudan, and was mostly raised in Ohio. How We Be is one of two songs I recently discovered that I can't stop listening to. The other song happens to be by another TCK, Sevdaliza.
What I find fascinating is that I heard, and immediately fell in love with, both How We Be and Clear Air before I knew anything about the artists. These two songs struck me hard. Landed in my eardrums and smashed, thumped straight into the middle of my chest. Familiar-sounding funk riffs. Synth cords like you might find in an LCD Soundsystem intro. Soaring yet easy, and almost cold, vocals like Thom Yorke. Flea-like bass lines. A woodwind sneaking in on the verses and making me think of a Gil Scott Heron song. Sinkane's How We Be is simultaneously familiar while being 110% it's own thing.
And what does that have to do with TCKs? Well, as someone who identifies as a TCK, I think we TCKs are in a unique, blessed and potentially helpful position.
This is only my second official Tunesdays post so, if you're reading this, chances are you already know me pretty well. (Thanks for reading by the way, friends!) But just for the sake of being thorough, I identify as a TCK because I'm the first one in my family born in the States. My parents, my brothers, and everyone else before me was born in the Philippines. Ethnically, I identify with being Filipina. Nationally, I'm American. Culturally, I'm both Filipina and American; and neither, fully. I was also raised in a part of New York where — while I was navigating, exploring and asserting my identity as Filipina and American — I also experienced what it's like to be one of only a few kids on the school bus who weren't black. Things were even more interesting once we all stepped off the bus during the elementary school days. On the school bus, I was picked on. I kept a jar of peanut butter in my cubbies at school to remove the gum that was regularly put in my hair. Once we all got off the bus though, once we were at our elementary school where most of the kids were white, I got daps and hugs from the black kids on my bus instead of gum in my hair. By the time we were all in high school, most of this went away. For the most part, the jerks and bullies got picked on and the nice kids were the cool kids. For the most part... It was still high school after all.
Growing up, I floated between feeling proud, confused, fluid and challenged by my identity. I felt something between weird and special. As early as I can remember, I never thought of myself as any one thing. Not just Filipina. Asian. American. A New Yorker. A Floridian (where I was born). An athlete. An artist. A nerd. And most of the people in my life today are similarly situated. They actively hold multiple identities — including the ones that have been, and continue to be, marginalized.
Those of us that hold a multitude of identities, along with the pride and complication that comes with it, fundamentally see the world differently. We know, in at least one dimension, what it means to be the "other" and, therefore, we viscerally know the importance of belonging. TCKs also appear to make better music. Oh, and The First Black President of the United States of America happens to be a TCK, as well.
