050 – Dem Smell De Blood, They Know Who You Are
Kennon was raised by in the lumber town of Mattawa, Canada, where he was one of the only people of color in the community. Growing up in a predominantly white community, he later had trouble assimilating into the black and Jamaican communities when he moved to Toronto. Struggling to find himself, Kennon journeyed to the land of his roots, Jamaica, discovered Rastafarianism, and ultimately found the love and acceptance he missed his entire life. The post 050 – Dem Smell De Blood, They Know Who You Are appeared first on Who Am I...Really? Podcast. Kennon: (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/pPWZfkUaOhJamoQpBvB3UZukNfFEyFz9BC3lcwPi25SPKVf4FiIzuHnI4y9SshrE_ePwtSCcw249AzwM_cL_3JzQX4I?loadFrom=PastedDeeplinkats=5.24 (00:05)) She just said, like, I'm so sorry for everything that happened to you. If I knew that just I would have gone to Canada, myself to bring you back to Jamaica, to make sure that you grew up around your people. You know, Damon: (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/pPWZfkUaOhJamoQpBvB3UZukNfFEyFz9BC3lcwPi25SPKVf4FiIzuHnI4y9SshrE_ePwtSCcw249AzwM_cL_3JzQX4I?loadFrom=PastedDeeplinkats=22.82 (00:22)) Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? This is who am I really a podcast about adoptees that have located and connected with their biological family members. I'm Damon Davis. And today you're going to meet Kennon. He called me from Markham, a suburb of Toronto, Canada. Kennon is a man of mixed race who grew up in a predominantly white community. And the racially charged comments he heard in his youth were alienating for a guy who just wanted to belong. When he moved to Toronto, his upbringing in the small town hindered his ability to fit in with people of color throughout Kennon's life. It seems like he didn't belong anywhere until he found his roots in Jamaica. This is Kennon's journey. Kennon grew up in Matawa Canada, a small French Canadian lumber town. He was a Brown skin child in a community filled with white people. He said it didn't take him very long to feel how different he was from the rest of his community. Kennon: (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/pPWZfkUaOhJamoQpBvB3UZukNfFEyFz9BC3lcwPi25SPKVf4FiIzuHnI4y9SshrE_ePwtSCcw249AzwM_cL_3JzQX4I?loadFrom=PastedDeeplinkats=96.32 (01:36)) I was different than others because I lived in a principally white community and a French Canadian community. And I was Brown you know or black or whatever you want to call it mixed. I'm mixed race. So, you know, I'm not, uh, I'm not the darkest man around, but I'm also not a, nobody would mistake me for a white person either. So the pressure of being different, you know, probably prompted me to inquire with my parents, uh, probably earlier than most adopted kids might as to why I'm being targeted for being different and all those kinds of things. Right. You know, my earliest solid recollection of, of really starting to feel that sort of, uh, awkwardness and, and, and understanding that I wasn't, the child of my parents was probably, I don't know, seven, eight, nine years old before it really started to like sink in, in a way that I could, you know, actively think about in a conscious manner. Damon: (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/pPWZfkUaOhJamoQpBvB3UZukNfFEyFz9BC3lcwPi25SPKVf4FiIzuHnI4y9SshrE_ePwtSCcw249AzwM_cL_3JzQX4I?loadFrom=PastedDeeplinkats=160.52 (02:40)) That's fascinating. And what did you think about what, when you say you were targeted for being different, what kinds of things were happening to you that really sort of flagged your difference? Kennon: (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/pPWZfkUaOhJamoQpBvB3UZukNfFEyFz9BC3lcwPi25SPKVf4FiIzuHnI4y9SshrE_ePwtSCcw249AzwM_cL_3JzQX4I?loadFrom=PastedDeeplinkats=173.18 (02:53)) Well, I mean, you know, principally, it was name calling, uh, you know, I heard the N word lot when I was a kid child. I was called Oreo cookie a lot, like Kamala the Ugandan giant. Like there were a thousand names that people had me, you know, tar baby, uh, you... Support this podcast
