Welcome

Hello and welcome to the very first official Mangoes and Masala blog post.

You may have a couple of questions so here's a quick Q+A:

1. Why is it called "Mangoes and Masala"?

If you grew up in a West Indian household, you know Mangoes and Masala are two items you will find in your kitchen no matter what. Mangoes represent the sweetness of the Guyanese identity and Masala represents the South Asian roots in Indo-Caribbean culture.

2. What content can we expect?

Coming December 2020, there will be blog posts (and book reviews!). The main purpose of this blog is to discuss and provide a safe space for people of Guyanese descent or Mixed Guyanese descent to feel comfortable in exploring their racial identity. Many mixed people are all too familiar with the feeling of "not being enough" for either side. I want to address those feelings and concerns and help others explore ways of feeling more comfortable with their ancestry.

I'm starting this blog because as I've gotten older, I 've become more comfortable with my self-identity. Growing up, telling people I was mixed Guyanese rendered a lot of VERY mixed responses. Some people didn't believe me, some people thought I was South Asian, and some people didn't even know what Guyana was (yes, true story and I will definitely be writing a post about that). People perceive me in so many different ways, but their perceptions of me don't actually CHANGE who I am. This blog will resonate with you regardless if you're mixed Guyanese or not. Mixed people are too familiar with the feeling of not being enough for either side. It's a feeling of being stuck in limbo between two worlds. This is for those people who feel like they don't quite fit in.