This object represents my family’s cultural identity. The Lappa is a West African cultural garment that expresses the West African culture with different patterns. My family migrated from Monrovia, Liberia on the west coast of Africa near the Atlantic Ocean in the 1980's. They migrated to the East Coast of America in Staten Island, New York. Currently, one of my aunts lives in New York with my Grandma; another aunt lives in Pennsylvania, and my last aunt lives in Louisiana while my mom and I live in California. My family’s story is unique because they ran away from a Civil War between President Doe and Charles Taylor. My mom and my aunts were all very young at the time they ran away. My mom is the oldest of the sisters, and she was 11 at the time. My great-grandma, grandma, mother, and aunts are first-generation immigrants so my cousin and I are second generation. I have some family back in Liberia such as cousins and uncles. My mom still has Lappas that were given to her by her grandmother, and she wears them around the house while she is relaxing.

– EA

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant