For this year’s World Language Week, Sacred Heart Greenwich students from the Chinese, Spanish, French, and Arabic classes shared their work from their foreign language classes.  For the 2022 Global Scholars Cohort Presentation, students created portfolios that included academic reflections.  Senior Kayla Malcolm-Joseph wrote a poem for her French class and submitted it as a part of her academic reflection.  She recited “L’Appartenance,” during the Global Scholars Presentation February 16.

“I wrote this poem as part of a French project about belonging last year,” Kayla said.  “Writing a poem was not a requirement in the assignment, but the process got me reflecting on my own experiences being a first-generation American-born citizen.  Sometimes I feel like I am stuck in the middle of being fully Caribbean and fully American hence why I describe my life as a game of tug of war.”

From her nine years at Sacred Heart, Kayla noted that her language teachers always make an effort to include global issues in class discussion.  Her poem, stemming from a French assignment, represents the tenets of a Sacred Heart education.

“Our teachers encourage us to compare and explore how global issues relate to our own lives,” Kayla said.  “Global Scholars and our language department truly embody Goals Three and Four (a social awareness which impels to action and a building of community as a Christian value) because connecting each global issue to our own lives cultivates empathy and encourages us to advocate for one another.”

“L’Appartenance” by Kayla Malcolm-Joseph

Ma vie ressemble à une lutte à la corde 

qui me fend 

jusqu’à ce que mon sang 

coule entre deux côtés: 

L’Américain et l’Antillais. 

Aux États-Unis, j’habite dans le «ghetto» qui est plein de gens noirs et trop dangereux pour les «Américains». Ces mêmes «Américains» qui disent qu’une fille noire est belle bien que, dans le ciel, 

Il y ait tant de noirs tués 

par des policiers 

juste à cause de leur couleur. 

Ma couleur. 

Où se trouve mon appartenance? 

Ce n’est pas en Jamaïque, 

ni à Sainte-Croix ni à Antigua, 

parce que le patois est une langue 

que je ne peux pas comprendre 

bien que je l’entende 

depuis l’enfance. 

Où se trouve mon appartenance? 

Je suis fière de mon héritage 

parce que mes ancêtres m’ont donné le courage. Pourtant, je vais rester dans mon pays, 

car mon appartenance est partout. 

Et donc, elle est ici.

Translation – “Belonging”

My life is like a game of tug of war

that pulls at me

until my blood flows in between two sides:

American and Caribbean.

In the United States, I live in a “ghetto” that is filled with black people

and is too dangerous for the “Americans.” Those same

“Americans” who say that a black girl is beautiful even though,

in the sky,

there are black people who were killed

by police officers just because of their color.

My color.

Where do I belong?

Not in Jamaica,

nor Saint Croix, or Antigua

because Patois is like a language

that I can’t understand

even though I have been around it

since I was young.

Where do I belong?

I am proud of my heritage

because my ancestors gave me the courage to be.

I am, however, going to stay in my country

because I belong everywhere.

I belong here.

Where do I belong?

I am proud of my heritage

because my ancestors gave me the courage to be.

I am, however, going to stay in my country

because I belong everywhere.

I belong here.

Also, take this quiz to test your knowledge of the Francophone world.  Share with friends and family to see who knows the most.

The King Street Chronicle thanks Kayla Malcolm-Joseph for her contribution.

Featured Image by Gabrielle Wheeler ’23