Last month, I had the pleasure of recording this song as a Round 4 winner of the Emergent Seed DC artist grant.
The song, Come Back Home (Black and Brown), was inspired by a conversation I had with a fellow farmer of color back in 2017 right after Donald Trump's inauguration into U.S. presidency. This farmer friend expressed their community's fear of deportation and loss of residency in the United States, splitting of families, losing jobs, upending the lives they've cultivated.
I was, at the time of our conversation, in my patrilineal homeland of Pernambuco, Brazil. I had arrived there to spend time with my father's family, eating the foods and fruits that are native to my blood, breathing in the ancient earth that my ancestors lived from, a land where I feel home. Just a short visit would revive my spirit, giving me energy to return to the country of my birth, the United States, and continue living here.
After conversing with my farmer friend, I realized just how privileged I am to be able to go "home" to another country to visit my family and then return to my usual residence with no problems, no unruly questions asked, no outlandish hassles or harassment, no threat of deportation. And so I wrote this song as a reflection of the thoughts I had there.
The song is a call for people to reclaim, rename, and remember their own relationships with home, whether it's where they're from or where they're going.
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