Being a black African girl in Turkey.

At Anitkabir.

One day I will write about this place.

This is the excuse I often use to avoid talking about things. However, today I want to open up a little and share my experience as a black African girl in Turkey.

P.S: I speak from my experience. And yes, I am very salty.

1. Realizing that you’re black.

Back home in Kenya, the only labels I ever proscribed to were female and Kenyan, sometimes Luo and African. But living in a non-black country, oh it hits you right in the face! You are black. You notice it from the stares in public spaces, when people are whipping out their phones to secretly(insert eye roll emoji) take pictures of you, when you’re the only black person on the metro, when kids look at you in fascination and sometimes horror… It goes on and on. I remember how when I first got here and I still did not know anyone, the feeling of seeing another black person was priceless. Also, the nod is a real thing guys.

2.The questions.

There is a thin line between curiosity and ignorance. Hence, not knowing where people’s questions come from and how to react to them drives me crazy. In my first week in Turkey, the dorm officials where I used to stay called me to ask me if I shower and how often I do so. This was a display of ignorance and utmost disrespect. In the same week, an old man asked very confused me if he could touch my braids. *screams in Solange Knowles’ Don’t Touch My Hair* This I took as curiosity.

Sometimes it’s both. Like when a bank teller, on response to asking me where I was from, remarked, “Oh Kenya the jungle!” Or the multiple times I have been asked about ‘the ongoing war in Rwanda’. (Wyd Turkish education system???)

Sometimes the questions are about your body which makes it even ruder. How often do you wash your hair? Do you even have pubic hair?(Ha! This happened to my roommate though.)

In all this what has fascinated me is how calm and patient I have been with people. I never knew I had it in me to give African history and geography lessons or let people pet my hair.

3.The fetishization.

As a black woman, you are seen as exotic. Here, when men hit on you they tell you how they don’t like white women, they only want ‘African queens’. As if throwing another woman under the bus to compliment another is a compliment.

Also a result of the fetishization, I find that there is a lot of sexual harassment ,even in public spaces . Some men even go as far as following you around or grabbing you. In the metro, some men go as far as shoving their elbows into your boobs or trying to align their crotches with your bum.

There’s also an assumption that black girls in Turkey are sex workers.

4.Çikolata

Çikolata is the Turkish word for chocolate. As a black girl you hear this word thrown around a lot. It is supposed to be a compliment. I ,however, absolutely hate it. See, there’s a difference between describing someone as chocolate-toned and calling them chocolate.

This summer I taught English at a school where in a bid to familiarize me with the kids, the teachers introduced me as Teacher Chocolate. Some also used it because they could not remember my name. I swear every time I heard that name, my ancestors scolded me for not putting an end to it. Sometimes I wonder what if I flipped the script and called someone sand,paper or insert any other name given to fair toned foundation shades. Would it still be a compliment? No? Didn’t think so.

5.Zenci.

Zenci, a Turkish term for black person, is another word you hear a lot as a black person in Turkey. The term came from the word Zenj which referred to Southeast Africa where Bantu Dragons, sorry I mean Bantu speaking people, lived. According to a Quora forum I came across, zenci is not a negative term. However most of the times I have heard the word thrown at me, it was with offensive undertones. It was meant to be an insult. To me, it is up there with nigger. Many people will not agree with me but I am of the school of thought that people should have a say in how they are labeled. So if you are Turk and a black person is uncomfortable/offended by it, don’t use it!