wasn't raised in Louisiana like my grand and great-grands. was born and raised in Texas. 'Cause of ancestry, that makes me a Texas-Born Creole. Creole has come to mean many things; mostly racialized. but Creole actually means, 'native to the place...' the place being where one was born.
*mo dê mémær é pépær and
mo dê gro-granparen were actually born and reared in Louisiana before migratin' to Port Arthur, Beaumont, and Houston, Texas.
mo moman é tant were not taught Louisiana Creole or Louisiana French (we don't know which one my great grandfather spoke). but certain words they would say, seem to maybe point to the family speaking Louisiana French, however without audio evidence; its a shot in the dark. I found my home with learning Kouri-Vini (Louisiana Creole) and leaning into my ethnicity as a Texas-Born Creole. If Louisiana Creoles are a sub-set of American Racialized Culture then Texas-Born Creoles are a sub-set within that sub-set. Some joke that South East Texas, should have been apart of Louisiana. I was born in Port Arthur, TX which is full of Creoles and Cajuns.
after forty
reclaiming my heritage
heritage is locked up
in
language
*mémær/pépær - grandmother/grandfather
*gro-granparen - great grandparents
*moman - mother
*tant - aunt
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