Shanell Brown is fifteen years old and lives in Richmond Hill, Queens. She is a sophomore at New Visions AMS IV. She enjoys reading and helping others. Being apart of future image makers has helped her gain a new perspective of the people and things around her. It has helped her express herself in a way she has never been able to before.
Growing up I always felt like I didn’t fit in. Attending a catholic school in Jackson Heights from elementary to middle school no one I knew was the same nationality or ethnicity as me. It was hard for me to be comfortable in my own skin when nobody looked the same as i do nor was from the same place. Coming into high school, it was quite different a large amount of people were also Trinidadian and African American. However I am told almost everyday that I don’t look neither. They laugh and say that I must be Hispanic or Indian. As a result of this I have struggled with my identity. When I am asked the question ‘Where are you from?” I hesitate out of fear of being judged. Due to my insecurities I felt like I couldn’t fully share with others who I was culturally. For a while I believed there was one certain way someone had to look in order to be considered a true Trinidadian or a true African American. Through taking photographs of my family I have realized that so many people can look different even though they come from the same place or share the same roots.