I'm not British. I'm not American. I'm not French. Whatever thing they practise, that is their business. I am an African. I am Rwandese.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes pride in one's African identity over national affiliations.
Paul Kagame highlights the importance of cultural identity and pride in being Rwandese and African. He asserts that national identities and the practices of other countries are secondary to his deep connection and commitment to his African roots, suggesting that one’s identity should be celebrated and prioritized over arbitrary national distinctions.
In practice
In a speech on cultural pride and unity during an African festival.
Nothing would catch me off guard, because I understand the world I live in. I understand it very well. And the world I live in is not necessarily a fair or just world. I have dealt with these injustices for the bigger part of my life.
In a state of poverty, illiteracy, people just remain exposed to all kinds of manipulation. That's what we have lived. It's easier to tell a poor person, 'You know what, you are poor, you're hungry because the other one has taken away your rights.'
We must create economic opportunity, build a culture of entrepreneurship, get people to take responsibility for improving their lives, rather than putting them in a position where they sit back in their poverty and blame others for it.
Rwanda is not over needing aid, but we can survive with less aid than before.
Africa’s story has been written by others; we need to own our problems and solutions and write our story.
You're trying to grow up, and you don't want to be like your parents, and that gets mixed up with being Korean... They brought their values from Korea, and I accepted them because I didn't know anything more. But as I grow older, I feel more Korean every year; it's very strange.
I'm an actor. Since I was a teenager, I have had to play different characters, negotiating the cultural expectations of a Pakistani family, Brit-Asian rudeboy culture, and a scholarship to private school. The fluidity of my own personal identity on any given day was further compounded by the changing labels assigned to Asians in general.
I'm a Black woman and I've always been told that I wasn't Black enough because of the way that I grew up, the experiences that I had.
My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.
My hats did give me an identity. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time someone has seen me bareheaded and said, 'I almost didn't recognize you without a hat on', I could have bought the Cowboys myself.
I was a mixed black girl existing in a westernized Hawaiian culture where petite Asian women were the ideal, in a white culture where black women were furthest from the standard of beauty, in an American culture where trans women of color were invisible.
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