Famous, Ethiopian, & Adopted

Marcus Samuellson is a famous Chef and was featured in an article at Tadias Online Magazine. I was familiar with him, but did not know until reading this article that he was not only Ethiopian but adopted and raised in Sweden.

In several conversations I've said that I don't believe my (adopted Ethiopian) children will be either Ethiopian or American but find themselves somewhere in between. They will always be Ethiopian by birth but their socialization will come from being raised in the US. As they grow older they will have to decide how they want to be identified. Finding ourselves is not unique to children of adoption nor to children who grow up in different places.

Samuellson describes it this way...

“The difference between an immigrant and an adopted kid, is that when you are an immigrant you are more clear on your identity; you are Ethiopian. When you are adopted you are stripped a little bit of one identity, and when you grow up you sort of go back to that identity.” “

He compares his upper middle class Swedish upbringing with that of his childhood friend Mesfin’s, who lived in close proximity to Stockholm’s ‘Little Ethiopia’ neighborhood. “What my friend Mesfin had was a community that I wasn’t familiar with. He was exposed to Ethiopian music, language, identity and customs.” Read the whole article on Tadias Magazine Online