" I was born in Africa and raised there until four years ago when I came to the U.S. I am Congo." –Gabriel Etuni '21

"My father immigrated from India about 20 years ago now. I am deeply connected to my family, which includes Indian culture, and I tend to express this in certain ways, like wearing a sari to prom or trying to educate people about India's best parts and the incredible diversity there." –Mira Bohannan Kumar '20

"[My clothes are] from the M'nobo tribe. The Philippines is an amazing country. It’s got this super rich deep culture because it was colonized by so many random places. It’s like the only place in Asia that was colonized by the Spanish and so it’s got this amazing traditional Asian culture." ~Shoshie Hemley '21

"It is a Moroccan tradition to wear this to special events. The whole outfit is worn from the earrings to the scarf, rings to the shoes...my mom and dad are both from Morocco, my grandparents and ancestors are also from Morocco. If you were in Morocco and you would go to a very special event, whether it's a wedding or a baby shower, you’d see a lot of people wearing this. Generations and generations of people have been wearing it." –Ayah Filali '20

"I’m African, that’s where I came from. I was surprised to see these African clothes [in school]. I feel happy when I see [this] clothing, and overjoyed." –Bijou Micheline, Cedar Rapids Jefferson class of '20

“I want [people] to stop judging Africa because of the things they see on TV, because that’s not how it is actually. Based on what they see on TV they shouldn’t just be judging Africans like, ‘You guys don’t have clothes...you’re poor people.’ [People] don’t know what’s in Africa. They just judge Africa based on what they see on TV." –Mariama Diallo '18