When I was growing up, Forest Park was full of integrated families. It was amazing. One my best friends was Vietnamese. Another one was half-Mexican, half-black. Another one was from Colombia. Another one was born in the U.S., but his… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, the color of my skin and my rather peculiar background as an Ethiopian immigrant delineated the border of my life and friendships. I learned quickly how to stand alone. — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
You see, at the beginning we weren't fighters. We weren't yellers or throwers, even if we eventually came to be. It would take time… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
I told my parents I was going to be a doctor and then a lawyer, but I never believed it and never tried. — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
“You will never disappear," I said. "Even if it may feel like you have at some point. We're going to remain a part of… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
The fact that I have always been deeply invested in politics, and African politics in particular, inevitably played a role in my first novel… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
Writers, especially those of us with roots in other countries, are rarely left to ourselves. We are asked to declare our allegiances, or they… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
Personally, its a comfort and happiness to know that my work is taken seriously and is not marginalised and put in a box of… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
“If the last thing a man has to hold on to is his sense of pride and accompanying dignity, then more likely than not… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
“Have you seen a hungry man with a gun? Of course not. Such things don't exist. It's like saying, have you ever seen a… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
There are those who wake up each morning to conquer the day, and then there are those of us who wake up only because… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
“She always thought Americans were too territorial. 'All those fences and flags,' she had once said, seeing very little difference between the two.” — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
Ethnic divisions can definitely be exacerbated by a lack of natural resources, but those tensions become violent when people manipulate them for their own… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
“I remember another aphorism of my father's, one that he used to say whenever we passed someone pissing openly in the street: add color… — Dinaw Mengestu Copy Share Image
