Arabic salad, vegetable biryani, Sudanese white beans, and Afghani qabili palau were passed around Sunday to the beat of African drumming — and the tales of more than 35 refugees from eight countries who are now part of one community in New Haven.
I was one of them. But I was also the one holding the microphone.
The occasion was World Refugee Day in East Rock Park, organized by my mother, Jane Kinity — Kenyan refugee, Ward 2 Democratic Committee Co-Chair, and Connecticut's delegate to Refugee Congress. She's spent years advocating for safer passage to the United States, and that Sunday, she wanted to celebrate the diverse cultural heritage that makes New Haven home for so many of us.
Sojourn Market provided more than drums that day — they brought tables, a tent, and a vision. Manager Ashley Williams wants the market to be a space where refugees and migrants carve out community for themselves. Founder Tymothee Anderson fights food injustice while raising funds for neighborhood children. My mother chose to work with them because she sees what I see: when we celebrate our heritage together, we heal.
I watched 12-year-old Amal Aldabaan and her 6-year-old sister Retaj — refugees from Syria who'd fled to Jordan before coming here — show another little girl from Iraq how to feed their pet rabbits. I watched Ragaa Abdall, who'd arrived from Sudan just 11 months ago and barely spoke English, silently draw henna on more than ten attendees. No words needed.
"We are all people leaving from bad things," Amal told me. "This day shows that we're like everyone else."
She's right. But I'd add something: we're also people making things. Making music. Making community. Making home out of whatever we have.
That Sunday, what we had was drums, food, stories, and each other. And for a gospel singer who once wasn't sure she'd survive cancer, let alone see her daughter grow up in safety — that was enough to make me sing.