“On Being Human in a Country That Demands Proof”

Starting today, as a naturalized U.S. citizen, I will carry my passport with me for these simple reasons:

1. I was not born in the United States.
2. I speak English with an accent.
3. I am Haitian.
4. I am Black.
5. I am a Black male.
   Summary: I am a Black Haitian immigrant with an accent.

I understand all too well how this country reads bodies before it reads documents. Experience has taught me that these facts are often interpreted not as natural or intrinsic markers of identity, but as grounds for suspicion. I am not undocumented, and yet this combination still demands proof—as though my humanity itself requires validation, legible only through a U.S. stamp.