Behind the Z

My full name is Alexzandria Kaylan Churchill. Those three words are the windows into my identity.

The first two are bold, rooted in my mom's Egyptian origins. The last is, as you could guess, is very white. One day we may make the connection to Winston in a family reunion if anyone doles out the money for an ancestory.com account.  

That is the first layer. When you look past the syllables, you see a uniquely diverse upbringing sprouted by divorce. Years after my biological parents’ spit, at the peak of my childhood memories, I was being raised by a lesbian couple and a biracial one. Yet, it seems I didn’t even realize this until it came time to write my college essay. After miserably failing to capture the essence of myself in under 500 words several times, it finally clicked. My first line read: I have three moms.

Since, especially in college, I’ve noticed the intricacies of diversity play out around me through the lens of my upbringing. As a journalist I’ve mostly had to sit back and observe, keeping my opinions to myself, but I’ve discovered other ways to let my voice be heard.

Within this blog I’d like to share those the projects, stories and photos I’ve created during this discovery, as well as the people and moments I’ve experienced throughout.

If you're curious about my other work , visit my website.