“As a black person, the most trouble that I’ve had with my ‘blackness’ has been in the United States, hands down. And that’s after traveling to 125 countries,” said Jessica Nabongo, a U.S. citizen who is on a mission to become the first black woman to travel to every country in the world.
Ms. Nabongo, who was featured recently by HuffPost, added that, “The most difficult time that I have crossing borders is crossing the U.S. border. I always get pulled over for extra screening… and there is always extra scrutiny for me when I’m traveling.”
Additionally, she said that she’s faced “microaggressions” from airlines — including when she had a first class ticket and the gate agent refused to let her board with the other first class passengers.
Sadly, this is likely not a surprise to anyone who lives in the U.S. or to our neighbors. In fact, the Bahamas recently issued an advisory to its young male citizens who were looking to visit the U.S., telling them to be cautious while interacting with the police.
Check out the interview with HuffPost.
