Paige Bentum, 17, is a Ghanaian-American woman from Oakland, California. She is an outspoken advocate for Black Lives Matter on social media and at school as one of the founding members of the Black Students’ Association. She also happens to be one of my best buds!

UGOCHI EGONU: What does blackness mean to you? How have your experiences affected that definition of blackness?

PAIGE BENTUM: To me, being black means strength. It means that through whatever trial or tribulation, we come out better than how we went in. It is knowing that we can come together as a community and fight together for one cause. Blackness has a sense of unity. But growing up, I never knew what it meant to be black—I didn’t “fit in” with the other black kids. I was always told that I was “too smart” or “too dark,” and always felt confined by this idea of blackness that I thought I would never be accepted into. As I’ve grown up, I realized that I didn’t need validation from anyone but myself.

Do you ever feel like the different parts of your identity collide? How and where do you find the intersection?

At times, I do feel as if different parts of my identity collide. I’m Ghanaian American and I traveled back to Ghana over the summer for an internship. While I was there, I visited an elementary school in one of the less affluent neighborhoods. I noticed that a lot of the teachers thought I was their “light at the end of tunnel,” and that I was going to solve all of their problems. Everyone kept telling me how they wanted me to come back and “fix Ghana” solely because I happened to be living in the U.S. It was just strange to me how all of them expected me to help them because I was Ghanaian. But then the next minute they’d be making fun of me because I don’t speak Fanti, or because I have an American accent. Then I come back to America and people will make me feel like I’m not African-American enough. For a while, I just felt like I wasn’t part of either community.

As for finding the intersection, I guess I just try to remind myself that I am enough, and that I don’t have to fit into one box to be black and to be a part of this movement.

How do you think Black Lives Matter can be more inclusive to all black people?

Black Lives Matter could be more inclusive in terms of how the movement’s message is conveyed, and also by including black people from all marginalized groups. I’ve noticed that within the movement, there are people who will talk about justice and liberation for black people, but still hold sexist, homophobic, and colorist ideas. I just think it’s strange how there’s still so much hate in our community even though we are essentially fighting the same cause.