THE DIVA WHO CONNECTED ME TO MY ANCESTORS

Do you know who your ancestors are? Do you know who you are? These questions have haunted me throughout my life. I was born in LA in the early '80s, after my parents immigrated from Egypt. My mother rarely spoke about her parents, who died when she was a young adult. My only living grandparent, my paternal grandfather, stayed in Egypt. He died when I was 8 years old.

- Ramy El-Etreby

For those whose ancestral homeland is thousands of miles away, whose parents and grandparents speak a language they hardly understand, there’s a chasm between the past and the present that feels impossible to fill. When I try to speak Arabic, my tongue twists and tangles ornamental threads of the past into knots, struggling to weave my ancestors’ voices together with my own, contemporary voice. Who will help me mend the fabric of my history?

When I think about my grandparents, I think of the iconic diva of their generation, the singer Umm Kulthum, the “Voice of Egypt”. She was the most famous and celebrated woman in the Arab world during a time of rising Arab nationalism. For every Egyptian in the diaspora today, Umm Kulthum remains part of our cultural DNA. The more I explore her legacy, the more I long for the stories of my grandparents, and their Egypt.

Here are a few things I know about my maternal grandparents: My grandfather was “fashionable”, and he liked to spend money on nice clothes. A trait I've gladly inherited. My grandmother was my grandfather's second wife and — scandalously — his first wife was her older sister. Gag. I live for the drama.