This is the Moth Radio Hour.
I'm your host, Jay Allison.
The proverb goes, hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
But sometimes events go so profoundly awry, the best we can do is keep our heads above water.
In this episode, the deep end where all our storytellers find themselves.
First up is Makosi Shimaka Mbahu.
who told this story at one of our open mic story slams in Washington,
DC, where we partner with public radio station WAMU.
Here's Makosi.
All right.
As you heard, my name is Makosi Shamakambasu.
I'm from here.
I was born in the Columbia Hospital for Women.
I think it's a set of condos now, as I was saying before the show.
That's fine, that happens.
I was born to a Jamaican mother and a Kenyan father.
That's only important because as I'm sure most, if not all of you know,
there are some subtleties to American society that you have to experience to understand.
And given that at the time that this story takes place,
neither of them were citizens, that's something that we had to navigate together.