Why can't we consider the things that we have created in the Western Hemisphere as "African"? I mean, we certainly cannot change what happened to us, and so let's not even try to pay respect to every continental African culture...that would be silly.

Look at all thecultural artforms we have developed all but not limited to: jazz, afro-latin music (salsa, merengue, etc.), reggae, hip-hop, blues, R&B, rock & roll, pop music, house music, and so forth. Then there isthe incalculable influence of hair styles, clothing styles, poetry, expressive and short story literature, and everyday perception of life in the West.

I don't think we should just give all of this away. All of the exclusively African-American contributions are African damn it. All of the exclusive contributions of Jamaicans are African. All the exclusive contributions of Afro-Cubans, Afro-Puerto Ricans, Afro-Brazilians,Bahamians, andother Latin Americans& Carribeans before being usurped by Spanish (or other European)White supremacy are African.

I feel that we certainly are respecting Africa if we harness what we have preserved from Africa in these last 500 yearsand expunge the detrimental elements we have picked up from Europeans and White Supremacy.

@ Masai05

My heart is heavy, my eyes swell, I feel intimate at the anguish, and the troubled soul, and I dont have much to say. If you are awared about as much knowledge as you have collected. Take your passport and begin the journey that will alter your life.

Go and discover more... the infos in the papers might be useful when you arrived there and it might become less useful. Go and find your homelandand follow your ancestors spiritual allegiance.

Pick yourself, you will need courage and determination to push through.

Your forebares might be kind to you for your heavy heart.... so long

Safe journey.

Rhetoric will hold you back.

Masai...sorry bro but this kinds of threads are everywhere on this forum...its getting too boring now....nobody is telling you to accept anything. Live your life and let those who go a different path lead theirs.

I am begining to get exausted with the childishness of some Diaspora's needs to bang on about why they don't feel African enough blahh blahhh. Meanwhile we have more pressing issues thats killing us all collectively...most of these problems created by a common enemy and us "blacks" wherever we are in the world. Now if thats not good enough for you to seek connection between other Africans, fight together, and call yourself African, then may your path be clear for you.I just don't see the need to keep singing on about it all the time.

Its just tedious and energy draining.....i feel thatsome of you in America are getting a bit too big headed in your ownimportance sometimes....its like people are forcing you to be African....but if you do really believe your own hype thenthere wouldn't be a need for this kinds of threads, you would have been powerful enough to assert your own Black American identity without giving a toss about the world calling you AA.

Yes you are black American,i accept you as such...now go forth and live!niceone.gif

Masai05 – You raise some profound questions regarding the fundamentals of our Blackness.

In my mind you are really asking if we can truly be Black if we are not in Africa and are without the cultural and social trappings of Africa.



The back to Africa urge is certainly understandable, and is not new; over the years it has spawned several migrations.

But I would remind you, that the largest of these migrations – the founding of Liberia, was not, and is not, appreciated by the local Africans. Resulting in war and strife even unto today. Though I’m sure that they would welcome you as a tourist.



Later, smaller migrations of recent years (60s-70s) resulted in some, returning to America in a distraught and disillusioned condition. Seems the reality in Africa was quite different from what they had fantasized about.



But aside from all that, I wonder how much of our feelings/fantasies about Africa are colored by our inability to reconcile ourselves to life in the U.S. with its accompanying racism, discrimination etc. If all that were absent, would you still feel the same about Africa?



I would also remind you, that your family has been in the U.S. longer than most of the current citizens. That my not mean much to them, but it should mean something to you. By that, I mean that you have a claim to a piece of the pie, (I’m not talking about the reparations nonsense), a whole bunch of people, need to figure out how to take it.



Funny thing here – White people and their white government has done quite a lot to enable you to do just that. Which makes for a very confusing situation – Who is the enemy? In my own situation, I certainly do suffer the effects of racism and discrimination. But in everyday life, a young Black Male, is a much greater threat to me, my family, and my property, than ANY White man.



So what does it all mean – not really sure: but I think the answer, or at least a big part of the answer, is in our heads. Maybe we need to look at things a little differently, certainly more realistically.



Just to keep it real: do you know, that even if you are on welfare, you are still better off materially, than many/most? Africans. Sobering thought, isn’t it. You will notice I said materially, I can’t quantify the emotional value for some, of being in a totally Black environment. However, judging from the number of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean, I gotta think that the all black thing, gets old when you are facing a lack of food, shelter, clothing, and perhaps in the long run, most importantly – Education!





Mezmerized – Yes, Black Americans tend to think that they and their problems define Blackness. Give them a little more time.

Jim999 wrote:

Mezmerized wrote:

As for Hype, as you can see this issue is based off of semantics as well as the notion of Culture. My stance is that Brazilian, Cuban and American Black Culture is another form of African Culture but many conversations tell me that even with all they have contributed, it isn't enough. As a response I have given this situation some deep thoughts and decided to share this as well as eliciting some feedback/input from this community. Sorry if it isn't extreme enough for your tastes or not African enough for you Dimoke...ooops Mez.


Be Easy,

Masai05

Abissinia wrote - A white manis the president,the judge, the educator, theboss, the prison guard,hirer etc etc etc. Yet he is less threat to a black man than another black man.



You know Abissinia, when I first read that, I thought it was Masai05 responding and I was getting set to jump all over him. The first question that I was going to ask him was: WHERE DO YOU LIVE. (sorry Masai05).



Yes Abissinia – Here in the U.S. a young Black Male is a much greater threat, than any White man, or so far, any terrorist.

The really sad thing about these punk-ass ignorant faggots (no offense to homosexuals), is that when they get into their gunfights, they are too scared to look and shoot at each other. So what they do is pretty-much fire randomly. The unfortunate result of this is that one of the participants is rarely shot; however children and innocent bystanders are very often shot.



Of course normal young people of any race don’t do things like that, what we are dealing with, is young minds fried by one type of drug or another, Raised by parents who are even more F—ked-up than they are. The result is Black communities falling deeper and deeper into crime and hopelessness. Combine that with massive educational failure in these communities, and you have a recipe for disaster. And that is pretty much what you have in many Black communities – a disaster!



Off the top of my head – I think the percentage of Black males in jail or have been in jail, is over 20%. Nationwide there are over one million Black men in prison in the U.S. Regardless of what you, or others may think, they are NOT political prisoners. They got there by robbing, raping, and killing – for the most part – Black People.



So Abissinia – do try to keep up.

Massai I totally understand. I just got through trying to explain that to this retarded lady. I call myself Black but I'm aware of my African ancestry. I don't feel like I fit in because, I don't have anywhere to call home. Just a big continent that has no blood line that knows of me or my face.

On one end I feel rejected by most of theAfricans in America that I have attempted to get to know, they're too exclusive and they always end up making rude remarks and then on the other hand we're just not shyt to the white man here.

I don't even know where I fit in as far as that goes. But my mom is half Jamaican and my dad is a black brazillian. I'd still like to know where my ancestors came from, even though they probably won't claim me.