This is the quandry. A multiracial person(war-baby) raised in Korea or Vietnam may have predominant African features would be considered Korean or Vietnamese first before they are African. This is because other than America, the rest of the world has allegiance to nation then race. Why is that? The answer is simple. The natives of Japan are the Japanese people that have a culture, heritage and established legacy in there homeland. This is true of the natives of all nations except the Americas. The natives of North America have been conquered and religated to living on small plots of what used to be their land using gambling and tourism as their national product. That leaves two other types of Americans. There is the so called American than has given up his allegiance to his homeland to make a better life for himself and family via conquest or capitalism. Then there's the American that was forcefully extracted against his will from his motherland and subjected to serve the second type of American. The latter American loses his connection to his motherland as generations pass away and never truely achieve acceptance in his new homeland. Though strides are being made to level the playfield there is still some distance to go. What becomes of the latter American who has become an American by force and not by choice?

oh my goodness!

We are Black in my opinion. Black: The displaced people in America of African ancestry lost in the diaspora.

My position hasn't changed.

"This is true of the natives of all nations except the Americas."

What Americas are you referring to? Because Mexico is a part of the Americas, as are the Caribbean Islands....... and all those places have pride in nationality and their flag.

"This is true of the natives of all nations except the Americas."

What Americas are you referring to? Because Mexico is a part of the Americas, as are the Caribbean Islands....... and all those places have pride in nationality and their flag.

Although the Americas are made up of both North America, South America, Alaska, and the Caribbean...It is commonly known that when a person refers to America, they are talking about the United States of America. Since you are asking, that is the answer!

Though I feel solidarity with black people all around the world, I don't call myself either one.


Africans are people who are either born or raised in Africa with a genuine African culture.

And the title African-American...in my opinion...should be reserved for African immigrants who come to America.

I call myself an AfroAmerican, meaning an American of African descent.

Today in 2005 the so-called black man is in lost of soo meny things. (1) Knowlege of his and her Origenal self. Brothers and Sisters there is no way of getting over, under, around or through this great-great-great-great delima that we face. In this day and time "We" are continuing the compelling effort to reclame what has been stolen by force from us by the "Open-Enemy". "We" have to know who this "Open-Enemy" to "Us" and also to "G-d" or "Creator" is. <Read Everything by Dr C.A. Diop>
We absolutly must realize that the Open-Enemy has taught and forced on us a "Totaly false mind-set that causes us to not be able to "Free" ourselves. Every thing they (so-called White People) taught us is a "Lie" from the perspective of the "Truth". They (so-called) White People have "Re-Written" Our-Story and given us in it's place His-Story which is a "Lie". Nothing about what they told us is true or accurate, this is why we are asking the Greatest Question we could ever ask our-Self. "Who am I"?, am I a Moor?, am I a Negro?, am I Colard?, am I Black or am I African ?? "We are Africans-in-America" for now but we will grow beyond this one day too. Brothers and Sisters. "People Know Thy Self"
Sincerely

wow ! how did i miss this one?

so, f a pregnant cat crawls n2 a warm (but not too warm) oven on a cool day, & gives birth, whatcha gonna call em, biskits?

:laugh: :laugh:

well, i kno this is not the poetry thread, but since i hv nvr posted a poem at destee b4, i ask u destee 2 pls overlook this & hope its not a violation of the rules or anything. i wrote this over 6 yrs ago when i was feeling esp afrocentric (yes, it waxes & wanes at times) & it really fits the topic ? to a t. u'll find my answer 2 ur ? at the end.




how can i make u understand?
luv 4 an unknown motherland
how real to me these yearnings seem,
a place where we can live our dream

how can connection really b,
4 this place so far from me
who think not n terms of i but we
will it bring out the best n me?
can its power change my destiny?

something I realized long ago
it's not an option i have 2 go
this pilgrimage will help me grow
relight my burned out inner glow
2 many secrets i must know,
so many debts 2 her we owe

vast beyond imaginings
contrasts starvation & diamond rings
i ve thought it could b paradise
her quiet beauty does so entice
i seek her counsel & advice,
am i willing thou 2 pay the price

telebroadcast scenes of famine & drought
inapparent causes r not thought about
impoverishment unencumbered throughout
suffering & death 4 europes clout

profiteers 4 unjust gain
heap on my homeland endless pain
they aren t concerned w/repercussions,
f it's not 4 profit there r no discussions

no matter how long & hard she screams & hollers,
they see afrika n terms of dollars

her mineral wealth must all be taken
irrespective of health & lives 4saken
a portion of me must still reside,
events there can instill such pride

i know that we r still connected
b/c my core is so affected
by news of risks the continent is taking,
or triumphant progress my families making

some identify w clothes or cars
they still don t know quite who they r
but 3 piece suits or burlap bags,
both will decay & become rags


don t focus on my outerwear,
thru verse i lay my soul out bare
they say don t make waves, go w the flow
they ll be sucked down w/the undertow

others may flock to france or greece,
europe can t make my longings cease

portrayed as natural disasters & plague,
but the tragedies r oft man made
w/a spirit hardship cannot defeat
w/an almost feminine mystique

a treasure trove garden retreat
w/every pleasure ur heart may seek
yet thousands die even as we speak
from far more than not enough to eat

isolation keeps her dependent & weak,
boundary lines she must delete
prospects 4 uniting r far 2 bleak,
separated, she simply can t compete

the poverty, squalor, death & sorrow
juxtapose w/the grandeur of killamanjaro
never will she attain whats best
aping greediness of the west

the solution to the racial fights
is brotherly luv, not civil rights
earth's greatest need is 4 advancement
n the science of luving others enhancement

w/diamonds oil gold & bauxite
few can match her mineral might
no land can match her vast potential
no where else has been so influential
my respect 4 her is reverential,
the whole globe was once so deferential
she must c europes role as wholly non-essential
& its culture, properly, inconsequential

until we re there we can never be home,
our ignorance led us 2 disown
this land of which the least is known,
n untapped potential she stands all alone
where lifes 1st fruits 2 the world were shown

physically huge but not full-grown,
r solid future seeds now being sown?

work toward the goal of being pan,
ignore the borders from europes klan
we wrote the bible & the koran,
we must unite while we still can

could journey 2 a distant shore
strengthen me & make me more ?
will i feel that i ve been there b4 ?
such contemplation's about whats n store

rich colored fabrics tribal dress,
warmth of an afrikan caress
varied dialects, melodic tones,
familial kinship so often shown
mysteries that will remain unknown,
the pride we share talking of home

no matter how i dress or where i stand,
my luv & longings 4 the motherland
intertwined by choice, design & plan,
so as long as i b black & b a man
from inside out i m AFRICAN



again, gr8 ? & i ve enjoyed & identified w soooo many of the replys 2 it. destee 4 president! :toast:

This flow is incredible... back to the top it goes !

I consider myself to be an American of African Descent.... Although, I do have an affinity for the term : New World African - it has a certain majestic ring to it ! It speaks to me of the strength that my Ancestors had to have posessed to make it through all we as a people have endured : from the horror of that middle passage voyage all the way up to present day. I'm equally proud of my African heritage as well as my American heritage and nothing will ever change that.

Much Peace,
Akilah

Please click the link below to see how this subject is being dealt with by white people with enormous influence in our community...

African American and African (http://whgbetc.com/hennessyad.jpg)


Yes I SAW that..I didnt know what to think or to say...I was just getting ready to post about that ad...smh smh...

I believe that I am American (by law)...with African roots...I know this because my great grandfather on my father's side was born and lived in madagascar..then came to the states. Sooo i guess you could say Im american due to citizenship...african by blood.

I am African a descdant of Africans by way of the middle passage I do not claim amerikka as my home
"Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American."
Source: Malcolm X Speaks, 1965
"America has a very serious problem. Not only does America have a very serious problem, but our people have a very serious problem. America's problem is us. We're her problem. The only reason she has a problem is she doesn't want us here."
10 Nov, 1963 in Detroit, MI

African American by definition and nationality.

I AM AFRICAN !!! AN AFRICAN REMAINS AN AFRICAN NO MATTER WHERE HE IS BORN AT. HOW DO YOU TAKE A PIT BULL TO CHINA, ALLOW IT TO HAVE BABIES THAT ARE RAISED IN CHINA AND THEN DECIDE THAT BECAUSE THEY WERE BORN IN CHINA THAT IT'S NOT A PIT BULL ANYMORE !?? I CAME FROM AN AFRICAN WOMB, MY MOTHER CAME FROM AN AFRICAN WOMB, MY GRANDMATHER CAME FROM AN AFRICAN WOMB, MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER CAME FROM AN AFRICAN WOMB....WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO TRACE THIS BACK TO THE BOAT AND ACROSS THE WATER TO AFRICA ??

SO WHAT MADE ANY AFRICAN AN AMERICAN???? IT'S "WHAT YOU ARE, NOT WHERE YOU ARE AT". !!!

Better yet, as Malcom said: How can you put kittens in the oven and then call them biscuits ??

Im american..
american... like the cheese..
is neither here nor there..
not african..
not afro american..
I cant identify with african culture it seems very complex..
and different in each country.. tribe... state.. etc.
i can identify with the struggle..
I cant identify with white ppl..
Im definately not white..
Im american..
Im.. creole..west indian,american indian, with samoan/mexican roots as well..
the only country I can say im from Is america..
the only place i can call home is america..
while my roots are of samoan.. warriors and blk mexicans.. to my mothers father this was home..
came to america during ww2... to find a mulatto mutt.. that hed make his queen.. though she was (blk/indian) and white (a tale of the times)
I cant call france or america home.. just cause my dads father is creole/indian.. and born in barbados.
My great-grandmother a beautiful... woman of st.thomas.. who has a malasian father and mother died in her birth..(she was blk of some sort)
whered all these ppl find eachother?
lol.. well.. military! Virginia was home to them all.. eventually.. even jail house parties.. and military swing dances.. some at airports
they all tell me stories of where they call home..
many of these places Ive never seen pictures of... yet alone can identify with...
Barbados is the only place in which i feel at peace with my heritage..
cause its where I still have indiginent family.. aunts uncles n cousins..
speaking french and creole..
laughing at my american ways...
Im at peace....
but home.. is america..
where its normal...
to be lost in transit..
lost.. to my origins of family..
lost like me.
@ the end of each day,,,
im sure of one thing..
looking in the mirrior..
i to america..
am black..

M-Brown;
to me it is simple. To call myself an African is to betray my foremother and forefather. As an empathetic people, sure, they would have forgiven the treachery...
The absolute last time I raised my voice against anything was the Anti-Apartheid movement; it was wrong, it was unjust... I still have my pins, and "act-so" letters, etc... until I began to think; how could it happen, how could a people in a place where they outnumber those in charge by 1000 to 1 be enslaved?

Your question should be Why Are We Not Doing It Just For Us?
Happily, I would say, that we are beginning- and that is good--start.

When I think of Africa... I think of the cradle of civilization, that gave birth to a great people... who were light years ahead of the rest of the world... who cursed itself and it's people by being blinded by "Bling-Bling;

The thousands to one advantage Africans had numerically meant nothing once the Europeans used the Wealth they had looted from the rest of humanity to Industrialise because they were then able to produce weapons of mass destruction, with the Japanese being the only country to effectively shut them out, whilst playing industrial catch up [which is why they are still currently the top non-white country].

Cecil Rhodes when colonising Zimbabwe with a force of only 50 men armed with 10 Maxim heavy machine guns was able to kill 30, 000 of the pride of the Matabele in one day [thus changing the status quo with regard to the Matabele who have never recovered, being the dominant clan in Zimbabwe].

The rationale that we are under threat (FEAR) permeates every aspect [as superbly illustrated by the conflicting limited information in your posts] of our daily lives (and even causes a RIFT between Africans in Africa and Africans in the Diaspora which includes the USA) is symptomatic of the residual trauma of the catastrophic defeat we have collectively received over the last 500 years in our war (which is ongoing) with White Supremacist Racist Caucasians.

Military combatants are always debriefed after combat operations or wars? Without debriefing it would be virtually impossible for the combatants to regain their psychic balance after a prolonged traumatic experience. They also subsequently receive whatever psychotherapy is required to make them whole.

Contrast that with the non-existent psychotherapy we (in Africa and the Diaspora) have received (in conjunction with the fact that they have never acknowledged the wrong, or said sorry) after surviving the sadistically Genocidal HOLAUCAST perpetrated by White Supremacists (against non Caucasians in general Africans in particular)on us over the last 500 years.

Our major problem is a very strategically maintained (by the White Supremacists currently dominating and decimating the planet and their lackeys of many hues) lack of accurate information, coupled with a total lack of vision and strategic planning from our (very easily intellectually challenged, and either unaware or interested in the WAR we're in) elite.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE. [Hasty my alter ego]!

THE TRADITION IN AFRICA STATES THAT, "YOU COME FROM WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS COME FROM AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU WERE BORN"

I WAS BORN IN THE CITY OF ACCRA, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME A GA, ASHANTI NOR A FANTE. I CLAIM MY INHERITANCE FROM MY FATHER. SO I COME FROM WHERE HE COMES FROM. FROM WHERE HIS PARENTS COME FROM AND FROM THEIR PARENTS COME WHICH IS BAWKU IN THE UPPER EAST REGION OF GHANA.

SO "AFRICAN AMERICANS" EVEN THOUGH BORN AND RAISED IN AMERICA AREN'T "AMERICAN" NOR "AFRICAN AMERICAN"

PEOPLE, IT'S TIME TO CLAIM YOUR HERITAGE.

To speak honestly. I dont know how easy this will come for me because if I went to Africa how will my people address me?
Will they accept me as African or will they say I'm American. Will the fine line be drawn there too? Don't get me wrong, Yes, I consider myself of African decent but will my people embrace me Or will they cast me as different too? It's just a question that I pose.

THEY ARE GOING TO CALL YOU AMERICAN. "OBRONI"
BUT ONCE YOU HAVE ACCEPTED TO BE AFRICAN. WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

THE TRADITION IN AFRICA STATES THAT, "YOU COME FROM WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS COME FROM AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU WERE BORN"

I WAS BORN IN THE CITY OF ACCRA, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME A GA, ASHANTI NOR A FANTE. I CLAIM MY INHERITANCE FROM MY FATHER. SO I COME FROM WHERE HE COMES FROM. FROM WHERE HIS PARENTS COME FROM AND FROM THEIR PARENTS COME WHICH IS BAWKU IN THE UPPER EAST REGION OF GHANA.

SO "AFRICAN AMERICANS" EVEN THOUGH BORN AND RAISED IN AMERICA AREN'T "AMERICAN" NOR "AFRICAN AMERICAN"

PEOPLE, IT'S TIME TO CLAIM YOUR HERITAGE.

Brilliant brother Ibrahim this post should be its own thread!

[color="Red"][color="Black"][center][left]THE TRADITION IN AFRICA STATES THAT, "YOU COME FROM WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS COME FROM AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU WERE BORN"

:bullseye: : Simple. Straight to the point. Powerful! Nothing else can be said.

Im American
Not African nor
African American
Multi Cultural
Have to dig deep
I dont know if I have african descent
Yet people say everyone is a descendent
Of Africa so who truely knows
Yet im not in africa so im not an african
Im not an african from africa with us citizenship
So im not an African American

This is a simple matter for continental Africans but not for SOME AAs and others in the Diapora because many of us are of mixed blood. So while an African knows where his father came from and his father's father and so on came from for numerous generations, this, as we know, is not the case with many AAs.

For ex. I have African ancestry on both sides. I'm fairly certain I have American Indian ancestors in the mix on my father's side and caucasian ancestors in the mix on my mothers side. I identify myself as an AA because that's how I've been defined by whites and because I'm socially and politically AA.

But are we, in any respect, to accept the white definition of us? I certainly have rejected the white racists' definition and opinion of me in most other respects.

If the millions of us mixed blood people in the Diaspora are "Africans," then I wonder whether that mean that an African is anyone with at least one-drop of Black blood who is socially and politically African.

Im American
Not African nor
African American
Multi Cultural
Have to dig deep
I dont know if I have african descent
Yet people say everyone is a descendent
Of Africa so who truely knows
Yet im not in africa so im not an african
Im not an african from africa with us citizenship
So im not an African American
I hear you Brother and I agree with you. I have a view diagramatically opposite to Brother Ibrahims. The reason is, I have such pride in Africa, that I will NEVER force anyone to identify with it. I dont take rejections and NEVER will the name of Africa be dragged in the mud by the rejections of a few.

To those who are making blanket statements about other people's identity, you cannot force and identity on people. Last I checked, it was what do YOU identify yourself as. Not what you want OTHERS to identify themselves as. You cannot force people to acknowledge a heritage.

Africa is Beyond 42 million people in America. It is beyond 500 million people in Africa. For their history will not matter much in the future. Because Africa is the bright future of the generations unborn who will truly dominate the world and say out loud with pride "Me, I am an African"

I hear you Brother and I agree with you. I have a view diagramatically opposite to Brother Ibrahims. The reason is, I have such pride in Africa, that I will NEVER force anyone to identify with it. I dont take rejections and NEVER will the name of Africa be dragged in the mud by the rejections of a few.

To those who are making blanket statements about other people's identity, you cannot force and identity on people. Last I checked, it was what do YOU identify yourself as. Not what you want OTHERS to identify themselves as. You cannot force people to acknowledge a heritage.

Africa is Beyond 42 million people in America. It is beyond 500 million people in Africa. Africa is the bright future of the generations unborn who will truly dominate the world and say out loud with pride "Me, I am an African"

Its just like with Tiger Woods
The Black Community lashed out at him
Because he wanted to identify with
His culture from mother and father
I have done the same thing
Have and think always feel the same backlash he did

Its just like with Tiger Woods
The Black Community lashed out at him
Because he wanted to identify with
His culture from mother and father
I have done the same thing
Have and think always feel the same backlash he did
They have no right to decide for you. People have their prioritites misplaced. Identity has nothing to do with people working together, at school, in business or at play. You can start talking identity with the white man, and he will not describe himself as European. He will say German, or Dutch or Italian. However, The white people are still able to work together and dominate economically and politcally. This attempt to run around labelling everyone Africa is done by those who cannot pride in their nation or ethnic group.

They have no right to decide for you. People have their prioritites misplaced. Identity has nothing to do with people working together, at school, in business or at play. You can start talking identity with the white man, and he will not describe himself as European. He will say German, or Dutch or Italian. However, The white people are still able to work together and dominate economically and politcally. This attempt to run around labelling everyone Africa is done by those who cannot pride in their nation or ethnic group.


Agree 100%

They have no right to decide for you. People have their prioritites misplaced. Identity has nothing to do with people working together, at school, in business or at play. You can start talking identity with the white man, and he will not describe himself as European. He will say German, or Dutch or Italian. However, The white people are still able to work together and dominate economically and politcally. This attempt to run around labelling everyone Africa is done by those who cannot pride in their nation or ethnic group.

I agree TOTALLY. I'm not a "wannabe" African. I am proud to be what I am--AA or whatever else we may decide to call ourselves in the future. It annoys me sometimes when some continental Africans try to make me an honorary African, as if this is bestowing some sort of validation upon me. That's an insult to me. I'm GREAT as I am. This may be inconceivable to some, but some AAs have lots of pride in being an AA. I come from GREAT people that I know about in my family as well as other AAs.

I know that Africans don't mean any harm when they do this, but this to me seems to be an attempt to blot out or separate me from my AA ancestors here as if they were nothing, or as if I don't want to be connected to them. Nothing could be farther from the truth for me personally. I can't speak, of course, for any other AA.

I agree TOTALLY. I'm not a "wannabe" African. I am proud to be what I am--AA or whatever else we may decide to call ourselves in the future. It annoys me sometimes when some continental Africans try to make me an honorary African, as if this is bestowing some sort of validation upon me. That's an insult to me. I'm GREAT as I am. This may be inconceivable to some, but some AAs have lots of pride in being an AA. I come from GREAT people that I know about in my family as well as other AAs.

I know that Africans don't mean any harm when they do this, but this to me seems to be an attempt to blot out or separate me from my AA ancestors here as if they were nothing, or as if I don't want to be connected to them. Nothing could be farther from the truth for me personally. I can't speak, of course, for any other AA.
Exactly. And that does not contradict pan-africanism. It is about us working together. But how can we work together if we are not each strong and pride in our individual identities? How do we share our experience?

Africa was a creation of imperialists. Identifying with the political term of Africa has no bearing on whether we are able to work together!!

The number one issue dividing black people is the issue of identity. Why are you not from where I am born? Why dont you identify with me as african? We should look beyond that and decide to work together to overcome the collective yoke we bear as a result of being labelled "black" by the Europeans.

For example, I will not want anyone to erase my Yoruba heritage. We 40 million (80 million if you count the practsing ones in cuba and brazil), and are the oldest and longest living culture, dating back from the Nok (Proto-Yoruba) civilization in West africa. Thats why I can understand Riada.

Exactly. And that does not contradict pan-africanism. It is about us working together. But how can we work together if we are not each strong and pride in our individual identities? How do we share our experience?

Africa was a creation of imperialists. Identifying with the political term of Africa has no bearing on whether we are able to work together!!

The number one issue dividing black people is the issue of identity. Why are you not from where I am born? Why dont you identify with me as african? We should look beyond that and decide to work together to overcome the collective yoke we bear as a result of being labelled "black" by the Europeans.

For example, I will not want anyone to erase my Yoruba heritage. We 40 million (80 million if you count the practsing ones in cuba and brazil), and are the oldest and longest living culture, dating back from the Nok (Proto-Yoruba) civilization in West africa. Thats why I can understand Riada.


Cause sometimes it seems as if
You dont claim your self as Black which is a color
Which mean I would be Brown or African Amercan
Meaning in true for you yourself is from Africa
Then it seems like poeple look at you who are you
I think people should be open to all forms of culture
Open to all different ways of life
I understand alot of people want to go back to Africa
Even though thats not where they are from
Matter of fact most people wouldnt know how to live
Know how to eat-work or really live there lives there
We can all adapt but how many would really move there??
Im not knocking anyone who would like to
Im just speaking on the reality aspect of the situation
Im an american I wonder what do others consider themselves??
What makes people call themselves African American??

Exactly. And that does not contradict pan-africanism. It is about us working together. But how can we work together if we are not each strong and pride in our individual identities? How do we share our experience?

Africa was a creation of imperialists. Identifying with the political term of Africa has no bearing on whether we are able to work together!!

The number one issue dividing black people is the issue of identity. Why are you not from where I am born? Why dont you identify with me as african? We should look beyond that and decide to work together to overcome the collective yoke we bear as a result of being labelled "black" by the Europeans.

For example, I will not want anyone to erase my Yoruba heritage. We 40 million (80 million if you count the practsing ones in cuba and brazil), and are the oldest and longest living culture, dating back from the Nok (Proto-Yoruba) civilization in West africa. Thats why I can understand Riada.

THANK YOU!!! Just from what you're expressed above, I would have no problem whatsoever working with you. I respect you highly as you are because you respect me as I am. We are EQUAL in our own ways. We are both GREAT just as we are. We can help each other and learn from each other. This is just common sense to me.

No, this does not contradict PanAfricanism or any other -ism that will enhance our people. Too many of us get too caught up in LABELS and labels divide.

Am I African or African American,out of respect for my slave ancestors who were forced to build this country even though they wanted nothing to do with it ,out of respect for my ancestors who never saw shackles and chains,out of respect for my elders who lived through civil rights, I am a child of the diaspora who is still looking for his heritage by blood,in rootwork and yoruba traditions.

THIS THREAD IS SAD. I MEET AMERICAN PEOPLE OF ASIAN DESCENT WHO HAVE NO PROBLEM SAYING THEY ARE ASIAN. NO MATTER MANY GENERATIONS DEEP THEY ARE.WETHER KOREAN, CHINESE, JAPANESE, THEY ARE ASIAN AS WELL.

YET US BLACK PEOPLE ALWAYS ON SOME I AINT THIS , I AINT THAT. TIGER WOODS WANTS TO BE WHITE, HIS WIFE IS WHITE, HE TALKS LIKE HE IS WHITE. THATS WHY BLACK PEOPLED LASHED OUT. HE TRIES TO DISASSOCIATE. ALL U IM MIXED PEOPLE TO GO DOWN SOUTH AND SEE IF THE KLAN CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. THEYLL LYNCH YO *** WITH THE QUICKNESS.

THEN CONTINENTAL AFRIKANS ON SOME THEYRE BLACK AMERICANS NOT AFRIKAN, PERHAPS THATS WHY THE ENTIRE CONTINENT IS IN SHAMBLES, A SICK MESS CUZ EVERY ONE WANTS TO BE THIS AND THAT IN STEAD OF ONE PEOPLE.

SO IF UR AA, ARE YOU NOT SIMPLY AN AFRICAN BORN IN AMERICA? IF UR BLACK UR ROOTS ARE IN AFRIKA, THAT MAKES YOU AFRIKAN.

I'm Black.......I am a Black Man not African and according to some here I'm ignorant.... :)




MississippiRed

This is a simple matter for continental Africans but not for SOME AAs and others in the Diapora because many of us are of mixed blood. So while an African knows where his father came from and his father's father and so on came from for numerous generations, this, as we know, is not the case with many AAs.

For ex. I have African ancestry on both sides. I'm fairly certain I have American Indian ancestors in the mix on my father's side and caucasian ancestors in the mix on my mothers side. I identify myself as an AA because that's how I've been defined by whites and because I'm socially and politically AA.

But are we, in any respect, to accept the white definition of us? I certainly have rejected the white racists' definition and opinion of me in most other respects.

If the millions of us mixed blood people in the Diaspora are "Africans," then I wonder whether that mean that an African is anyone with at least one-drop of Black blood who is socially and politically African.

Flawed logic... ^^^

Many Southern Europeans possess miscegenation in their heritage. Yet do they identify themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

Do Spaniads and Italians with Moorish ancestry describe themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

Do Slavic people with Mongol ancestry describe themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

An ametuer geneticist would espouse no racial or ethnic group is absent of admixture. In fact if you do a general study of mtDNA Y chromosome europeans or more likely to inhibit a higher percentage of miscegenation than any other racial group. Yet these people are are culturally and biologically describe as white.

I could quote from several various sources and books i.e. "The Real Eve", "Civilization or Barbarism" but somehow I get the feeling the only response I'll get from you is double talk.

start talking identity with the white man, and he will not describe himself as European. He will say German, or Dutch or Italian.

And what are the exact geographical origins of Germans, Dutch and Italians brother Militant?

I'm Black.......I am a Black Man not African and according to some here I'm ignorant.... :)




MississippiRed

:fyi:
Those who would call you ignorant are not only wrong,but must realize they know little to nothing at all as well.

Im American
Not African nor
African American
Multi Cultural
Have to dig deep
I dont know if I have african descent
Yet people say everyone is a descendent
Of Africa so who truely knows
Yet im not in africa so im not an african
Im not an african from africa with us citizenship
So im not an African American


Tantrum, you are not African American??? Everything you represent has a stench of the African American culture, your whip, look, style, etc. Maybe you have a different definition of it. We "Blacks" in America are all descendants of Africans. Outside of the 25-30% Hopi/Navajo Indian I am, I still consider myself African American, let alone all the other "Bloods" that lurk. To each his own, but 75% of people see me as all Black, and I think I look unmistakibly Black. Multi-cultural has a million meanings, so if you don't specify, most people in America will look at you like you're crazy. You see my dude, he's literally only 1/4 Black, but calls himself Black, and sometimes mixed, despite the flesh colored skin, blue-green eyes, and keen features......guess everybody's different. Do ya thang

Flawed logic... ^^^

Many Southern Europeans possess miscegenation in their heritage. Yet do they identify themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

Do Spaniads and Italians with Moorish ancestry describe themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

Do Slavic people with Mongol ancestry describe themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

An ametuer geneticist would espouse no racial or ethnic group is absent of admixture. In fact if you do a general study of mtDNA Y chromosome europeans or more likely to inhibit a higher percentage of miscegenation than any other racial group. Yet these people are are culturally and biologically describe as white.

I could quote from several various sources and books i.e. "The Real Eve", "Civilization or Barbarism" but somehow I get the feeling the only response I'll get from you is double talk.


Great point:bball:

THIS THREAD IS SAD. I MEET AMERICAN PEOPLE OF ASIAN DESCENT WHO HAVE NO PROBLEM SAYING THEY ARE ASIAN. NO MATTER MANY GENERATIONS DEEP THEY ARE.WETHER KOREAN, CHINESE, JAPANESE, THEY ARE ASIAN AS WELL.

YET US BLACK PEOPLE ALWAYS ON SOME I AINT THIS , I AINT THAT. TIGER WOODS WANTS TO BE WHITE, HIS WIFE IS WHITE, HE TALKS LIKE HE IS WHITE. THATS WHY BLACK PEOPLED LASHED OUT. HE TRIES TO DISASSOCIATE. ALL U IM MIXED PEOPLE TO GO DOWN SOUTH AND SEE IF THE KLAN CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. THEYLL LYNCH YO *** WITH THE QUICKNESS.

THEN CONTINENTAL AFRIKANS ON SOME THEYRE BLACK AMERICANS NOT AFRIKAN, PERHAPS THATS WHY THE ENTIRE CONTINENT IS IN SHAMBLES, A SICK MESS CUZ EVERY ONE WANTS TO BE THIS AND THAT IN STEAD OF ONE PEOPLE.

SO IF UR AA, ARE YOU NOT SIMPLY AN AFRICAN BORN IN AMERICA? IF UR BLACK UR ROOTS ARE IN AFRIKA, THAT MAKES YOU AFRIKAN.

another good point as well

:fyi:
Those who would call you ignorant are not only wrong,but must realize they know little to nothing at all as well.


Right .

The origins of Black people are in Africa. Black people in America are from Africa. But it's funny how some people who negate they are Black or African - or claim they might be anything other than Black or African - gravitate towards Black and African social and political forums.

"Some Black people only want to be Black when it's convenient, fashionable or to profiteer."

Although I have quite a bit of Native American blood in my veins, I'm an African.

When I go overseas, Asians and whites don't see me as anything other than a black man (African), nor do they go out of their way to make a distinction between Africans and Africans of the diaspora.

Flawed logic... ^^^

Many Southern Europeans possess miscegenation in their heritage. Yet do they identify themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

Do Spaniads and Italians with Moorish ancestry describe themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

Do Slavic people with Mongol ancestry describe themselves as anything other than white? No, they don't.

An ametuer geneticist would espouse no racial or ethnic group is absent of admixture. In fact if you do a general study of mtDNA Y chromosome europeans or more likely to inhibit a higher percentage of miscegenation than any other racial group. Yet these people are are culturally and biologically describe as white.

I could quote from several various sources and books i.e. "The Real Eve", "Civilization or Barbarism" but somehow I get the feeling the only response I'll get from you is double talk.

First of all, I wasn't bothering you, so I don't know why you comin at me like this. But let me just say this:

I never said I wasn't Black. Whites have defined themselves as white and defined people who look like me as Black, so that's that, because I'll bet their definition is good enough for you. But I can question any definition of myself that anyone else imposes on me and I will continue to do that so get used to that since you apparently love reading what I write!

I'm not sure what your issue is. Is your issue that you think I'm trying to separate myself from you or from "Black" people? If so, I don't understand why you care? Why not just brush me off? What I don't understand about people who come off the way you do is: Why do you want people in your group who you feel don't want to be in your group? To me, that smacks of low self-esteem on your part. I certainly don't want anyone in my group who I even think might not want to be in my group. So, for ex. if Tiger Woods doesn't consider himself Black, then why should I care? If he doesn't want to be in my group, then I would just say "good riddance." I'm not trying to grab everybody and pull them into my group kicking and screaming. Why do you?

Just because you don't understand what I'm saying doesn't mean I'm "double-talk"ing. LOL!! I would just say "Try harder" and if you still don't succeed, it just may mean that you don't have the capacity to understand me. So maybe you should just stop tryin!

The origins of Black people are in Africa. Black people in America are from Africa. But it's funny how some people who negate they are Black or African - or claim they might be anything other than Black or African - gravitate towards Black and African social and political forums.

"Some Black people only want to be Black when it's convenient, fashionable or to profiteer."

I'm puzzled by the same thing!

They have no right to decide for you. People have their prioritites misplaced. Identity has nothing to do with people working together, at school, in business or at play. You can start talking identity with the white man, and he will not describe himself as European. He will say German, or Dutch or Italian. However, The white people are still able to work together and dominate economically and politcally. This attempt to run around labelling everyone Africa is done by those who cannot pride in their nation or ethnic group.

Man militant I've never agreed with you more than on this post. If we can't take pride in our own ethnic group then substituting one to make us feel better doesn't cover up the scars. A black race with many diverse and talented ethnic groups working together to dominate the world.....I hope I live long enough to see it.

First of all, I wasn't bothering you, so I don't know why you comin at me like this. But let me just say this:

I never said I wasn't Black. Whites have defined themselves as white and defined people who look like me as Black, so that's that, because I'll bet their definition is good enough for you. But I can question any definition of myself that anyone else imposes on me and I will continue to do that so get used to that since you apparently love reading what I write!

I'm not sure what your issue is. Is your issue that you think I'm trying to separate myself from you or from "Black" people? If so, I don't understand why you care? Why not just brush me off? What I don't understand about people who come off the way you do is: Why do you want people in your group who you feel don't want to be in your group? To me, that smacks of low self-esteem on your part. I certainly don't want anyone in my group who I even think might not want to be in my group. So, for ex. if Tiger Woods doesn't consider himself Black, then why should I care? If he doesn't want to be in my group, then I would just say "good riddance." I'm not trying to grab everybody and pull them into my group kicking and screaming. Why do you?

Just because you don't understand what I'm saying doesn't mean I'm "double-talk"ing. LOL!! I would just say "Try harder" and if you still don't succeed, it just may mean that you don't have the capacity to understand me. So maybe you should just stop tryin!

This is a public forum, Riada. I have the privilege to respond to various topics by different members as do you. Perhaps you're simply thin-skinned and resent debate?

Refresh my memory, Cupcake. Exactly when and where did I say you weren't Black? If you can provide me that answer i'll no longer be "bothering" you. :)

Now the fact remains being Black is a lifetime career not a temporary gig. Some people want to start and stop being Black whenever it's convenient for them (refer back to my earlier thread).

I don't give a hoot if an individual doesn't consider themselves to be Black. I don't associate with those kinds of people. However those who don't consider themselves to be Black shouldn't patronize or receive the fruits and benefits of a people they negate. Nor should Blacks who are insecure with their African heritage - or pretend they don't possess African heritage - be allowed to dictate and define who is African, who isn't African and what is Black culture while going unchecked. To do so is an insult to their African ancestors, direspectful to African people and just plain asinine! And as long as perpetrators who subscribe to this ilk continue to espouse who, what, when, where and why Africa is or isn't, then people like me will feverishly respond to people like you with a brusk statement each and every time.

Riada, you are correct about one thing. I don't understand what you are saying. Because your method of conveyance is equivalent to the crud on the bottom of my shoe. And I don't rationalize doo doo.

Crap is not in. Intelligence is. Try it sometimes boo!

So until next time, have a nice weekend. :kiss1:

This is a public forum, Riada. I have the privilege to respond to various topics by different members as do you. Perhaps you're simply thin-skinned and resent debate?

Refresh my memory, Cupcake. Exactly when and where did I say you weren't Black? If you can provide me that answer i'll no longer be "bothering" you. :)

Now the fact remains being Black is a lifetime career not a temporary gig. Some people want to start and stop being Black whenever it's convenient for them (refer back to my earlier thread).

I don't give a hoot if an individual doesn't consider themselves to be Black. I don't associate with those kinds of people. However those who don't consider themselves to be Black shouldn't patronize or receive the fruits and benefits of a people they negate. Nor should Blacks who are insecure with their African heritage - or pretend they don't possess African heritage - be allowed to dictate and define who is African, who isn't African and what is Black culture while going unchecked. To do so is an insult to their African ancestors, direspectful to African people and just plain asinine! And as long as perpetrators who subscribe to this ilk continue to espouse who, what, when, where and why Africa is or isn't, then people like me will feverishly respond to people like you with a brusk statement each and every time.

Riada, you are correct about one thing. I don't understand what you are saying. Because your method of conveyance is equivalent to the crud on the bottom of my shoe. And I don't rationalize doo doo.
Crap is not in. Intelligence is. Try it sometimes boo!

So until next time, have a nice weekend. :kiss1:
I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone of your “ilk” would start with the name-calling. I’m not a “cupcake” and I’m not your “boo.”

Let me repeat: you don’t define me. I’m defined by a higher power and by myself. I can question any other definition or label that anyone else imposed or tries to impose on me AND I will continue to do so.
I am an African-American woman. That’s my ethnic group. That’s how I currently and will continue to define myself. You can jump at me all you want for that. I’m ready for you and your “ilk” of "feverish" responders.

I just want the record to show I didn’t start this. You jumped at me a couple of weeks ago on here and I just let you have that one, just to keep the peace, but here you are again. So no more. I’m ready for you and the rest of your “ilk.” Get ready for this because I can go on and on FOREVER.


If you think I have the authority to dictate and define who is African and who isn’t, or what is Black culture then that’s a reflection on you and your intelligence. Thanks for the compliment anyway. I definitely KNOW you don’t have the power or authority to define me or anyone else. I can easily brush off stuff like you.

I’m not a dictator and don’t ever want to be. You apparently want to dictate what my opinions should be and how I should define myself, so you sho do sound like a wannabe dictator to me. We have too many dictators in Africa already. Maybe this is the time for you to “GO BACK TO AFRICA AND JOIN THEM!

If you’re “feverishly responding” to one of my earlier posts, I specifically said I was speaking personally and couldn’t speak for any other AA. Since you love reading what I write, go back and read it again and again and again and again and again.

As for people like you who consider it your job to “feverishly respond” to my posts, well, :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Get a life! Other than that we should take this “Riada and all of Her Feverish Responders” show on the road.

Last, but maybe more important, lemme say this to ya. Learn how to talk to a Sista IF you want her to listen, and you apparently want me to listen SINCE YOU KEEP RESPONDING TO MY POSTS. So hear this: You currently don’t have the skills to get a Sista like me to listen to anything you say, let alone follow you or even want to associate with any Brotha of your “ilk.”

[QUOTE=Tantrum]Im American
Not African nor
African American
Multi Cultural
Have to dig deep
I dont know if I have african descent
Yet people say everyone is a descendent
Of Africa so who truely knows
Yet im not in africa so im not an african
Im not an african from africa with us citizenship
So im not an African American

Tantrum, you are not African American??? Everything you represent has a stench of the African American culture, your whip, look, style, etc. Maybe you have a different definition of it. We "Blacks" in America are all descendants of Africans. Outside of the 25-30% Hopi/Navajo Indian I am, I still consider myself African American, let alone all the other "Bloods" that lurk. To each his own, but 75% of people see me as all Black, and I think I look unmistakibly Black. Multi-cultural has a million meanings, so if you don't specify, most people in America will look at you like you're crazy. You see my dude, he's literally only 1/4 Black, but calls himself Black, and sometimes mixed, despite the flesh colored skin, blue-green eyes, and keen features......guess everybody's different. Do ya thang


How does my look
My Car and style define me
That has nothing to do
With who I am
They see you as Black
Of course society sees you as black
Yet just cause someone labels you
Regardless if its 2% or 75%
Doesnt mean that you have to take that label
I dont live by what society
States I should live by
You are your own individual
Just cause the mass majority states it
Doesnt make it right
So call yourself african american
If you want too I know what I am

I am now holding my thumb in the air. Please help me by giving it a name. Let's say: you name it (my thumb) "negro", "colored", or "afro-american". My quetion is, if one was to place a name (label) on us, does that make us something other than what we really are? Can a Leopard chang his spots? If one is born in a oven, does that make him a muffin or cornbread?-(Malcolm X). In my opinion, the answer is NO!!! For instance, if one was to name my thumb "negro", it still won't change the fact that it is an anatomical member of my human body containing a bone, nerves, flesh and blood. Furthermore, if a leopard was to be submursed in a dye of any color, he will still be a leopard; but, he will have dye all over him. Lastly, if one was to be born in an oven and he is, lets say, afrikan;then, he is still an afrikan. Nevertheless, he better pray to God that the oven is not on because he would be one HOT AFRIKAN!!! (lol...) Moving right along, Tommy Hilfiger designs and distributes clothing. Some of the clothes he designs are made from cotton. Just because he puts a big logo or sign on the front, back or on the tag does that make the shirt a "Tommy Hilfiger" shirt. I say, NO! It is a "cotton" shirt with colonial symbols all over it. For example, a red, blue, and white polo shirt with stars and stripes on it. End of discussion.
Now, enough with the illustrations. The point is that no matter what people call us or how they react to who we proclaim ourselves to be, we still (literally) have the blood of God (Ethiopian, Blak, and Divine) running through our viens. Moreover, no matter what they call (label) the land of our fathers (home of the Gods-Afrika), it still doesn't change the fact that God chose Afrika and the inhabitants thereof (Royal, Blak, Dignified Sons and Daughters of Zion) to reside therein, forever! The essence of our existence (our Afrikan spirits) trandscends all bounderies of time and space, and it (our spirits) manifest within, around, and proceeds outside of our physical vessels. And, in turn, adversely affects our surrounding enviroment. Therefore, we are immune to both criticism and popular opinion (the "status quo"). We are the chosen of God, His Divine Bride, and His Christ! We are Ethiopian! We are Blak Afrikans! Man, WE just-ARE! Afrikans- WE ARE!!! Furthermore, Afrika is the "Promised Land!" :bullseye:
Destee, you are correct-my beloved Sister. We are Afrikan and Blak (chosen, special, and peculiar). So, let them call us what they want to call us, and let them feel the way that seems fitting to them; after they witness us "shine" and hear us "PROCLAIM" our independence with one tumultuos and thunderous voice!
Children of Jacob (Israel), REJOICE! :terrific: :jumping:
And, GET READY! :weights: :weights: :weights:

Everything you represent has a stench of the African American culture, your whip, look, style, etc.

Sister SpicyBrown ... what do you mean by "stench" ?

:heart:

Destee

I saw someone used stench in a comment. Stench should never be associated with a heritage.

I think with regards to label issues, like I have said, allow people to identify with who they want to. We all have reminants of tribalism, whether we are directly from the African continent or of African ancestry. As a result imposition of labels is bound to cause problems. If you want to be black, Afro-American, African Americn Carribean, African, so be it. Some of the most pro-african people have been people who wouldnt be called "African" due to birthplace. And some of the most pro-AA people have been Carribean. Once we try to impose labels on others, it leads to disputes. Especially since some of these labels are full of "stench".

We need to get over the label issue and unite and learn to work together as a group of people who are defined as "negroes" by the global oppressors.

I am now holding my thumb in the air. Please help me by giving it a name. Let's say: you name it (my thumb) "negro", "colored", or "afro-american". My quetion is, if one was to place a name (label) on us, does that make us something other than what we really are? Can a Leopard chang his spots? If one is born in a oven, does that make him a muffin or cornbread?-(Malcolm X). In my opinion, the answer is NO!!! For instance, if one was to name my thumb "negro", it still won't change the fact that it is an anatomical member of my human body containing a bone, nerves, flesh and blood. Furthermore, if a leopard was to be submursed in a dye of any color, he will still be a leopard; but, he will have dye all over him. Lastly, if one was to be born in an oven and he is, lets say, afrikan;then, he is still an afrikan. Nevertheless, he better pray to God that the oven is not on because he would be one HOT AFRIKAN!!! (lol...) Moving right along, Tommy Hilfiger designs and distributes clothing. Some of the clothes he designs are made from cotton. Just because he puts a big logo or sign on the front, back or on the tag does that make the shirt a "Tommy Hilfiger" shirt. I say, NO! It is a "cotton" shirt with colonial symbols all over it. For example, a red, blue, and white polo shirt with stars and stripes on it. End of discussion.
Now, enough with the illustrations. The point is that no matter what people call us or how they react to who we proclaim ourselves to be, we still (literally) have the blood of God (Ethiopian, Blak, and Divine) running through our viens. Moreover, no matter what they call (label) the land of our fathers (home of the Gods-Afrika), it still doesn't change the fact that God chose Afrika and the inhabitants thereof (Royal, Blak, Dignified Sons and Daughters of Zion) to reside therein, forever! The essence of our existence (our Afrikan spirits) trandscends all bounderies of time and space, and it (our spirits) manifest within, around, and proceeds outside of our physical vessels. And, in turn, adversely affects our surrounding enviroment. Therefore, we are immune to both criticism and popular opinion (the "status quo"). We are the chosen of God, His Divine Bride, and His Christ! We are Ethiopian! We are Blak Afrikans! Man, WE just-ARE! Afrikans- WE ARE!!! Furthermore, Afrika is the "Promised Land!" :bullseye:
Destee, you are correct-my beloved Sister. We are Afrikan and Blak (chosen, special, and peculiar). So, let them call us what they want to call us, and let them feel the way that seems fitting to them; after they witness us "shine" and hear us "PROCLAIM" our independence with one tumultuos and thunderous voice!
Children of Jacob (Israel), REJOICE! :terrific: :jumping:
And, GET READY! :weights: :weights: :weights:


:shades: :dance: :dance: :welldone: :welldone:

Some of the most pro-african people have been people who wouldnt be called "African" due to birthplace. And some of the most pro-AA people have been Carribean. Once we try to impose labels on others, it leads to disputes. Especially since some of these labels are full of "stench".
Quite true,it is those labels that keep us divided if we accept them.

I personally cannot outright say I'm African. To me, that would undermine everything that we've gone through in America. By sayind we are African-American, we are saying we were taken from our original homes, torn from our families, our culture and our way of life. Upon being brought here, we had to adapt to the system the white man set up as best we could. To that effect, we are in major respects different from Africans. If that is the case, then do Africans fight for the same things African Americans do? Do they have the same mentality derived from the long standing hatred and blame we put on the white men in America and their system of supremacy? So at this point, I have no other reason to think of myself but as African-American. Now as far as unity is concerned, I don't really care to what degree you are African or black, but if you have roots in Africa and have a halfway dark complexion, I'm grouping us all into one category: Black. I'm sorry if some people may have a problem with this, but that's the schema I've developed.

I am now holding my thumb in the air. Please help me by giving it a name. Let's say: you name it (my thumb) "negro", "colored", or "afro-american". My quetion is, if one was to place a name (label) on us, does that make us something other than what we really are? Can a Leopard chang his spots? If one is born in a oven, does that make him a muffin or cornbread?-(Malcolm X). In my opinion, the answer is NO!!! For instance, if one was to name my thumb "negro", it still won't change the fact that it is an anatomical member of my human body containing a bone, nerves, flesh and blood. Furthermore, if a leopard was to be submursed in a dye of any color, he will still be a leopard; but, he will have dye all over him. Lastly, if one was to be born in an oven and he is, lets say, afrikan;then, he is still an afrikan. Nevertheless, he better pray to God that the oven is not on because he would be one HOT AFRIKAN!!! (lol...) Moving right along, Tommy Hilfiger designs and distributes clothing. Some of the clothes he designs are made from cotton. Just because he puts a big logo or sign on the front, back or on the tag does that make the shirt a "Tommy Hilfiger" shirt. I say, NO! It is a "cotton" shirt with colonial symbols all over it. For example, a red, blue, and white polo shirt with stars and stripes on it. End of discussion.
Now, enough with the illustrations. The point is that no matter what people call us or how they react to who we proclaim ourselves to be, we still (literally) have the blood of God (Ethiopian, Blak, and Divine) running through our viens. Moreover, no matter what they call (label) the land of our fathers (home of the Gods-Afrika), it still doesn't change the fact that God chose Afrika and the inhabitants thereof (Royal, Blak, Dignified Sons and Daughters of Zion) to reside therein, forever! The essence of our existence (our Afrikan spirits) trandscends all bounderies of time and space, and it (our spirits) manifest within, around, and proceeds outside of our physical vessels. And, in turn, adversely affects our surrounding enviroment. Therefore, we are immune to both criticism and popular opinion (the "status quo"). We are the chosen of God, His Divine Bride, and His Christ! We are Ethiopian! We are Blak Afrikans! Man, WE just-ARE! Afrikans- WE ARE!!! Furthermore, Afrika is the "Promised Land!" :bullseye:
Destee, you are correct-my beloved Sister. We are Afrikan and Blak (chosen, special, and peculiar). So, let them call us what they want to call us, and let them feel the way that seems fitting to them; after they witness us "shine" and hear us "PROCLAIM" our independence with one tumultuos and thunderous voice!
Children of Jacob (Israel), REJOICE! :terrific: :jumping:
And, GET READY! :weights: :weights: :weights:



Magnificent!!

African = black - Black = African whats the difference ?, either or are one in the same. I stll never hear a korean, or hawaiin jump and say Im Not asian. I hear both Puertoricans, and mexicans refer to them selves as latino even though they are totally different locals and cultures. so why do blacks always wanna be like I aint african/??? i even heard this zambian guy i worked with said "im not black im zambian" then he married a white woman lol.

i just want to know why Afrikan americans talk like theyre offended when some one refers to them as african. I mean there are people right here in this thread pounding their chest like i aint no afrikan im black even though theyre both the same. Some well many Africans hate to call black americans aa's, they even go out of their way to point out aa's have no relation to them, and vice versa, many aa's are like theyre over their we're here. again a mexican, or korean, 6 generations deep will refer to them selves as mexican or korean, and in the grand scheme as asian, or latino, why does this (being that black=african and vice versa) matter to blacks?

African = black - Black = African whats the difference ?, either or are one in the same.

Scenario: A white person whose modern roots stem from Africa, but they were born in America. If they self-identify as "African American" what political impact do you think this would have on Black Americans?

The more I think about this topic Brother Therious, technically speaking, I don't believe this equation is accurate. If someone thinks differently, please share your perspective, but African is not an exclusive term to describe only Black people. At least, not in today's world. Anyone born in Africa can call themselves African, regardless of their race or family heritage. To use the word "African" in the title refers to a place which in many cases represents a place of origin or national origin which may have limitations by definition. On the other hand, to refer to one's self as "Black" may differentiate someone and suggest much broader connotations which could include not just a "racial" group but could also express a state of consciousness that may be notably different than white people or other "people of color".

Other opinions?

Queenie :heart:

I saw someone used stench in a comment. Stench should never be associated with a heritage.

I think with regards to label issues, like I have said, allow people to identify with who they want to. We all have reminants of tribalism, whether we are directly from the African continent or of African ancestry. As a result imposition of labels is bound to cause problems. If you want to be black, Afro-American, African Americn Carribean, African, so be it. Some of the most pro-african people have been people who wouldnt be called "African" due to birthplace. And some of the most pro-AA people have been Carribean. Once we try to impose labels on others, it leads to disputes. Especially since some of these labels are full of "stench".

We need to get over the label issue and unite and learn to work together as a group of people who are defined as "negroes" by the global oppressors.


This is highly true,no matter what we call ourselves in the eye of the oppressor and enemy we are all the same,so we should work together as if we are in order to stop the divisions which are caused by labels.

Once we solve the internal problem of who we are, we can solve the external problem of what we will be.-John Henrik Clarke


THe problem that is internal is the indoctrination of labels,we are one,it is that simple.

Scenario: A white person whose modern roots stem from Africa, but they were born in America. If they self-identify as "African American" what political impact do you think this would have on Black Americans?

The more I think about this topic Brother Therious, technically speaking, I don't believe this equation is accurate. If someone thinks differently, please share your perspective, but African is not an exclusive term to describe only Black people. At least, not in today's world. Anyone born in Africa can call themselves African, regardless of their race or family heritage. To use the word "African" in the title refers to a place which in many cases represents a place of origin or national origin which may have limitations by definition. On the other hand, to refer to one's self as "Black" may differentiate someone and suggest much broader connotations which could include not just a "racial" group but could also express a state of consciousness that may be notably different than white people or other "people of color".

Other opinions?

Queenie :heart:

you make a valid point. Although when I hear African I like most peole I think of Indigeneous Africans-black people. There are also whites born in Japan, Korea, ect they are no more Asian then a white person born in the Kongo.

Then again there are many blacks in countries like france and england, i never have a problem calling them french, I think its different when it comes to the term African.. Theyre just a black french guy, or a black guy born in france, or Afro-french/Afro-european ect. Just like many black Cubans call the selves Afro-Cuban

I used to know a white guy from Azania, who said he could recieve benefits because he was African American technically. On most Applications for various things Ive filled out it usually says 'African American/black or Hispanic/Not white so the government is up on that game. Personally I don't care either way, black has a certain power that comes with it. African is a technical term but it still means black or indigeneous africans., When i see whites in Africa no matter how long they have been there theyre just whites in Africa to me.

If you told one of your friends we are going out to dinner with some Africans. Would they look at you like you were crazy if some whites, or Indians showed up at the door? i know i would.

However if you told your friends there are some french people coming over i wouldnt be suprised to see a black person. If you went to france and said some of my American friends are coming theyd probably wonder, white, black , latino?? Now if you told me there are some japanese coming over and some white guy with blond hair was standing there id probably start laughing. I guess it just depends on what country it is. Somne countrie names means a certain eethinic group, some could mean any body.

Scenario: A white person whose modern roots stem from Africa, but they were born in America. If they self-identify as "African American" what political impact do you think this would have on Black Americans?

The more I think about this topic Brother Therious, technically speaking, I don't believe this equation is accurate. If someone thinks differently, please share your perspective, but African is not an exclusive term to describe only Black people. At least, not in today's world. Anyone born in Africa can call themselves African, regardless of their race or family heritage. To use the word "African" in the title refers to a place which in many cases represents a place of origin or national origin which may have limitations by definition. On the other hand, to refer to one's self as "Black" may differentiate someone and suggest much broader connotations which could include not just a "racial" group but could also express a state of consciousness that may be notably different than white people or other "people of color".

Other opinions?

Queenie :heart:

Yes, Sis. Actually, I know whites who were born and raised in 2 African countries who consider themselves Africans. Whenever they come here, they can't wait to get back "home" to Africa. They speak the language, know the customs, socialize totally with Black Africans there and consider white Americans to be odd and racists to the core.

When I first met one of them in college, that was a very eye-opening experience. She hung around totally with the African students there because she felt very awkward with the white students on campus because she said they were constantly making racists comments about her people--Black people.

The other whites I know who are like this are a fifty-something white couple. They live in East Africa. The woman was born there of missionary parents and has lived there all of her life. She married a white man from here who went there to help with some sort of project when he was 18. Anyway, he adopted Africa as his home. They have three sons and a daughter, all of of whom were born and bred in East Africa. and all of them have married Black Africans.

These three white people definitely consider themselves to be Africans. The two women don't know of any other place.

When this couple comes here to visit his elderly parents, they count the days til they can get home.

I thought whites in Africa referred to them selves as Africaner to seperate from blacks.

When I meet or hear of whites calling them selves African i consider it an insult Givin the history of EUROPEANS . Thats like a flea calling themsleves a dog.

I also believe that in a nut shell this why blacks have lost all power on this planet. Our willingness to let others use our culture . Now these people can call them selves whatever they wish, But BLACK people shouold not Dare i say cannot recognize them as anything but white, or European.

A black Frenchman is not European feel me? African refers to a continent where blacks come from, Liberia for example is a country on the continent of Africa with all types of people residing in that coutry.

Truthfully when i hear a white person say im African I want to smack the **** out of them. And I have met some that claim that they are.

I WATCHED THE OSCARS LAST NIGHT. THIS WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN DIRECTOR won AN AWARD AND STARTED TALKINMG IN A NATIVE AFRIKAN TONGUE TALKING BOUT...VIVA LA AFRIKA ECT ECT....I WAS LIKE SMACK THIS DUDE OFF THE STAGE LOL...

Im an Afro-Latin
Real recognize real
Im an american for real
No not african nor african american
No matter how society might feel
Embrace my culture for real
I respect anyone who isnt afraid to
Speak on there culture regardless of the masses

last time i checked there were blk latinos.. why u gotta b afro latin?
why cant u just be latin... or blk...
i understand you want to rep both..
but why not just say latino..
and educate the world..
on the blk latino?
or vice versa....


Im an Afro-Latin
Real recognize real
Im an american for real
No not african nor african american
No matter how society might feel
Embrace my culture for real
I respect anyone who isnt afraid to
Speak on there culture regardless of the masses

last time i checked there were blk latinos.. why u gotta b afro latin?
why cant u just be latin... or blk...
i understand you want to rep both..
but why not just say latino..
and educate the world..
on the blk latino?
or vice versa....

Cause thats what my father
Has always told me that I was
He has stated to embrace and call myself this
Just never changed the thought of it
My mother tells me to embrace both all the time
She is like you are truely a latin yet society will label you
Embrace both and be one with yourself
Its true I should yet latins look at me as multicultural
Blacks look at me as Multicultural
So i try and teach the history of afro-latins
Just cant see myself claiming either one if I am not
Accepted in my true knowledge of what I am

To those who are making blanket statements about other people's identity, you cannot force and identity on people. Last I checked, it was what do YOU identify yourself as. Not what you want OTHERS to identify themselves as. You cannot force people to acknowledge a heritage.

Africa is Beyond 42 million people in America. It is beyond 500 million people in Africa. For their history will not matter much in the future. Because Africa is the bright future of the generations unborn who will truly dominate the world and say out loud with pride "Me, I am an African"

I somehow agree with you, but
Denying oneself is denying the truth and we all know what denying the truth leads to.

IWhen I meet or hear of whites calling them selves African i consider it an insult Givin the history of EUROPEANS . Thats like a flea calling themsleves a dog. Truthfully when i hear a white person say im African I want to smack the **** out of them. And I have met some that claim that they are.

Brother Therious....you're precious and too funny sometimes! :)

Queenie :heart:

I thought whites in Africa referred to them selves as Africaner to seperate from blacks.

When I meet or hear of whites calling them selves African i consider it an insult Givin the history of EUROPEANS . Thats like a flea calling themsleves a dog.

I also believe that in a nut shell this why blacks have lost all power on this planet. Our willingness to let others use our culture . Now these people can call them selves whatever they wish, But BLACK people shouold not Dare i say cannot recognize them as anything but white, or European.

A black Frenchman is not European feel me? African refers to a continent where blacks come from, Liberia for example is a country on the continent of Africa with all types of people residing in that coutry.

Truthfully when i hear a white person say im African I want to smack the **** out of them. And I have met some that claim that they are.

African like European can be both a nationality and ethnicity as exemplified by the Afrikaners and White Zimbabweans who are African nationals whilst being very obviously of European ethnicity.

Conversely the current Danish and Olympic 800 metre champion is a Danish national of African ethnicity [he was born and raised in Kenya] in a manner similar to Lynford Christie being Olympic and World champion for Britain [because he and I are British] whilst very obviously being of African [he and I were born in the Caribbean Diaspora] descent.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE! [HASTY my alter ego]!

Sister SpicyBrown ... what do you mean by "stench" ?

:heart:

Destee

I meant an aire of African American ways, sorry- should have put:"unmistakibly".

"How does my look
My Car and style define me
That has nothing to do
With who I am"

Normally, the culture one emulates is a reflection of who they are, especially if you floss it on the daily.......if not why bother doing so. If you call yourself Afro-Latin, where is the white blood in the equation? Didn't you say that your mother was White/Mexican? To each his own. I just don't see how somebody can love McD's roller coaster rides, hip-hop, live in America all their lives, love Black women, etc, and exclude the "American", and from their identity. How many of us here at Destees who claim to be African actually live an African lifestyle, outside of BANGIN their fingers on their keyboards to post on a Black website? I think Afro American would suit us all best. Yes we are desendants of the African/original continent, but how many of us have even stepped foot in Africa? .000000000000000005%? We have roots in America as well. Check the history. Stake yo' claim.

"How does my look
My Car and style define me
That has nothing to do
With who I am"

Normally, the culture one emulates is a reflection of who they are, especially if you floss it on the daily.......if not why bother doing so. If you call yourself Afro-Latin, where is the white blood in the equation? Didn't you say that your mother was White/Mexican? To each his own. I just don't see how somebody can love McD's roller coaster rides, hip-hop, live in America all their lives, love Black women, etc, and exclude the "American", and from their identity. How many of us here at Destees who claim to be African actually live an African lifestyle, outside of BANGIN their fingers on their keyboards to post on a Black website? I think Afro American would suit us all best. Yes we are desendants of the African/original continent, but how many of us have even stepped foot in Africa? .000000000000000005%? We have roots in America as well. Check the history. Stake yo' claim.


Like I told you
The way I dress and what I do
Doesnt define my culture
It might define you and who you are
Yet not me at all

You can claim african american all you want
I will claim what I feel and know that I am

Brother Therious....you're precious and too funny sometimes! :)

Queenie :heart:

btw, im glad your back in the mix queenie.

African like European can be both a nationality and ethnicity as exemplified by the Afrikaners and White Zimbabweans who are African nationals whilst being very obviously of European ethnicity.

Conversely the current Danish and Olympic 800 metre champion is a Danish national of African ethnicity [he was born and raised in Kenya] in a manner similar to Lynford Christie being Olympic and World champion for Britain [because he and I are British] whilst very obviously being of African [he and I were born in the Caribbean Diaspora] descent.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE! [HASTY my alter ego]!


i remember linford christie from the olympics. right it can be both. but i still say if you went to britain and said some afrikans are coming over for dinner, im going to lagh if like some blonde haired blue eyed hanz and franz dude come walking through.

im black. easily done

"Like I told you
The way I dress and what I do
Doesnt define my culture
It might define you and who you are
Yet not me at all"

Huh, you're confusing me. How you dress and what you do, and how your lifestyle is is a refelction of who you are. You say you're AFRO-Latin, who else can get an afro besides those of us who are ancestors of AFRICANS, hence the term African American. Again, to each his own

I am American.I am a 100% Ethnic American Black.We are a people unto ourselves.

i remember linford christie from the olympics. right it can be both. but i still say if you went to britain and said some afrikans are coming over for dinner, im going to lagh if like some blonde haired blue eyed hanz and franz dude come walking through.

African like European can be both a nationality and ethnicity depending on the context in which it is being used as exemplified by the Afrikaners and White Zimbabweans who are African nationals whilst being very obviously of European ethnicity.

Conversely the current Danish and Olympic 800 metre champion is a Danish national of African ethnicity [he was born and raised in Kenya] in a manner similar to Lynford Christie being Olympic and World champion for Britain [because he and I are British] whilst very obviously being of African [he and I were born in the Caribbean Diaspora] descent
I remember Longford Christie from the Olympics. right it can be both. But I still say if you went to Britain and said some Africans are coming over for dinner, I'm going to laugh if like some blonde haired blue eyed Hanz and Franz dude come walking through which is why you would have to be specific as to whether you're referring to ethnicity or nationality.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE! [HASTY my alter ego]!

"Like I told you
The way I dress and what I do
Doesnt define my culture
It might define you and who you are
Yet not me at all"

Huh, you're confusing me. How you dress and what you do, and how your lifestyle is is a refelction of who you are. You sday you're AFRO-Latin, who else can get an afro besides those of us who are ancestors of AFRICANS, hence the term African American. Again.to each his own

You think because of a fro or where your hair in braids
Or style of that nature means you have african descent
Boy o boy you must dont think outside the box much
That has nothing to do with being of african descent
There alot of white boys with fros or dreads or braids
That dosnt mean they have african descent
You claim your african american all you want
But when is the last time you have been to africa to use that african american title your so proud of? From what I know you have to be from africa and claim citizenship here to be an african american so you were born in africa?

I'll say it like this................

I AM A BLACK ALKEBULAN!

AS FAIR AS THAT!

CD

i'm black... more so than that i'm southern... i am not african. i have been westernized. my people before me were westernized. i identify with other black people more than other races. i embrace my grandfather and his native land. just as i embrace other aspects of my geneology; however, i do not claim anything that i cannot point to and say this is who i am. i am aware of that culture. i have proof that my people come from cuba... some by way of brazil many many years before. i have proof my that my grandmother is half creek; however i am ignorant to her familiy traditions for reasons beyond our control.... i said all of that not to negate the fact that i am black. i was raised by strong black women from the south. that is who and what i identify myself as.... i went to africa many years before and was flat out by many people of ghana and nigera that i was NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN.... I WAS AMERICAN... and hell i'm okay with that... hell america is the melting pot anyway.... when my uncle was getting his doctorate he attempted to trace our lineage and he could only get as far back as the carribiean.... and he researched for years..... i know it all leads back to africa but that doesn't have a dang thing to do with who i am today in 2006.... BLACK

just my .02

i'm black... more so than that i'm southern... i am not african. i have been westernized. my people before me were westernized. i identify with other black people more than other races. i embrace my grandfather and his native land. just as i embrace other aspects of my geneology; however, i do not claim anything that i cannot point to and say this is who i am. i am aware of that culture. i have proof that my people come from cuba... some by way of brazil many many years before. i have proof my that my grandmother is half creek; however i am ignorant to her familiy traditions for reasons beyond our control.... i said all of that not to negate the fact that i am black. i was raised by strong black women from the south. that is who and what i identify myself as.... i went to africa many years before and was flat out by many people of ghana and nigera that i was NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN.... I WAS AMERICAN... and hell i'm okay with that... hell america is the melting pot anyway.... when my uncle was getting his doctorate he attempted to trace our lineage and he could only get as far back as the carribiean.... and he researched for years..... i know it all leads back to africa but that doesn't have a dang thing to do with who i am today in 2006.... BLACK

just my .02

Thats deep knowledge sis
Someone will argue your point though
Much love for that though

when my uncle was getting his doctorate he attempted to trace our lineage and he could only get as far back as the carribiean.... and he researched for years..... i know it all leads back to africa but that doesn't have a dang thing to do with who i am today in 2006.... BLACK

It is a little known fact that most African Americans were transplanted from the Caribbean. The British colonies could not afford to bring slaves directly from Africa like the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and French colonies of South America and the Caribbean. Thus most AAs who trace their lineage will wind up in the Caribbean. Also culturally most AAs are extremely Americanized, which isn't necessarily a good thing. This is especially true concerning social-behavioral trends in our community over the past 3-4 decades.

i'm black... more so than that i'm southern... i am not african. i have been westernized.

i went to africa many years before and was flat out by many people of ghana and nigera that i was NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN.... I WAS AMERICAN... and hell i'm okay with that... hell america is the melting pot anyway....

When my uncle was getting his doctorate he attempted to trace our lineage and he could only get as far back as the carribiean.... and he researched for years..... i know it all leads back to africa but that doesn't have a dang thing to do with who i am today in 2006.... BLACK

just my .02

Though I must concede that you raised many relevant points, you have not acknowledged the diversity and scale of the conflict we’re in [as Africans in the USA, the rest of the Diaspora and even in Africa itself] which has left us collectively traumatised and confused and totally [leaderless] without a strategic direction or focus.

Who are we? We define our selves as Negroes/Blacks (within the USA and the rest of the Diaspora), but rationally what differentiates us from the rest of human family is our African ethnicity. Africans in Africa have had to cope with the totally emasculating trauma of being dominated by our Enemies in their own land.

I compared it someone walking into your five bedroom house, and telling you to live in the smallest room; a friend of mine (who is of African ethnicity and nationality) corrected me, he said they didn’t make us live in the smallest room; they made us live in the toilet.

Military combatants are always debriefed after combat operations or wars? Without debriefing it would be virtually impossible for the combatants to regain their psychic balance after a prolonged traumatic experience. They also subsequently receive whatever psychotherapy is required to make them whole.

Even our leaders back in the 50’s, 60’s and even now [with the notable exception of Jesse Jackson] don’t realise that language in particular is the operating system for the brain like Windows XP or NT is for computers, thus making it very difficult for peoples of African ethnicity in the USA and the rest of the Diaspora to sidestep European influence because their language is literally our mother tongue.

An easy example of this concept at work is the fact that we individually and collectively insist on using the word Black, which is a colour when what we are actually describing, is our African ethnicity.

Black apart from being consistently inaccurate [there are hundreds of millions of brown/black skinned Indians who are not of African ethnicity] is also consistently used within European cultures as a disparaging term, i.e. Black Day, The Black Death, Black Magic, Blackmail, Blackout etc whereas no one says African Day, Africanmail, Africanout, which is why African is preferable to Black [and should be used consistently instead of Black] on every level.

There are more Americans of Swedish and Irish descent than the current populations of these countries and the Asians [Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese] don't describe themselves as "Yellow Americans". Additionally the Indians, Pakistanis and Mexicans don't describe themselves as "Brown Americans".

Africans were separated from our names, language, culture and history in order to keep us direction less and totally baffled and confused like the people you describe in this post, thus if you compare our communities in the Diaspora and countries in Africa with Asians and Asia you can see how effective this strategy has been.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE! [HASTY my alter
ego]!

Thats deep knowledge sis
Someone will argue your point though
Much love for that though

When someone denies that they are African American, or even African for that matter, it seems as if they are attempting to deny any African/Black blood. You know, kinky hair, larger nostrils, dark complexion.
Although we may not possess all of these features, you still have that bloodline encoded into your DNA. The reason why bi-racials in America look so non-Black, is because the Black parent is more than likely to have some type of other blood in them already. But still why deny any aspect of Blackness when all the while it is being denied its potential every corner you turn. I don't care how many surnames we have undergone in the past. When most people say "Africa" 9/10 times we think dark skin. If you don't believe me, try mating a Sudanese or a Congolese with a Nordic White, and see how non-white that child looks.:1on1:

this thread says a lot. even our inteligent are stilL, highly disunified. I doubt you would hear koreans and japanese debating wether or not theyre asian. Puertorican or mexican still cal them selves latin.

the white mans strategy was a success, wed rather call each other n::ga than afrikan.

I am American.I am a 100% Ethnic American Black.We are a people unto ourselves.

ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION YOU ARE NOT EVEN %100 MAN. LET ALONE AMERICAN.

i'm black... more so than that i'm southern... i am not african. i have been westernized. my people before me were westernized. i identify with other black people more than other races. i embrace my grandfather and his native land. just as i embrace other aspects of my geneology; however, i do not claim anything that i cannot point to and say this is who i am. i am aware of that culture. i have proof that my people come from cuba... some by way of brazil many many years before. i have proof my that my grandmother is half creek; however i am ignorant to her familiy traditions for reasons beyond our control.... i said all of that not to negate the fact that i am black. i was raised by strong black women from the south. that is who and what i identify myself as.... i went to africa many years before and was flat out by many people of ghana and nigera that i was NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN.... I WAS AMERICAN... and hell i'm okay with that... hell america is the melting pot anyway.... when my uncle was getting his doctorate he attempted to trace our lineage and he could only get as far back as the carribiean.... and he researched for years..... i know it all leads back to africa but that doesn't have a dang thing to do with who i am today in 2006.... BLACK

just my .02


I agree, Black is universal. Nations come and go. And Africa is a continent anyway, not a country. The origin of the name itself "Africa" is European.

i feel like i'm an alien...on a distant planet
not quite african and not quite american
what too do?
peace
khasm
Me too. But if I had a preference, i would like to be called Negro.

I agree, Black is universal. Nations come and go. And Africa is a continent anyway, not a country. The origin of the name itself "Africa" is European.

DID AFRICANS TELL EUROPEANS THE NAME OF THE CONTINENT? I DONT KNOW NO ONE DOES..

DID AFRICANS TELL EUROPEANS THE NAME OF THE CONTINENT? I DONT KNOW NO ONE DOES..

There is a connected between Latin (Africa meaning sunny) and Greek (Aphirike meaning not cold). The Romans were the first to use the name.

http://crawfurd.dk.africa/word.htm

There is a connected between Latin (Africa meaning sunny) and Greek (Aphirike meaning not cold). The Romans were the first to use the name.

http://crawfurd.dk.africa/word.htm

Right I have read the greek origins of the word.

I agree, Black is universal. Nations come and go. And Africa is a continent anyway, not a country. The origin of the name itself "Africa" is European.

Have a look at this unanswered post to Realbrother on another website.

Realbrother1234 You're still on that DUMBshyt that if Black people called themselves "African" and thought of ourselves as "Africans" instead of Black Africans then the Crips and Bloods wouldn't HATE and KILL each other. Again its just plain STUPID. There is NO logical reason why Blacks who call themselves African Americans have any less Self-hatred then Blacks who call themselves Black. I didn't say there was any less self hatred, but as superbly exemplified by the difficulty you're having even acknowledging and embracing your African ethnicity as opposed to alleged Blackness [where's Blackland genuis?]; viewing yourself as African is a conscious start to the healing process.

You asked where is "Blackland" and the answer is AFRICA (you Idiot)! Then what possible advantage is there to describing yourself as Black, when you actually MEAN you're of African ethnicity?

The fundemental FACT is that Blacks don't hate being Black becuase they don't embrace their African Heritage. Indeed Blacks who hate being Black hate their African Heritage just as much as they hate being Black. The flip side is the same, Blacks who LOVE their African Heritage, embrace and LOVE their Black Heritage the same. Are you the only person in the USA who has been Africanballed, Africanlisted [especially by the more intelligent Sisters] and Africanmailed and jailed because it is such a despicable crime or are you only in trouble if you put Black in front of these words? You're a BRAIN DEAD AUTOMATON if you truly cannot grasp these facts.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE! [HASTY my alter ego]!

Hello Family,

Last night in the Pan-Africanism voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat) discussion, it was suggested that one of the most empowering things we could do individually, and easily, to help push the struggle of unifying us around the world ... is to say we are African ... instead of African American, or American, or Colored, or Negro, or Black, or any other number of things we've probably referred to ourselves as.

It was mentioned that all other people connect themselves to a land, except us. Ask a Chinese person, "What are you?" and they will say, "Chinese." Ask an Italian, "What are you?" and they will say, "Italian." Ask a Japanese, "What are you?" and they will say, "Japanese." Ask an African American, "What are you?" and many of us will respond with "Black," or "African American" or "i'm Black, but i've got some Indian in me" but rarely does our response fully and completely embrace Africa, by saying, "I am African."

I'm guilty of this. Until recently, i would have said, "African American" or "Black." I've been becoming more aware of a lot of things as a result of this community and all the many Sisters and Brothers that share with me. But what was really the clincher, was the opportunity i had recently of chatting with a gentleman from China in voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat). He spoke a little English, making it possible for us to discuss a few things. I asked him did he know that he was in an "African American" chat room. He said no, he had been surfing, searching and just stumbled on us. He then asked me if i was a Negro. I said, "No, i'm African, i'm Black." (I was trying to embrace Africa, but notice i still had to throw that color thing in there, Black). When i said that i was Black, he responded by typing into the room ... "i'm a yellow-skinned-man ... lol" ... gosh ... it was very eye opening. I really don't think he meant it to be offensive, and of course i didn't take it that way ... but he was laughing at me ... laughing at the idea that a people would refer to themselves as a color.

Anyway, let someone ask me "What are you?" in reference to my culture, and i will say that i am African.

I had to grow into this and i would imagine that many of my Sisters and Brothers here in the U.S., must also go through some process to take off the old and put on new.

So, my question is ... how difficult would it be for you to refer to yourself as simply, "African," vs. "African American?" Would you be willing to do this? Do you see how it could help unify Africans all over the world, if we made this small little change in our lives?

Looking forward to any discussion this may stimulate.

:heart:

Destee


Sorry but black Americans are more appropiately "African-Americans" rather than "African" because none of us are Africans in the sense that a Nigerian or Egyptian is. Plus African is a broad term that culturally does not refer to one thing. We all have ancestry that traces back to Africa, just like whites have ancestry that trace back to Europe, but neither are African nor European. Its good to learn and appreciate the things that go on in Africa as well as admiring the things of the past, ie, Egypt and Nubia, but we as peoples of African descent with a history in North America of 380 years are not Africans, there are differences between us and Africans.

Sorry but black Americans are more appropiately "African-Americans" rather than "African" because none of us are Africans in the sense that a Nigerian or Egyptian is. Plus African is a broad term that culturally does not refer to one thing. We all have ancestry that traces back to Africa, just like whites have ancestry that trace back to Europe, but neither are African nor European. Its good to learn and appreciate the things that go on in Africa as well as admiring the things of the past, ie, Egypt and Nubia, but we as peoples of African descent with a history in North America of 380 years are not Africans, there are differences between us and Africans.

Says who?

Yes there are differences between African Americans and Continental Africans, just like there are differences between Africans on the Continent.

As someone who has been to Africa and other parts of the Diaspora, I can tell you unequivocally, AA's, Africans and Africans of the Diaspora have more on common than most of our own people would ever believe.

Charlie bASS, if you chose not to identify yourself as an African, then that's your little red wagon, but you are in no position, or qualified to tell those that do identify as such that they are not Africans.

"WE must stop seperating ourselves in little corners on the basis of where slave ships put us down,based on sororities and fraternities,and coloration.The slave ships brought not Deltas and AKAs and no Kappas." John Henrik Clarke

Says who?

Yes there are differences between African Americans and Continental Africans, just like there are differences between Africans on the Continent.

Thats why I said its utterly misleading to call ourselves Africans when we've been separated from Africa for well over 380 years and have a history and culture of our own.

As someone who has been to Africa and other parts of the Diaspora, I can tell you unequivocally, AA's, Africans and Africans of the Diaspora have more on common than most of our own people would ever believe.

Please explain in detail what we have in common so much more, I'd like to know. I've been to Africa too, mostly the French speaking countries, Senegal, and a Senegalese Wolof is different culturally from a Nigerien Hausa. Thats being the case, please explain how African-Americans are so much close. I'm not saying we've totally lost our Africaness in some things, but there is a clear distinction. Overstating similarities in the name of Pan-Africanity doesn't erase the distinctions.

Charlie bASS, if you chose not to identify yourself as an African, then that's your little red wagon, but you are in no position, or qualified to tell those that do identify as such that they are not Africans.

Call yourself whatever you like, but the fact remains you *ARE* an *AMERICAN* of African descent, not an African. I went to Africa and the Africans there clearly identified me as an American, though they did acknowledge I was black.

"WE must stop seperating ourselves in little corners on the basis of where slave ships put us down,based on sororities and fraternities,and coloration.The slave ships brought not Deltas and AKAs and no Kappas." John Henrik Clarke

This is a bankrupt post. If Tutsis an Hutus don't see each other as the same what makes you think an African-American is just as African as a Nigerian?

This is a bankrupt post.
Can you prove that?




If Tutsis an Hutus don't see each other as the same what makes you think an African-American is just as African as a Nigerian?
The Hutu and the Tutsi people were distinctions made by Beligan and other colonists.The colonist came and favored one group of people and left leaving the power with another group of people,creating a division within the society.It is a method known as divide and conquer.No matter what we call ourselves,a common enemy and oppressor makes no distinction as to who is who,or who is what they claim to be.Since mankind began with us,than we are indegenous to most of the world no matter what label is given or taken.Naming oneself in any terms ,including "nationality", has to d o with self-determination,call yourselves what you please but no matter what their are always certain people who will see you in the light that was casted upon you by other people and not yourself.

Can you prove that?





The Hutu and the Tutsi people were distinctions made by Beligan and other colonists.The colonist came and favored one group of people and left leaving the power with another group of people,creating a division within the society.It is a method known as divide and conquer.No matter what we call ourselves,a common enemy and oppressor makes no distinction as to who is who,or who is what they claim to be.Since mankind began with us,than we are indegenous to most of the world no matter what label is given or taken.Naming oneself in any terms ,including "nationality", has to d o with self-determination,call yourselves what you please but no matter what their are always certain people who will see you in the light that was casted upon you by other people and not yourself.

Well people can call themselves whatever they like, but a continental African and an African-American are not the same. We may share a bloodlines via a recent common ancestry, but other than that we aren't really close.

Well people can call themselves whatever they like, but a continental African and an African-American are not the same. We may share a bloodlines via a recent common ancestry, but other than that we aren't really close.
Depends on who you are talking about,I have black family members that married continental Afrikans and are learning their language and such along with actually living in the villages in Afrika, an overzealous generalization may do us no good since I know continental Afrikans that look at Afrikans elsewhere with much respect.I am glad that we will not argue over what we call ourselves,since that is a division creating phenomenon in itself.As far as us as people being "close" it all depends on what aspect you speak of,thousands of Afrikans in the Diaspora visit the Soul Coast(Gold coast),amongst other places in Afrika to reconnect with themselves and learn about themselves,which may imply that the connection of someone to themself was not prevalent where ever they lived before visiting or moving.

Depends on who you are talking about,I have black family members that married continental Afrikans and are learning their language and such along with actually living in the villages in Afrika, an overzealous generalization may do us no good since I know continental Afrikans that look at Afrikans elsewhere with much respect.I am glad that we will not argue over what we call ourselves,since that is a division creating phenomenon in itself.As far as us as people being "close" it all depends on what aspect you speak of,thousands of Afrikans in the Diaspora visit the Soul Coast(Gold coast),amongst other places in Afrika to reconnect with themselves and learn about themselves,which may imply that the connection of someone to themself was not prevalent where ever they lived before visiting or moving.

For me maybe its different. I'm a black man of mixed ancestry, my father is black my mother is mostly Native American with some black and white ancestry. me and my mother do identify as black. In Africa I was mistaken sometime or very few occasions for being maybe a Tuareg or some other Northern group. I had a DNA test done and determined my ancestry came from Mende people in the Sierra Leone area. Culturally I share nothing with them, but it felt good to know where I came from. I learn about them but I realize that i can never be a Mende, I'm an African-American.

Charlie Bass....



Culturally I share nothing with them, but it felt good to know where I came from.
Culturally you may share nothing,but blood is thicker than water and make sure you do not lose yourself in another peoples culture(not ours,but mainstream medias depiction).


I learn about them but I realize that i can never be a Mende,

Nothing is impossible,culturally speaking you may be telling the truth,but your DNA says you already are one.Whether you acknowledge it or not is up to you and you only.

Thats why I said its utterly misleading to call ourselves Africans when we've been separated from Africa for well over 380 years and have a history and culture of our own.



Please explain in detail what we have in common so much more, I'd like to know. I've been to Africa too, mostly the French speaking countries, Senegal, and a Senegalese Wolof is different culturally from a Nigerien Hausa. Thats being the case, please explain how African-Americans are so much close. I'm not saying we've totally lost our Africaness in some things, but there is a clear distinction. Overstating similarities in the name of Pan-Africanity doesn't erase the distinctions.



Call yourself whatever you like, but the fact remains you *ARE* an *AMERICAN* of African descent, not an African. I went to Africa and the Africans there clearly identified me as an American, though they did acknowledge I was black.



Please explain in detail what we have in common so much more, I'd like to know

I would surmise the reason you don't know is because probably you don't want to know.

However, the problem with the question you pose is that it's misleading. There is no monolithic African or African American culture in modern terms.

For example, there are African Americans living off the coast of South Carolina called Gullah. The Gullah culture is as authentic as any "African" culture on the continent, last time I checked they were AFRICAN AMERICAN.

Indeed there are Africans in Africa who have gone out of their way to do away with all of their African traditions and mores in favor of European and Arab ones, yet we continue to call them Africans. Gofigya

But to answer your question, and for the sake of time here, I've provided a link for you. Below you will find a comprehensive list of publications that refute your arguements that African Americans are not African. Choose any book you like.

http://www.library.uiuc.edu/afx/africanisms.htm

Call yourself whatever you like

Thanks for your permission, that's mighty white of you.

but the fact remains *ARE* an *American* of African descent not an African

:laugh: Wake me when you step down from your soapbox of endoctrination :zzz:

Like I said before, if you don't want to identify as an African, that's your decision, I'll simply have no part of it :getout:

Charlie Bass....




Culturally you may share nothing,but blood is thicker than water and make sure you do not lose yourself in another peoples culture(not ours,but mainstream medias depiction).



Nothing is impossible,culturally speaking you may be telling the truth,but your DNA says you already are one.Whether you acknowledge it or not is up to you and you only.

I understand thats true and all, but I'm fiercely proud of being an African-American, we've accomplished so much. Africans need to learn just as much about us as we need to learn about them. Culturally speaking. My ancestry lies in Sierra Leone amongst the Mende, but I feel closer to other African Americans. I have not visited Sierra Leone yet, but I have met some Mende speaking people in France, where I once visited. They're totally different.

I would surmise the reason you don't know is because probably you don't want to know.

However, the problem with the question you pose is that it's misleading. There is no monolithic African or African American culture in modern terms.

For example, there are African Americans living off the coast of South Carolina called Gullah. The Gullah culture is as authentic as any "African" culture on the continent, last time I checked they were AFRICAN AMERICAN.

Indeed there are Africans in Africa who have gone out of their way to do away with all of their African traditions and mores in favor of European and Arab ones, yet we continue to call them Africans. Gofigya

But to answer your question, and for the sake of time here, I've provided a for you. Below you will find a comprehensive list of publications that refute your arguements that African Americans are not African. Choose any book you like.

http://www.library.uiuc.edu/afx/africanisms.htm



Thanks for your permission, that's mighty white of you.



:laugh: Wake me when you step down from your soapbox of endoctrination :zzz:

Like I said before, if you don't want to identify as an African, that's your decision, I'll simply have no part of it :getout:

I never said we are not totally African, don't create a strawman to knock down. I believe in a number of ways that we do retain "Africaness" for example, the way we worship and praise God, in some of the foods we eat. But we fused these ideas with others ideads into an entity that is "African American" uniquely. The Gullah are a isolated people who retained more African culture, but the majority of African Americans did not. I'm not white, I am black, of partial Native American ancestry, but I don't claim it. I don't the issue in a name, the name is nothing, its the culture that matters to me and culturally we are who we are... African-Americans, not Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Ashanti, Mende, none of that.

I understand thats true and all, but I'm fiercely proud of being an African-American, we've accomplished so much.
And you should be proud,but keep in mind that America was built off of our ancestors backs and now belongs to the biggest slave masters of all,the American government.They say only the slave can abolish slavery.Being proud of your heritage is one thing but being proud of the
labels given to you by others and not yourself is another which brings me to a quote.

"Slaves and dogs are named by their masters,free men name themselves."-Robert B.Moore



Africans need to learn just as much about us as we need to learn about them.
I agree here,it is not a one way street.The division in our people is vast and wide and can only be closed by us.

Culturally speaking. My ancestry lies in Sierra Leone amongst the Mende, but I feel closer to other African Americans. I have not visited Sierra Leone yet, but I have met some Mende speaking people in France, where I once visited. They're totally different.
The mendes in France would be different culturally speaking,but I bet many of our people in the diaspora are just as curious about each other as much,if not more,than they are about their Afrikan heritage.



HTP

And you should be proud,but keep in mind that America was built off of our ancestors backs and now belongs to the biggest slave masters of all,the American government.They say only the slave can abolish slavery.Being proud of your heritage is one thing but being proud of the
labels given to you by others and not yourself is another which brings me to a quote.

True, I absolutely agree. my mother for example, rejects with anger the terms mulatta, zambo as racist. I do agree that America was built mostly from slave labor and I hope compensation will go beyond this token affirmative action they've been feeding us.






I agree here,it is not a one way street.The division in our people is vast and wide and can only be closed by us.

I agree. I think Africans need to lose this stereotype that African Americans are lazy, don't value education and opportunities, and despise families. I have had to explain this time and time again to some Africans. I have to remind them that they're also brainwashed but the media's perception of what African Americans are like. I tell them just come to Mississippi[where's I'm from] and visit Mound Bayou and see an all-black town function.


The mendes in France would be different culturally speaking,but I bet many of our people in the diaspora are just as curious about each other as much,if not more,than they are about their Afrikan heritage.



HTP


True that indeed, maybe it was France that caused them guys to be so rude. In Africa its totally different.

I never said we are not totally African, don't create a strawman to knock down. I believe in a number of ways that we do retain "Africaness" for example, the way we worship and praise God, in some of the foods we eat. But we fused these ideas with others ideads into an entity that is "African American" uniquely. The Gullah are a isolated people who retained more African culture, but the majority of African Americans did not. I'm not white, I am black, of partial Native American ancestry, but I don't claim it. I don't the issue in a name, the name is nothing, its the culture that matters to me and culturally we are who we are... African-Americans, not Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Ashanti, Mende, none of that.


It's very simple.

You do not speak for black people, you speak for yourself, now what part of this don't you understand Charlie.

I'm an African, whether you agree with it or not. I left you an entire treatise of scholarship for you to refute.

Please explain to me what is Yoruba, Ibo, Ashanti etc. culture? All of the cultures mentioned above, are practiced and embraced by African Americans.

I've heard Africans talk that bullshyt about AA's are not African, It looks like you bought into this notion hook line and sinker.

Most Africans who say this know nothing if anything about African Americans and our culture, and I would venture to say suffer from a post colonial traumatic disorcer, no different than the misguided Africans in this country who hate calling themselves African

YOU are NOT going to convince me I am not African, so I suggest you let it go.

Sekhemu

I've heard Africans talk that bullshyt about AA's are not African.
I have heard this from white people born in Africa,but not from any black Afrikans,at least not yet.

It's very simple.

You do not speak for black people, you speak for yourself, now what part of this don't you understand Charlie.

Stop trolling. I said and I repeat again, you can label yourself whatever you want, the names mean nothing, the culture is what matters.

I'm an African, whether you agree with it or not. I left you an entire treatise of scholarship for you to refute.

Strawman argument.

Please explain to me what is Yoruba, Ibo, Ashanti etc. culture? All of the cultures mentioned above, are practiced and embraced by African Americans. Proof? How many African Americans speak any of the languages of the said people? How many African Americans practice any of the traditional customs of these said people? You're blowing hot air and sticking your face in the sand because you refuse to accept the fact that culturally you are *NOT* an African, ie, Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Amhara, Somali. If a Ibo came up to you and perform one of their traditional dances you would *NOT* recognize it as distinctly Ibo. Get off "I'm an African bandwagon".

I've heard Africans talk that bullshyt about AA's are not African, It looks like you bought into this notion hook line and sinker.


Yeah sure. Mayne you don't even know me, so cease with the personal attacks. You can label yourself anything, heck many African Americans call themselves Nubian brother and Nubian sister, but they are not *REAL* Nubians from Sudan and Upper Egypt, they're just using the name.

Most Africans who say this know nothing if anything about African Americans and our culture, and I would venture to say suffer from a post colonial traumatic disorcer, no different than the misguided Africans in this country who hate calling themselves African

YOU are NOT going to convince me I am not African, so I suggest you let it go.

If an African tells you you're not African, what could I do? Don't you think they would be the best judges concerning this rather than you, a person who's 380 years separated culturally from Africa? In name you can call yourself whatever you wish, but culturally and ethnically you are *NOT*, case closed, end of story.

Stop trolling. I said and I repeat again, you can label yourself whatever you want, the names mean nothing, the culture is what matters.



Strawman argument.

Proof? How many African Americans speak any of the languages of the said people? How many African Americans practice any of the traditional customs of these said people? You're blowing hot air and sticking your face in the sand because you refuse to accept the fact that culturally you are *NOT* an African, ie, Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Amhara, Somali. If a Ibo came up to you and perform one of their traditional dances you would *NOT* recognize it as distinctly Ibo. Get off "I'm an African bandwagon".




Yeah sure. Mayne you don't even know me, so cease with the personal attacks. You can label yourself anything, heck many African Americans call themselves Nubian brother and Nubian sister, but they are not *REAL* Nubians from Sudan and Upper Egypt, they're just using the name.



If an African tells you you're not African, what could I do? Don't you think they would be the best judges concerning this rather than you, a person who's 380 years separated culturally from Africa? In name you can call yourself whatever you wish, but culturally and ethnically you are *NOT*, case closed, end of story.


Charlie bASS lol

Get it straight, the FACT remains is that you have not proven that African American culture is NOT African, despite your Riculous attempts to do so.

Show us the scholarship that African American culture is not African. Give us a bibliography.

Where are the publications, the Journals, Where? Show the family. Where is your PROOF that African American culture is NOT African?

So until you can prove that African American culture is NOT AFRICAN, don't come to me with this Garbage.



Once again, African culture is NOT monolithic.

bASS by what Position of Authority do you speak? Do you possess any publications or journals that refute ANYthing that I have presented here. If you don't this entire affair is academic, no?

Perhaps you think you know the formula as to what constitutes authentic African Culture. Hmmm

Well show and PROVE..

Stop trolling. I said and I repeat again, you can label yourself whatever you want, the names mean nothing, the culture is what matters.



Strawman argument.

Proof? How many African Americans speak any of the languages of the said people? How many African Americans practice any of the traditional customs of these said people? You're blowing hot air and sticking your face in the sand because you refuse to accept the fact that culturally you are *NOT* an African, ie, Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Amhara, Somali. If a Ibo came up to you and perform one of their traditional dances you would *NOT* recognize it as distinctly Ibo. Get off "I'm an African bandwagon".




Yeah sure. Mayne you don't even know me, so cease with the personal attacks. You can label yourself anything, heck many African Americans call themselves Nubian brother and Nubian sister, but they are not *REAL* Nubians from Sudan and Upper Egypt, they're just using the name.



If an African tells you you're not African, what could I do? Don't you think they would be the best judges concerning this rather than you, a person who's 380 years separated culturally from Africa? In name you can call yourself whatever you wish, but culturally and ethnically you are *NOT*, case closed, end of story.


If an African tells you you're not African, what could I do? Don't you think they would be the best judges concerning this rather than you,

Nope, what Africans are you referring to?

Do yo have an identity problem?

You think because of a fro or where your hair in braids
Or style of that nature means you have african descent
Boy o boy you must dont think outside the box much
That has nothing to do with being of african descent
There alot of white boys with fros or dreads or braids
That dosnt mean they have african descent
You claim your african american all you want
But when is the last time you have been to africa to use that african american title your so proud of? From what I know you have to be from africa and claim citizenship here to be an african american so you were born in africa?

You: "From what I know you have to be from africa and claim citizenship here to be an african american so you were born in africa?"

Hmm.....(this is a tough one:confused: )we are from Africa, and we, at least I do....claim American citizenship!!

You: "You think because of a fro or where your hair in braids
Or style of that nature means you have african descent
Boy o boy you must dont think outside the box much
That has nothing to do with being of african descent
There alot of white boys with fros or dreads or braids
That dosnt mean they have african descent"

Well those styles originated with Africans/originals....and it is us AA's who introduced them to the modern Western world. How many Bo Derek's existed before she did?

Tantrum, you have insisted that no one coaches you on what you want to be called? Why coach and criticize others?

Nope, what Africans are you referring to?

Do yo have an identity problem?

Indentity problem? Hell no, its the people here who think they're Africans that have an identity problem. Calling yourself "African" means little because there is so much diversity in Africa. If I ask an African what group he belongs to he will Ashanti Hausa, Somali, etc. Ask an African American and what group can he say he belongs to? Nuff said, I rest my case

Charlie bASS lol

Get it straight, the FACT remains is that you have not proven that African American culture is NOT African, despite your Riculous attempts to do so.

Show us the scholarship that African American culture is not African. Give us a bibliography.

Where are the publications, the Journals, Where? Show the family. Where is your PROOF that African American culture is NOT African?

So until you can prove that African American culture is NOT AFRICAN, don't come to me with this Garbage.



Once again, African culture is NOT monolithic.

bASS by what Position of Authority do you speak? Do you possess any publications or journals that refute ANYthing that I have presented here. If you don't this entire affair is academic, no?

Perhaps you think you know the formula as to what constitutes authentic African Culture. Hmmm

Well show and PROVE..

I notice you conveniently avoided my points. Please explain how African American culture is African.

Indentity problem? Hell no, its the people here who think they're Africans that have an identity problem. Calling yourself "African" means little because there is so much diversity in Africa. If I ask an African what group he belongs to he will Ashanti Hausa, Somali, etc. Ask an African American and what group can he say he belongs to? Nuff said, I rest my case

Your case is replete with holes.

I left you a long list of books and publications documenting that in fact African American culture is African.

You know full well Africa Americans are a combination of different Afican ethnic groups, and as such it makes us no less African than A Khosa, Hutu or Ashanti.

We are uniquely African, if you don't agree, who cares.

You can call yourself a non-African until you're face turns pale.

Peace

I notice you conveniently avoided my points. Please explain how African American culture is African.


WRONG, In fact it is you who have avoided my points all along, because as I stated before, there is more literature and scholarship proving that indeed African American culture is African. I provided a link for you and you've conveniently chosen not to address it.

So, I will ask you again, show me a book or journal that support your assertion, where are they? Because the truth of the matter is you have shown NOTHING in the way of evidence.

Language alone, in and of itself is not a litmus test of the validity or authenticity of a culture, it's not that simple particuliarly in a modern world. Moreover I told you before, African Culture is not monolithic, what part of this don't you understand?

I believe in a number of ways that we do retain "Africaness"
so we all agree.........

Hotep

African liberation is iminent!! When we know who we are we are on the "Clear" path to victory. "We" (Kemites)...the Origenal People of the "Earth"...commonly called Africans are answering the call of our "Divine" ancestors with the honor they (we) deserve. We know and we agree with the greatest of ease and now should understand that every thing we do althought it is going to be work involed...it is easy for those who know who they are.

Ase`

May the spirits of our divine ancient Kemetic (African) ancestors continue to bless us with the "Light" of (understanding) overstanding.

Can you prove that?

The Hutu and the Tutsi people were distinctions made by Beligan and other colonists.The colonist came and favored one group of people and left leaving the power with another group of people,creating a division within the society.It is a method known as divide and conquer.No matter what we call ourselves,a common enemy and oppressor makes no distinction as to who is who,or who is what they claim to be.

Since mankind began with us,than we are indegenous to most of the world no matter what label is given or taken.Naming oneself in any terms ,including "nationality", has to d o with self-determination,call yourselves what you please but no matter what their are always certain people who will see you in the light that was casted upon you by other people and not yourself.


An easy easy starting point is the fact that we all collectively and individually insist on using the word Black, which is a colour when what we are actually describing, is our African ethnicity. The Asians don’t describe themselves as Yellow [Chinese, Japanese, Korean] or Brown [Indian, Pakistan, Arab] Americans.

Black apart from being consistently inaccurate [there are hundreds of millions of brown/black skinned Indians who are not of African ethnicity] is also consistently used within European cultures as a disparaging term, i.e. Black Day, The Black Death, Black Magic, Blackmail, Blackout etc whereas no one says African Day, Africanmail, Africanout, which is why I am promoting and projecting the fact that African is preferable to Black [and should be used consistently instead of Black] on every level.

Africans were separated from our names, language, culture and history in order to keep us direction less and totally baffled and confused, thus if you compare our communities in the Diaspora and countries in Africa with Asians and Asia or Europeans and Europe you can see for yourself how effective this strategy has been.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE! [HASTY my alter ego]!

An easy easy starting point is the fact that we all collectively and individually insist on using the word Black, which is a colour when what we are actually describing, is our African ethnicity. The Asians don’t describe themselves as Yellow [Chinese, Japanese, Korean] or Brown [Indian, Pakistan, Arab] Americans. They also don't describe themselves as a continent, they refer to a country, that which we have no knowledge of (most of us) which one we came from. Where did the word Africa come from anyway? To my knowledge, it has a root in the Greek word Afrike meaning "without cold" although there are other perspectives on this.

Black is not a color. It is the universal essence from which all colors come.

Where did the word Africa come from anyway? To my knowledge, it has a root in the Greek word Afrike meaning "without cold" although there are other perspectives on this.

Black is not a color. It is the universal essence from which all colors come.


Sister Uplift, check out this thread in reference to your question about the word "Africa".

They also don't describe themselves as a continent, they refer to a country, that which we have no knowledge of (most of us) which one we came from. Where did the word Africa come from anyway? To my knowledge, it has a root in the Greek word Afrike meaning "without cold" although there are other perspectives on this.

Black is not a color. It is the universal essence from which all colors come.


You would not now or ever be accussed of being an Africanmailer, or be socially inconvenienienced by being Africanballed, whereas when you put Black in front of these words you're in trouble or you're going to jail.

Language is the operating system for our brains in a manner similar to Windows XP for PC's which is why we can decide which aspect of our African ethnicity we choose to project and promote.

The fact that we don't KNOW the specific country or clan within the African continent that we originate from is actually an advantage, because instead in being immersed in the ethnic conflicts which aided our collective defeat, we can now address the BIG PICTURE.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is complete.
[Hasty my alter ego]!

The fact that we don't KNOW the specific country or clan within the African continent that we originate from is actually an advantage, because instead in being immersed in the ethnic conflicts which aided our collective defeat, we can now address the BIG PICTURE.
I have an overall agreement here.Do not forget about the individual "Judases" that aided our downfall as well.

Sister Uplift, check out this thread in reference to your question about the word "Africa".It was a rhetorical question, but which post(s) are you referring to? There are over 30 pages in this thread so I did not look through them all, but based on my own research I have found different explanations for the origin of the word Africa:
Etymology
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Africa/

The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — "land of the Afri" (plural, or "Afer" singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... Categories: Historical stubs | Ancient Roman provinces ... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ...


The Afri were a tribe — possibly Berber — who dwelt in North Africa in the Carthage area. The origin of Afer may be connected with Phoenician `afar, dust (also found in most other Semitic languages).

Many people think that the continent name ‘Africa’ comes from Ifriqia, the old name of Tunisia which also means ‘The separator’, because it separates the orient from the Magreb. However, Romans used to call Tunisia ‘Africa’ too

Some other etymologies that have been postulated for the ancient name 'Africa' include:

the Latin word aprica, meaning "sunny";

the Greek word aphrike, meaning "without cold"

It was a rhetorical question, but which post(s) are you referring to? There are over 30 pages in this thread so I did not look through them all, but based on my own research I have found different explanations for the origin of the word Africa:

Oops...I never posted the link! :lol: :hammer2: Sorry about the confusion Sister. Here's what I meant to show you earlier:


http://www.destee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14540

Queenie :heart:

Oops...I never posted the link! :lol: :hammer2: Sorry about the confusion Sister. Here's what I meant to show you earlier:


http://www.destee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14540

Queenie :heart:Thanks Sis. Queen, that adds a few more theories to the mix, although there was never an answer to why using "K" is better than "C"

As far as I know, this is no different than using the British spelling for organisation vs. the English organization. Maybe it has to do with the german anthropoligist designation of Black people as "afrcanoid" or "negroid".

I liked the question that came up regarding what did we call ourselves before latin was around, although I have trouble with Dr. Ben-Jochannan's Alkebulan theory.

All of this confusion makes me more comfortable with the term Black, as it is universal. It is ironic, though, that regardless of skin color indigineous people in some places would refer to us all as white because we speak "the king's english" and have assimilated into western culture. Go figure.

I have an overall agreement here.Do not forget about the individual "Judases" that aided our downfall as well.

You would not now or ever be accused of being an Africanmailer, or be socially or economically inconvenienienced by being Africanballed or Africanlisted, whereas when you put Black in front of these words you're in trouble or you're going to jail.

Language is the operating system for our brains in a manner similar to Windows XP for PC's which is why we can consciously decide which aspect of our African ethnicity we choose to project and promote.

The fact that we don't KNOW the specific country or clan within the African continent that we originate from is actually an advantage, because instead in being immersed in the ethnic conflicts which aided our collective defeat, we can now address the BIG PICTURE.

I have an overall agreement here. Thank you very much Brother.
Do not forget about the individual "Judases" that aided our downfall as well. Every group have TRAITORS or just genuinely greedy selfish individuals who are only focused on their own as opposed to our collective well being. The challenge of the 21st century is to intelligently sideline these confused PARASITES [I'm truly not sure how] so that we can more effectively advance our communities in the Diaspora and countries in Africa.

Anyone who genuinely believes they are not programmed is graphically illustrating that their programming is complete.
[Hasty my alter ego]!

I will cut to the chase, because I am pretty sure that everyone has done their re-search, or are doing their re-search.

I am fully Afrikan, and there should be no reason why I should base who I am on someone I don't know signing a paper. No AmeriKKKan whatsoever. I choose to be anti- [Slave Master] Amerigo Vespucci-affilated with all my Heart, Mind, and Soul.

Oh yeah - and just like they can CHOOSE to name AmeriKKKa after Amerigo Vespucci and CHOOSE to sign some paper giving me Citizenship, I can CHOOSE to turn that down, and say I don't want no AmeriKKKan citizenship!

KD

Although I have quite a bit of Native American blood in my veins, I'm an African.

When I go overseas, Asians and whites don't see me as anything other than a black man (African), nor do they go out of their way to make a distinction between Africans and Africans of the diaspora.

...Good point.

I wonder who you will be in:

Samoa
Britain
India
Senegal
Trinidad
Italy
Yemen
Russia

...you get the picture.

KD

I am a black man, for no where that I go I am black first. then the place/culture that I was born too.

I am a black Puerto Rican. of the black Santero Boriqua culture. I see power in saying that I an African. An African Latino by culture but a black African man by nature.

All I can state is that I wish to be Afrikan. It is my sincerest hope that other Afrikans accept me as being an Afrikan.

Hello Family,

Last night in the Pan-Africanism voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat) discussion, it was suggested that one of the most empowering things we could do individually, and easily, to help push the struggle of unifying us around the world ... is to say we are African ... instead of African American, or American, or Colored, or Negro, or Black, or any other number of things we've probably referred to ourselves as.

It was mentioned that all other people connect themselves to a land, except us. Ask a Chinese person, "What are you?" and they will say, "Chinese." Ask an Italian, "What are you?" and they will say, "Italian." Ask a Japanese, "What are you?" and they will say, "Japanese." Ask an African American, "What are you?" and many of us will respond with "Black," or "African American" or "i'm Black, but i've got some Indian in me" but rarely does our response fully and completely embrace Africa, by saying, "I am African."

I'm guilty of this. Until recently, i would have said, "African American" or "Black." I've been becoming more aware of a lot of things as a result of this community and all the many Sisters and Brothers that share with me. But what was really the clincher, was the opportunity i had recently of chatting with a gentleman from China in voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat). He spoke a little English, making it possible for us to discuss a few things. I asked him did he know that he was in an "African American" chat room. He said no, he had been surfing, searching and just stumbled on us. He then asked me if i was a Negro. I said, "No, i'm African, i'm Black." (I was trying to embrace Africa, but notice i still had to throw that color thing in there, Black). When i said that i was Black, he responded by typing into the room ... "i'm a yellow-skinned-man ... lol" ... gosh ... it was very eye opening. I really don't think he meant it to be offensive, and of course i didn't take it that way ... but he was laughing at me ... laughing at the idea that a people would refer to themselves as a color.

Anyway, let someone ask me "What are you?" in reference to my culture, and i will say that i am African.

I had to grow into this and i would imagine that many of my Sisters and Brothers here in the U.S., must also go through some process to take off the old and put on new.

So, my question is ... how difficult would it be for you to refer to yourself as simply, "African," vs. "African American?" Would you be willing to do this? Do you see how it could help unify Africans all over the world, if we made this small little change in our lives?

Looking forward to any discussion this may stimulate.

:heart:

Destee

What is a Ta-Meri-Kan?

frame of reference:Ivan Van Sertima's 'They Came Before Columbus" and "African Presence".

Evidence: The Melugeons and other "indigenous" groups who were "Black Moors" from Ethiopia, Morocco and West Africa present in pre-colonial Ta-Meri-Ka.

This mis-conception is that his 'new world' was named after 'americo' vespucci but it was in actuality a 'colony' settled in antiquity by the Ethiopians/Nubians dating back to the Kingdom/Empire of Kush, if not before, when part of lower "Egypt" was referred to as "Ta-Meri", hence, Ta-Meri-Ka.

Early treaties between the government of Morocco and the united states recognized our Soverign status but we did not assert our own political soverignty. These are known facts that were brought to light by Omar ibn Said and Noble Drew Ali. William Blyden, David Walker, Paul Cuffee (Kofi) and Matin Delaney also realized this, as did Cheilf Alfred Sam, but sought repatriation and resettlement rather that assert national soverignty rights.

However, each of the above mentioned knew the leagities establishing our National Identity and indigenous Rights.

This is why even though my family commonly refers as "Ethiopian", here in the western hemisphere are in essence Afrikans indigenous to T(a-Meri-ka), hence "Afrikan-American".

Note: According to at least four sections of the Egyptian Book of the dead there are references to Ta-Meri, or ta-mar-Ra.

Thus I have a personal preference for this term rather than "Kemetic" of which no individual to date have gieven me a reference in the B.O.D. as related to the NAME of the country or region. I need something more than Budge's "Land of the Blacks".

So what about movies like "Blood Diamond"?

In watching the trailer, these white people are refering to white nationals of Afrian Countries as; "African". A European born in India is not "Indian".

So is it better to refer to our selves as black?

So what about movies like "Blood Diamond"?

In watching the trailer, these white people are refering to white nationals of Afrian Countries as; "African". A European born in India is not "Indian".

So is it better to refer to our selves as black?Nope. Those "people" are Danes (at least in SA; a lot of the northern Africans are Arabian), regardless of "revisionist history"-like "rebranding".

Where ever one is, if the ancestral roots trace back to Africa, one is an African! If the ancestral roots trace back to anywhere other than Africa, they aren't African!

`Tis better to refer to OurSelves as Africans. ALWAYS!!

The identification of Africans not in Africa with Africa is the issue. For instance the perception of African by most Africans-in-America is not a positive one. We have to address this before we can expect that the masses will call themselves African.

As always, leaving a starting point for reference...


The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality
(http://www.************.com/cgi-bin/african-american.cgi?Operation=ItemLookup&ItemId=1556520727)

www.************.com - "Our purpose is to increase, improve and encourage African and African-American literacy and reading habits."

Hello Family,

Last night in the Pan-Africanism voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat) discussion, it was suggested that one of the most empowering things we could do individually, and easily, to help push the struggle of unifying us around the world ... is to say we are African ... instead of African American, or American, or Colored, or Negro, or BLACK, or any other number of things we've probably referred to ourselves as.


I don't happen to agree with this. I don't see referring to ourselves as "African" doing anything to unify us.

The word itelf isn't originated by the people who it seeks to describe.

It has no power in and of itself; it's just another word created by white folks as they laid claim to everything in the world.

The only validity I see in this argument is the act of us all deciding to call ourselves the SAME thing reflecting an act of unity. That same thing could just as well be BLACK or colored, or melanites or whatever other word we decided to come up with.



It was mentioned that all other people connect themselves to a land, except us. Ask a Chinese person, "What are you?" and they will say, "Chinese." Ask an Italian, "What are you?" and they will say, "Italian." Ask a Japanese, "What are you?" and they will say, "Japanese." Ask an African American, "What are you?" and many of us will respond with "Black," or "African American" or "i'm Black, but i've got some Indian in me" but rarely does our response fully and completely embrace Africa, by saying, "I am African."

Yes, but follow your own analogy. Did that Japanese respond and claim he was ASIAN?

Did the italian respond and say she was EUROPEAN? Does a mexican claim he is NORTH AMERICAN?

Those groups are referrring to nationalities, while the word Africa refers to a continent. The only place where the analogy makes sense is with Australians.


I'm guilty of this. Until recently, i would have said, "African American" or "Black."

In my opinion the guilt is not justified.

I've yet to see anyone claiming some superior intellectual or conscious standing because of their preference for the term African actually PRODUCE any decent argument why the word Africa has any more merit than the term BLACK.

They will hee and haw about negroes being brain-washed referring to themselves as a negative,evil color....maybe about their supposed heightened powers of self-determination...yadda, yadda... ask them where the word Africa comes from.....you'll get crickets.


But what was really the clincher, was the opportunity i had recently of chatting with a gentleman from China in voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat). He spoke a little English, making it possible for us to discuss a few things. I asked him did he know that he was in an "African American" chat room. He said no, he had been surfing, searching and just stumbled on us. He then asked me if i was a Negro. I said, "No, i'm African, i'm Black." (I was trying to embrace Africa, but notice i still had to throw that color thing in there, Black). When i said that i was Black, he responded by typing into the room ... "i'm a yellow-skinned-man ... lol" ... gosh ... it was very eye opening. I really don't think he meant it to be offensive, and of course i didn't take it that way ... but he was laughing at me ... laughing at the idea that a people would refer to themselves as a color.


This is one of our main problems, we spend too much time concerned with what other folks do!

Who cares if he laughs at us referring to ourselves as BLACK? Why should his mockery make ONE IOTA of difference in how we choose to define ourselves?

It's not his job to understand what BLACK means, or why we call ourselves BLACK, or who all is included by the definition, so who cares if ALL he understands is BLACK the color?

That is his ignorance of something that doesn't concern him.

We can choose to educate him, if we have the desire, but letting it influence how we define ourselves??? H.E.L.L. to the NAW!!!.


Anyway, let someone ask me "What are you?" in reference to my culture, and i will say that i am African.

I had to grow into this and i would imagine that many of my Sisters and Brothers here in the U.S., must also go through some process to take off the old and put on new.

So, my question is ... how difficult would it be for you to refer to yourself as simply, "African," vs. "African American?" Would you be willing to do this? Do you see how it could help unify Africans all over the world, if we made this small little change in our lives?

Looking forward to any discussion this may stimulate.

:heart:

Destee

Personally I think the term BLACK serves as a better unifiying concept, since it speaks to race, which transcends ethnicity and nationality.

BLACK Nigerians, and BLACK Kenyans, and BLACK Cubans and BLACK Americans are not culturally or ethnically identical, neither do they claim to represent the same nationality.

Trying to force them all into "African" doesn't mean much, especially when you have a good number of arab and white "Africans".

They are however ALL BLACK people, and if they chose to identify firstly as that then this common BLACKness would be a much more practical (and powerful) unifying geopolitical orientation.

The reality of our (BLACK people's) situation is that we need to work collectively AND claim ownership wherever we are all over this planet, not just in Africa.

I'm just sayin...:hearthis: I ain't shame to be BLACK!!!.

I don't see referring to ourselves as "African" doing anything to unify us.

The word itelf isn't originated by the people who it seeks to describe.


I agree!!!

Yes, but follow your own analogy. Did that Japanese respond and claim he was ASIAN?

Did the italian respond and say she was EUROPEAN? Does a mexican claim he is NORTH AMERICAN?

Those groups are referrring to nationalities, while the word Africa refers to a continent. The only place where the analogy makes sense is with Australians.


I think you are ignoring the fact that no other people on the planet has withstood even a similar history as ours. No other people have been ripped from the homelands for centuries and denied their language, religion, and culture. Therefore, referring to "Africa" is the closest we can get. We know that the culture we derive from is African, as opposed to Semitic/Arabic, European, or otherwise. However, using "Black" only makes things ambiguous if anything at all. There are many "black" people around the globe who are not from Africa just as racist as the White man who wants nothing to do with you or Africa.

Furthermore, when it comes to Arabs, they don't necessarily say they are from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, or so have you. They say they are Arabs, because they hail from Arabia! They even went through the effort of changing national names to "United Arab Emirates", or even the "Arab Republic of Egypt". That Arabism is what unifies them, so why is it so hard to comprehend Africanism, or Pan-Africanism for that matter, is what can unify the Continentals and Diasporans of Africa?

I am a man that happens to be Black! More importantly, I consider and strive to be the best human being,that I can be. I love Black! It rolls off my tongue sometimes,because i'm so proudful of it.

It sounds like Blac coming out!:hearts4:

I think you are ignoring the fact that no other people on the planet has withstood even a similar history as ours. No other people have been ripped from the homelands for centuries and denied their language, religion, and culture. Therefore, referring to "Africa" is the closest we can get.

Excellent point!!!

Also dont forget the nations/kingdoms we came from dont exist anymore, and the current ones (Nigeria,Ghana, Kenya) were made up by whites who drew border lines with pencils and rulers and bear no relation to ancient civilisations, so to call ourselves anything more specific than "Africans" would be incorrect.

The word itelf isn't originated by the people who it seeks to describe.

It has no power in and of itself; it's just another word created by white folks as they laid claim to everything in the world.

The only validity I see in this argument is the act of us all deciding to call ourselves the SAME thing reflecting an act of unity. That same thing could just as well be BLACK or colored, or melanites or whatever other word we decided to come up with.


This is one of our main problems, we spend too much time concerned with what other folks do!
Who cares if he laughs at us referring to ourselves as BLACK? Why should his mockery make ONE IOTA of difference in how we choose to define ourselves?
It's not his job to understand what BLACK means, or why we call ourselves BLACK, or who all is included by the definition, so who cares if ALL he understands is BLACK the color?

That is his ignorance of something that doesn't concern him.

We can choose to educate him, if we have the desire, but letting it influence how we define ourselves??? H.E.L.L. to the NAW!!!.


Trying to force them all into "African" doesn't mean much, especially when you have a good number of arab and white "Africans".

They are however ALL BLACK people, and if they chose to identify firstly as that then this common BLACKness would be a much more practical (and powerful) unifying geopolitical orientation.

The reality of our (BLACK people's) situation is that we need to work collectively AND claim ownership wherever we are all over this planet, not just in Africa.

I'm just sayin...:hearthis: I ain't shame to be BLACK!!!.



So True! Too many of us still tend to see ourselves through the eyes of other folks and therefore we spend a lot of time trying to define ourselves in the same way they define themselves. We have the right to define ourselves in any way we want and they can either accept our definition or not, and if they don't-we shouldn't care.

I would certainly agree to the term BLACK or African-American, but in actuality I'm not about to get hung up on a name because that's too divisive and pointless. I DON'T CARE how negatively other groups look at Blacks because that's their mental illness--not ours. We can't cure all of these mentally ill people! There is absolutely nothing inherently negative or bad about the color BLACK or any other color. It only becomes negative or bad when people put their own negativity on it.

Also, it's not about a name. If White people, for example, started calling themselves FECES , pretty soon, a whole lot of other folks in the world, including a lot of Black folks, would start calling themselves feces too :lol: because white people have POWER and most people want to be associated with and connected to POWER. So we need to put ALL of our energy towards gaining POWER and the rest of our main problems would just disappear. If we had POWER, many other groups in the world, including white folks, would want to be Black too.

So IMO, EVERY question on here or any discussion forum that Black folks participate in should be strategizingabout: HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET POWER?

]I am a man that happens to be Black! More importantly, I consider and strive to be the best human being,that I can be. I love Black! It rolls off my tongue sometimes,because i'm so proudful of it.

It sounds like Blac coming out!

I heard that. I prefer Black or African American too. Nicely put.

Peace

I am African-American. My culture is African-American. I feel that if I, a person whose great-great-grandparents never even visited Africa themselves, were to claim sole "Africanness", it would be somewhat similar to fraud. That is how I see it.

M-Brown;
to me it is simple. To call myself an African is to betray my foremother and forefather. As an empathetic people, sure, they would have forgiven the treachery... I do believe that; but I also feel that they would have been hurt the rest of their very lives for the treachery of their own basically giving them away to suffer; for SUGAR,AND TRINKETS... it is logical to me, and that is all that matters.

Queen,
that is your right. I have no qualms with your rationale. But, just like we have both espoused in the past that we need to rethink who we fight for , and what we fight for, and let no fight get in the way of our progress... I feel the same about "Other" Blacks. Not that they shouldn't fight for the things that they want and are right and just--- do that, it may work! I think that we need to take a break... We are the ones who lobbied for them to even be here; we still lobby--- and I feel that the dissipating level of that lobbying is due in part to US waking up to the fact that sometimes Black ain't Black--- and that is okay, but we have to think about it... Hell, we even lobby for Hispanics!

The absolute last time I raised my voice against anything was the Anti-Apartheid movement; it was wrong, it was unjust... I still have my pins, and "act-so" letters, etc... until I began to think; how could it happen, how could a people in a place where they outnumber those in charge by 1000 to 1 be enslaved? I think that our reticence to join with anybody is a light into the fact that we are wakening up to some very real facts; we are willing to help anybody and we do; nobody helps us... not other blacks, not anyone.... it is just the truth... you tell me of anytime when others did (and I am not talking Marcus Garvey, different time, differing people); and I will give you times when we have helped them..... and all the lies/liars that they ally themselves with... against us.

Your question should be Why Are We Not Doing It Just For Us?
Happily, I would say, that we are beginning- and that is good--start.

When I think of Africa... I think of the cradle of civilization, that gave birth to a great people... who were light years ahead of the rest of the world... who cursed itself and it's people by being blinded by "Bling-Bling;" And I am not just talking about their children they sold to Whites---and burdened them with unflinching hatred that still swirls around us each and everyday... they have put that caste upon their own children with unbidding greed, and hatred...

Just because the way we all are may be comparable, does that mean that it is right. I was trying to paint the picture that our seeming affiliation for Bling-Bling may be hereditary?


The American Colonization Society established Liberia as a place to send freed African-Americans . African-Americans gradually immigrated to the colony and became known as Americo-Liberians, where many present day Liberians trace their ancestry.

On July 26, 1847, the Americo-Liberian settlers declared the independence of the Republic of Liberia. The settlers regarded Africa as a "Promised Land," but they did not become reintegrated into an African society. Once in Africa, they referred to themselves as "Americans" and were recognized as such by local Africans and by British colonial authorities in neighboring Sierra Leone. The symbols of their state — its flag, motto, and seal — and the form of government that they chose reflected their American background and diaspora experience. Lincoln University founded as Ashmun Institute in 1854 played an important role in supplying Americo-Liberians leadership for the new Nation. The first graduating class of Lincoln University, James R. Amos, his brother Thomas H. Amos, and Armistead Miller sailed for Liberia on the brig Mary C. Stevens in April, 1859 after graduation.

The religious practices, social customs and cultural standards of the Americo-Liberians had their roots in the antebellum American South. These ideals strongly influenced the attitudes of the settlers toward the indigenous African people. The new nation, as they perceived it, was coextensive with the settler community and with those Africans who were assimilated into it. Mutual mistrust and hostility between the "Americans" along the coast and the "Natives" of the interior was a recurrent theme in the country's history, along with (usually successful) attempts by the Americo-Liberian minority to dominate people whom they considered uncivilized and inferior. They named the land "Liberia," which in European languages, and in Latin in particular, means "Land of the Free," as an homage to their freedom from slavery.

I've had this conversation with many African American about thier views of Africans, and it really ticks me off because in this day and age of information i find it unbelievable that people can remain ignorant....slavery is practiced in ALL human society Africa is no diferent do you think the chinesse and indians who were enslaved by thier people and swore off their roots?...I am not trying to down play Africans role in slavery..but it happens it about money and wealth not people..thats the way some human beings are .....so please do you research before you start making such infamatory statments about Africans not doing anything for African Americans because it is completley false!

I am a person who claims the entire universe, not just a piece of land. I am a person who is subject to a horriffic SYSTEM of mistreatment. When I say SYSTEM I mean people are being mistreated in all areas of people activity including economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war all over the universe. SYSTEMATIC mistreatment on the basis of color. There are so-called astronauts in what we call "outer space" who are not white who are complaining that they are not getting paid the same as the white astronauts.

I am attempting to claim the entire universe as a place where it is guaranteed no person is mistreated and also guaranteed the person who needs help the most gets the most help. I call this justice. I am attempting to replace the SYSTEM of mistreatment of people on the basis of color with a SYSTEM of justice...and apparently I may be doing it alone. But that doesn't matter because it is what I was put here to do. Nothing else makes sense and evidence of this is that there is a long line of people that are talked about all the time who said they were attempting to produce justice as well. Makes so much sense people are still talking about them long after they moved on.

I am a person who claims the entire universe, not just a piece of land. I am a person who is subject to a horriffic SYSTEM of mistreatment. When I say SYSTEM I mean people are being mistreated in all areas of people activity including economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war all over the universe. SYSTEMATIC mistreatment on the basis of color. There are so-called astronauts in what we call "outer space" who are not white who are complaining that they are not getting paid the same as the white astronauts.

I am attempting to claim the entire universe as a place where it is guaranteed no person is mistreated and also guaranteed the person who needs help the most gets the most help. I call this justice. I am attempting to replace the SYSTEM of mistreatment of people on the basis of color with a SYSTEM of justice...and apparently I may be doing it alone. But that doesn't matter because it is what I was put here to do. Nothing else makes sense and evidence of this is that there is a long line of people that are talked about all the time who said they were attempting to produce justice as well. Makes so much sense people are still talking about them long after they moved on.
:darts: :darts: :darts: :darts: :darts: :bowl: :bowl: :bowl:

I agree with you and stand on the same ground as you do,though it was not always that way.

:darts: :darts: :darts: :darts: :darts: :bowl: :bowl: :bowl:

I agree with you and stand on the same ground as you do,though it was not always that way.
And there is no way to go back to the way it used to be. There is much evidence to show that at one time the non-white people (black people) of the universe attained to a spiritual awareness that allowed them to produce a spiritual technology that resulted in the building of enormous structures that are not duplicatable even to this day, feed millions of people, produce art, science, language, philosophy, war strategies and techniques, etc. Yes...we used to be a great and wonderous and POWERFUL people, under which, a lot got done.

The white poeple who practice racism (white supremacy) who are on the planet today are smarter than the white people who practice racism (white supremacy) that were on the planet 2,000 years ago. The non-white people who were on the planet 2,000 years ago were smarter than the non-white people who are on the planet today.

Even though the black people (non-white people) of the known universe were a great and wonderous and POWERFUL people 2,000 years ago and they were smarter than the non-white people on the planet today...and there is evidence that proves this...And even though the white people who practice racism (white supremacy) who were on the planet 2,000 years ago were not as smart as the white people who practice racism (white supremacy) who are on the planet today...

...we wound up in chains...with all of our POWER and greatness.

...and you got black people (non-white people) trying to get back to what we were back then and we were not even able to defeat the white people who practice racism (white supremacy) who were dumber back then...

...they were dumber back then...

...and we are not as smart as we were back then...

You gotta be kidding me.

We lost the war and wound up in chains and are still loosing the war...the only war in the known universe among people...the race war...because we were not prepared for it 2,000 years ago and by trying to get back to what we once were and being up against smarter white people we are not preparing ourselves again...nor or we preparing our children for what is coming.

"Unless you understand racism (white supremacy), what it is and how it works, everything else that you understand will only confuse you" Neely Fuller Jr.

Once we solve the problem of people being mistreated on the basis of color by producing a SYSTEM where it is guaranteed that no person is mistreated and also guaranteed the person who needs help the most get the most help we will have proven to be smarter than the black people (non-white people) were 2,000 years ago...4,000 years ago...500 million years ago...

...we will be the smartest people in the known universe who ever were...and who ever will be because we will have brought into being something that according to logic has never ever existed...

...and that thing is a thing called justice.

i voted first then i saw the poll and i have to wonder how many people read the OP first then answered?

Im afrikan and not ashamed to say so(even though this is where I was born and raised) Im not trying to identify with "america" or to please people because they want to deny their afrikan history by white washing themselves and saying oh that was in the past this is now I'll just perm my hair and eat slave food sellout some of my people and wait to go to heaven when I die...by the way visit Drafrika.com for tips on maintaining healthy temples(bodies)

Im afrikan and not ashamed to say so(even though this is where I was born and raised) Im not trying to identify with "america" or to please people because they want to deny their afrikan history by white washing themselves and saying oh that was in the past this is now I'll just perm my hair and eat slave food sellout some of my people and wait to go to heaven when I die...by the way visit Drafrika.com for tips on maintaining healthy temples(bodies)

i have not read this post fro a long time. I agree with your p.o.v.

"You're an African who happens to be in America." Malcolm X

***************

Simple enough for me.

Im afrikan and not ashamed to say so(even though this is where I was born and raised) Im not trying to identify with "america" or to please people because they want to deny their afrikan history by white washing themselves and saying oh that was in the past this is now I'll just perm my hair and eat slave food sellout some of my people and wait to go to heaven when I die...by the way visit Drafrika.com for tips on maintaining healthy temples(bodies)

This is Powerful...I Like this!

KD

Regardless of our ignorance (state of not knowing) "we are all Africans, 400 years removed from home".

Scenario: A white person whose modern roots stem from Africa, but they were born in America. If they self-identify as "African American" what political impact do you think this would have on Black Americans?

The more I think about this topic Brother Therious, technically speaking, I don't believe this equation is accurate. If someone thinks differently, please share your perspective, but African is not an exclusive term to describe only Black people. At least, not in today's world. Anyone born in Africa can call themselves African, regardless of their race or family heritage. To use the word "African" in the title refers to a place which in many cases represents a place of origin or national origin which may have limitations by definition. On the other hand, to refer to one's self as "Black" may differentiate someone and suggest much broader connotations which could include not just a "racial" group but could also express a state of consciousness that may be notably different than white people or other "people of color".

Other opinions?

Queenie :heart:


Whites born in Africa are not African according to our culture, where you are born dose not denote where you are form....where your father is born is where you are from, where your father's father was born is your father is from...and it goes on...


I was born in England, my name translates to 'the child born overseas' that is just what i am an African who was born overseas.

Beloved Ones:

In actuality we are Divine Black Extraterrestrial Beings, meaning Universal Divine Deities.

The Greeks named that part of the Planet Africa, where we are densely populated, which imply where our Ancient First Way Cosmic Ancestors first arrived on this planet and then the Greeks named the people there as Afrikans, which denote a people of a colorless Black pigment.

The problem with the Divine Being, is that we are not comfortable in referring to ourselves as being the Children From and of the Sun=Star, implying such a closeness to the Perfect Night, so we opt to acquire the expressed Geographically identity given to us by the Profane Human Being and as long as we continue to disrespect our Divine First Way Black Divine Ancestors, we will remain a Hypocritical Confused Afrikan, a term that has no Genetic significance at all.

HILY/A

Goddess Isis
A Statue of Linerty for Afrika
AnswerCestor
Being the Change the world needs to see

"You're an African who happens to be in America." Malcolm X

***************

Simple enough for me.




Mad Skills,

I most definitely agree with your assessment, but how do we vote that condition into the poll, or should the poll be expanded to include this predicament?

"You're an African who happens to be in America." Malcolm X

***************

Simple enough for me.


Ditto this...

I have been tripping on the folks who have beef with us who call ourself Black and African American. First they was saying well if your parents didn't come from Africa then you can't be African American.. Like they giving out African Passes or something!!!!!! LOL....Well I don't care if you from the middle of Africa and midnight Black...you can move around with that crap...Smh!

:karate:


I mean really what is the big deal...we decendants of Africans born in North America...African American and/or Black! Now what!

I'm neither.

Blackbird

No ofence to any one. my ansestors were from the African continent, and I was born in the Americas. I'm called a black man where ever I go. I'm both.

I'm culturally a black Puerto Rican. labels are only that. some thing to identify with. they can be exchanged. I would think we have better things to do right now?

Mahalo, Corvo

I'm African American.....no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

I have used "Black American" and "African American."

However, for personal identification, I do lean more toward "Black American."

One of my favorite spoken word performances from Def Poetry Jam is by Smokey Robinson.
He tells why he's a "Black American."

It's on youtube.

HIP IS THE KNOWLEDGE

HOP IS THE MOVEMENT

I am black...

Africa is our land. It is where we originated from, however, I would have to agree with Br. Khasm...

every black man/woman is homeless... because we ain't got no home...

we are citizens of america... to create an african american is the agenda of the new world order ... we are in the process of globalization....

america is in so much debt the only way out is revolution or war...

u c we focus on the economy... we focus on having an african american president...

what's funny to me is that now that white folks is losing their possessions it's a problem...

we've been fighting the same fight for ourselves from day one... that's why we ain't trippin about these things really....

9 11 u gotta look at it... they blow their own stuff up...

this war is old....

and just look at barrack he already looks like he has aged twenty years since he became president....

he is related to dick chainey..... cousin

if fact there has never been a president outside of they family...

just because they put a black face on it now doesn't mean that we all have the same agenda....

im black. easily done


LOL! Sistah, that avatar is too much and your answer is also! :lol:


I aint mad atcha.

Hello Family,

Last night in the Pan-Africanism voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat) discussion, it was suggested that one of the most empowering things we could do individually, and easily, to help push the struggle of unifying us around the world ... is to say we are African ... instead of African American, or American, or Colored, or Negro, or Black, or any other number of things we've probably referred to ourselves as.

It was mentioned that all other people connect themselves to a land, except us. Ask a Chinese person, "What are you?" and they will say, "Chinese." Ask an Italian, "What are you?" and they will say, "Italian." Ask a Japanese, "What are you?" and they will say, "Japanese." Ask an African American, "What are you?" and many of us will respond with "Black," or "African American" or "i'm Black, but i've got some Indian in me" but rarely does our response fully and completely embrace Africa, by saying, "I am African."

I'm guilty of this. Until recently, i would have said, "African American" or "Black." I've been becoming more aware of a lot of things as a result of this community and all the many Sisters and Brothers that share with me. But what was really the clincher, was the opportunity i had recently of chatting with a gentleman from China in voice chat (http://www.destee.com/chat). He spoke a little English, making it possible for us to discuss a few things. I asked him did he know that he was in an "African American" chat room. He said no, he had been surfing, searching and just stumbled on us. He then asked me if i was a Negro. I said, "No, i'm African, i'm Black." (I was trying to embrace Africa, but notice i still had to throw that color thing in there, Black). When i said that i was Black, he responded by typing into the room ... "i'm a yellow-skinned-man ... lol" ... gosh ... it was very eye opening. I really don't think he meant it to be offensive, and of course i didn't take it that way ... but he was laughing at me ... laughing at the idea that a people would refer to themselves as a color.

Anyway, let someone ask me "What are you?" in reference to my culture, and i will say that i am African.

I had to grow into this and i would imagine that many of my Sisters and Brothers here in the U.S., must also go through some process to take off the old and put on new.

So, my question is ... how difficult would it be for you to refer to yourself as simply, "African," vs. "African American?" Would you be willing to do this? Do you see how it could help unify Africans all over the world, if we made this small little change in our lives?

Looking forward to any discussion this may stimulate.

:heart:

Destee

This is a briliient post Destee and proves a valid point re unification.. because being born in the UK of Caribbean parents I had to answer No I'm not an African American

Officially I'm classed as an English Black Afro Caribbean .. How silly is that.
Yet check this out - I now live in Canada.:hi: lol

I think the sooner we make it short .. and to the point.. the nearer we get to our realites.

This is a briliient post Destee and proves a valid point re unification.. because being born in the UK of Caribbean parents I had to answer No I'm not an African American

Officially I'm classed as an English Black Afro Caribbean .. How silly is that.
Yet check this out - I now live in Canada.:hi: lol

I think the sooner we make it short .. and to the point.. the nearer we get to our realites.

i'm seeing that labeling as non-conducive to realizing our true essence

I see that this has gotten to be very interesting indeed. This is what I meant in one of my earlier threads whereby I stated that "we have become very sophisticated in our intellectual ignorance.(state of not knowing)" I wish I could lay things to rest but there are not enough words to do so...but I'll try anyway.

First let me start with the Puerto Rican. 500 years ago there was no such thing as a PuertoRican. The Puerto Rican is a mixture of three people. The African, the Taino Indian and the white Spaniard conqueror. Those who identify with the mother side of the family relate to African people. Those who identify with the father side of the family or the side of the conqueror relate to the Spaniard and are basically more white skinned and generally blue eyed. However, for the sake of clarification, the idea that the "term Puerto Rican is used is a testimony of white supremacy defining a people since they are by all accounts Boriqua and their language prior to being invaded by the white Spaniard is Taino.

The African who says that they are "African American equally has a "white Supremacy defining issue at hand". Why so? Because this land was named after some white man named Amerigo Vespuccie which is where the name "AMERICA" came from. So what was the countries name prior to this white man? Furthermore, if we say we are "African American" then where are we from? There's North America, Central America and South America. We don't say we're African North American. The United States is not called or listed as "America exclusively on any map any place." The United States and Canada is listed as North America. So when we say we are a citizen of America then so is everybody else in Central America and South America. Again, this is a white supremacy issue that we have fallen victim to. If we are to be honest about it, then the best we can say is that "We are Africans who happen to be United States Nationals because we are via the slave trade, a "National of the United States". This is what we legally are listed as.

Now lets get past the legal word play and get to reality. As Brother Malcome said: "kittens in the oven don't make them biscuits". In other words, if I take an African Lion out of Africa and send it to China and over the next 500 years of having babies...at what point does it stop "being an African Lion"? It never does. We came here via the slave trade and an African woman laid down, opened her legs and gave birth from her African womb...when did her African womb giving birth to an African child suddenly stop "being an African child"? Did the African Woman and Man suddenly "stop being an African when they were forced on the boat to someplace else?" That's like one of us suddenly getting on the boat to take a trip to Poland. At what point in time do we suddenly become Polish instead of a Black Person or African who happens to live in Poland?

My point in all of this is simple; All people regardless of where they may find themselves, always identify with their roots or origin...because they know that without the root there could be no tree...no extension....no them. We are the "only people on the globe thanks to white supremacy and our being miseducated by our oppressor" who have these "IDENTITY ISSUES" as if we are afraid, embarrassed or to conditioned to understand that "We Are African". There is no other word that links us to a land, to languages, to cultures or to history other than the word "AFRICAN". Negro doesn't do it and neither does the word BLACK.

We really need to stop playing games with ourselves....but then again, we are only doing what we were conditioned to do.

Peace

I see that this has gotten to be very interesting indeed. This is what I meant in one of my earlier threads whereby I stated that "we have become very sophisticated in our intellectual ignorance.(state of not knowing)" I wish I could lay things to rest but there are not enough words to do so...but I'll try anyway.

First let me start with the Puerto Rican. 500 years ago there was no such thing as a PuertoRican. The Puerto Rican is a mixture of three people. The African, the Taino Indian and the white Spaniard conqueror. Those who identify with the mother side of the family relate to African people. Those who identify with the father side of the family or the side of the conqueror relate to the Spaniard and are basically more white skinned and generally blue eyed. However, for the sake of clarification, the idea that the "term Puerto Rican is used is a testimony of white supremacy defining a people since they are by all accounts Boriqua and their language prior to being invaded by the white Spaniard is Taino.

The African who says that they are "African American equally has a "white Supremacy defining issue at hand". Why so? Because this land was named after some white man named Amerigo Vespuccie which is where the name "AMERICA" came from. So what was the countries name prior to this white man? Furthermore, if we say we are "African American" then where are we from? There's North America, Central America and South America. We don't say we're African North American. The United States is not called or listed as "America exclusively on any map any place." The United States and Canada is listed as North America. So when we say we are a citizen of America then so is everybody else in Central America and South America. Again, this is a white supremacy issue that we have fallen victim to. If we are to be honest about it, then the best we can say is that "We are Africans who happen to be United States Nationals because we are via the slave trade, a "National of the United States". This is what we legally are listed as.

Now lets get past the legal word play and get to reality. As Brother Malcome said: "kittens in the oven don't make them biscuits". In other words, if I take an African Lion out of Africa and send it to China and over the next 500 years of having babies...at what point does it stop "being an African Lion"? It never does. We came here via the slave trade and an African woman laid down, opened her legs and gave birth from her African womb...when did her African womb giving birth to an African child suddenly stop "being an African child"? Did the African Woman and Man suddenly "stop being an African when they were forced on the boat to someplace else?" That's like one of us suddenly getting on the boat to take a trip to Poland. At what point in time do we suddenly become Polish instead of a Black Person or African who happens to live in Poland?

My point in all of this is simple; All people regardless of where they may find themselves, always identify with their roots or origin...because they know that without the root there could be no tree...no extension....no them. We are the "only people on the globe thanks to white supremacy and our being miseducated by our oppressor" who have these "IDENTITY ISSUES" as if we are afraid, embarrassed or to conditioned to understand that "We Are African". There is no other word that links us to a land, to languages, to cultures or to history other than the word "AFRICAN". Negro doesn't do it and neither does the word BLACK.

We really need to stop playing games with ourselves....but then again, we are only doing what we were conditioned to do.

Peace

Good post! and you've made a lot of points that I agree on

However! since I last posted i've had time to think about this issue & I've changed my mind .. while I agree that we should clearly be acknowledging our African Ancestory. I dont think we should discount our birth country.

Simply because losing our Demograpics would undermine who we really are with regard to our cultural make up. And this is important. because although we may each belong to the same Race .. our cultural out-look in many respects will be different and will vary according to where we live in the world Or come from.

Take for example the Ghanian & the Somalian both Africans but different cultures & so who can blame them when they say I'm an "African Ghanian" Or an "African Somalian"

And the point about being an African American I feel is even more profound in that - the 'African American' has a long and Rich History regarding the fight .. not only for seeking the abolition of Slavery ..but equally as important the bringing about of the Civil Rights Movement so great a Movement that its constitution still resonates today almost globally benefiting the lives and protecting the rights as best it can for Africans ( black ppl) all over the world.

And I think that is something the African American should not want to forget being African American meanings being at the cutting edge of change!
and I think like everybody elses cultural triats .. this deserves to be individually recognised!.

As for me I now consider myself an African Canadian:couple:
Still proud to be an African .. but recognition of ones Demographics Or birth Culture gives a clearer understanding of where we are coming from.
And of course recognising ones self as an African .. brings to the picture a clearer undestanding of 'who' we are.:bball:

you know my people,we are truly in limbo and by that i mean we live in a culture that never wanted us as anymore than slaves in the beginning and now has to tolererate us because heck where are they gonna send us,and on the other hand we were stolen from our native land more than[400]years ago and while our very souls may cry out to mother[AFRICA]her reply is while she hears our cries she has little to offer her stolen children because she has been raped and stripped of many of the nutrients that made her strong and many of her children are at war with each other and what little she has is still being taken from her,so what do we do...we hate[AMERICA]for what she has done to us[the cruel and hateful stepmother]but we cannot go home because our birth mother has very little to offer us[i'm gonna get some static on that statement]...the result-AFRICAN AMERICAN.

you know my people,we are truly in limbo and by that i mean we live in a culture that never wanted us as anymore than slaves in the beginning and now has to tolererate us because heck where are they gonna send us,and on the other hand we were stolen from our native land more than[400]years ago and while our very souls may cry out to mother[AFRICA]her reply is while she hears our cries she has little to offer her stolen children because she has been raped and stripped of many of the nutrients that made her strong and many of her children are at war with each other and what little she has is still being taken from her,so what do we do...we hate[AMERICA]for what she has done to us[the cruel and hateful stepmother]but we cannot go home because our birth mother has very little to offer us[i'm gonna get some static on that statement]...the result-AFRICAN AMERICAN.

THANATOS


NO STATIC HERE. I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY


BABA DARKSIDE -- BRAZIL IS NICE THIS TIME OF YEAR

Good post! and you've made a lot of points that I agree on

However! since I last posted i've had time to think about this issue & I've changed my mind .. while I agree that we should clearly be acknowledging our African Ancestory. I dont think we should discount our birth country.

Simply because losing our Demograpics would undermine who we really are with regard to our cultural make up. And this is important. because although we may each belong to the same Race .. our cultural out-look in many respects will be different and will vary according to where we live in the world Or come from.

Take for example the Ghanian & the Somalian both Africans but different cultures & so who can blame them when they say I'm an "African Ghanian" Or an "African Somalian"

And the point about being an African American I feel is even more profound in that - the 'African American' has a long and Rich History regarding the fight .. not only for seeking the abolition of Slavery ..but equally as important the bringing about of the Civil Rights Movement so great a Movement that its constitution still resonates today almost globally benefiting the lives and protecting the rights as best it can for Africans ( black ppl) all over the world.

And I think that is something the African American should not want to forget being African American meanings being at the cutting edge of change!
and I think like everybody elses cultural triats .. this deserves to be individually recognised!.

As for me I now consider myself an African Canadian:couple:
Still proud to be an African .. but recognition of ones Demographics Or birth Culture gives a clearer understanding of where we are coming from.
And of course recognising ones self as an African .. brings to the picture a clearer undestanding of 'who' we are.:bball:




mari,:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Well said mari, we said indeed.

.......are you african...


you know my people,we are truly in limbo and by that i mean we live in a culture that never wanted us as anymore than slaves in the beginning and now has to tolererate us because heck where are they gonna send us,and on the other hand we were stolen from our native land more than[400]years ago and while our very souls may cry out to mother[AFRICA]her reply is while she hears our cries she has little to offer her stolen children because she has been raped and stripped of many of the nutrients that made her strong and many of her children are at war with each other and what little she has is still being taken from her,so what do we do...we hate[AMERICA]for what she has done to us[the cruel and hateful stepmother]but we cannot go home because our birth mother has very little to offer us[i'm gonna get some static on that statement]...the result-AFRICAN AMERICAN.




oldiesman,
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Well said oldiesman, well said indeed.

I'm Afro Mexican

i feel like i'm an alien...on a distant planet
not quite african and not quite american
what too do?
peace
khasm

You also? I thought I was the only one.

I talked to a sista from Africa about 3 weeks ago and I always make it my business to ask them if they have been Nationalized and if so are they African Ameican. The same is answer is always given.....Infadically NO! African American is a misnomer. It is another mark handed down by the same peans that gave u black, negro, and colored. Africa is a Continent with over 52 Nations. But I know yall are already in fruition of this....

i assume that i'm african because i'm black, although i'm not sure. i'm pretty sure though.

i am completely 100% sure that i'm american. i know that without a doubt.

although i don't alway agree with the things that go on with this country or with the things that go on with my people, i can say that i'm proud to be both american and african.

my answer...i'm african american.

Okebulanic

you know my people,we are truly in limbo and by that i mean we live in a culture that never wanted us as anymore than slaves in the beginning and now has to tolererate us because heck where are they gonna send us,and on the other hand we were stolen from our native land more than[400]years ago and while our very souls may cry out to mother[AFRICA]her reply is while she hears our cries she has little to offer her stolen children because she has been raped and stripped of many of the nutrients that made her strong and many of her children are at war with each other and what little she has is still being taken from her,so what do we do...we hate[AMERICA]for what she has done to us[the cruel and hateful stepmother]but we cannot go home because our birth mother has very little to offer us[i'm gonna get some static on that statement]...the result-AFRICAN AMERICAN.

no static,but I will make this statement. many blacks in America say "Africa Has Little to Offer" yet whites go there and make multiple-millions of dollars. opening businesses,buying land,siphoning resources,etc. the Chinese are there making millions on top of millions,i say if they are there, that means Africa has much to offer.

I talked to a sista from Africa about 3 weeks ago and I always make it my business to ask them if they have been Nationalized and if so are they African Ameican. The same is answer is always given.....Infadically NO! African American is a misnomer. It is another mark handed down by the same peans that gave u black, negro, and colored. Africa is a Continent with over 52 Nations. But I know yall are already in fruition of this....

echo

No ofence to any one. my ansestors were from the African continent, and I was born in the Americas. I'm called a black man where ever I go. I'm both.

I'm culturally a black Puerto Rican. labels are only that. some thing to identify with. they can be exchanged. I would think we have better things to do right now?

Mahalo, Corvo


First let me start with the Puerto Rican. 500 years ago there was no such thing as a PuertoRican. The Puerto Rican is a mixture of three people. The African, the Taino Indian and the white Spaniard conqueror. Those who identify with the mother side of the family relate to African people. Those who identify with the father side of the family or the side of the conqueror relate to the Spaniard and are basically more white skinned and generally blue eyed. However, for the sake of clarification, the idea that the "term Puerto Rican is used is a testimony of white supremacy defining a people since they are by all accounts Boriqua and their language prior to being invaded by the white Spaniard is Taino.


Labels, Thanks for the history lesson. I'm familier with my islands history. most people don't know the word Boriqua, unless they have been introduced to it. I'm an African Boriqua or afro-boriqua. but most people here in the west coast don't know what that is. Puerto Rico is the official name of the island I came from. It is the name most people are familier with. I am a black man, it is the word that create the image most people think off when talking about Africans. It's only a word.

African American is not a Nationality it is just another misnomered label that the European has given you. It changes every 20 years or so whats next?
:whip:

I would rather be judged, by the content of my character....as what was said


"it is not what they call you, but what you answer to"...

I would rather be judged, by the content of my character....as what was said


"it is not what they call you, but what you answer to"...

:-)

I am a woman of African decent, but would call myself African-American. I was not born in African. I was born in the United Snakes of America. My Forefathers and Mothers were kidnapped and brought to this country America. They were free in African. When they were sold in this country their children became products of the slave masters plan to strip -them of their identify, religion, language, which of course is knowledge of self. When this was done the next generation of children was reared under a European perspective. In turn the children of that generation only knew what was taught to them by the white man. In the minds of some of their children they were white on the inside, but black on the outside. This brought about confusion for them with the knowledge of self. With all of this, I would say that I am African-American, but recognize my Foreparents as Africans because they were born, reared, on the continent spoke their language and had knowledge of self. This does not mean that I am saying those who choose to call themselves Africans are wrong. What I have stated is history and this is fact.

I've been hit with this question from every angle possible but I keep giving the same answer.

I am neither African or African American. If I am not an African than how can I call myself an African American? It doesn't make any logical sense ...

I am not Black! Black is black yet my skin is darker brown so then calling myself black seems to have no validity. The ancient Egyptians/Kameu identified themselves as black as we do but it was for spiritual reasons. They were a brown people like us. The difference between us and the Egyptians is that they know why they referred to themselves as black unlike our people. We were called black people in a negative sense. Its not the name that we came here with. Some of us were Ewe, Igbo, Yoruba, Fula, Mossi, etc ... and that is how we identified ourselves. Now we have taking a description that wasn't meant to be taken as a complement but as a negative connotation unlike the Egyptians 'black' meaning.

Who am I and what is my nationality? My nationality is American because its the nations I was born to. The question is, "What is my ethnicity". I am like 95% of so-called African - Mixed. As a whole people, we have some of everything within us. I'm talking about Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Native American, all types of African national heritages, German, Turk, Spaniard, etc ... the list will continue to go on and on and on. We are Mixed Americans because that is what we truly are.


Peace


Ru2religious

A person of German descent that was born in America is still a German-American...etc. So the problem doesn't lie there it is simply because Africa is not a Nation it is obviously a continent. exmp.... a person of Itailian descent is not a European-American she would be an Italilian-American even though her race is European.

I have found no evidence that the Egyptians called themselves black simply because they did not speak the English mans dialect. They did spiritually equate their existance to the supreme overstanding of melanin and the tripple stage darkness. But accepting the term black is just pure laziness and lack of self esteem, self awareness, and self education, etc. What will the European call us next? He knows for sure that African-American is not the free National name that inherits our birthrights within the Constitution and throghout the planet.

But I can assure you this much. Untill we trace ourselves back through our foremothers and fathers our condition will not change outside our doors. Im talking about the trash we expect someone else to clean up, the stores we dont own the children we cant controll the drugs we cant stop using the hate we express to one another..etc.

And Obama is not an African-American, black, colored folk, negro...etc. His mother is Irish and his father is what Sudandeese I believe. What ever the case he is not a descendant of slaves and suffers not from the lack of true Identity and Nationhood of or ancient Mothers and Fathers.

I've been hit with this question from every angle possible but I keep giving the same answer.

I am neither African or African American. If I am not an African than how can I call myself an African American? It doesn't make any logical sense ...

I am not Black! Black is black yet my skin is darker brown so then calling myself black seems to have no validity. The ancient Egyptians/Kameu identified themselves as black as we do but it was for spiritual reasons. They were a brown people like us. The difference between us and the Egyptians is that they know why they referred to themselves as black unlike our people. We were called black people in a negative sense. Its not the name that we came here with. Some of us were Ewe, Igbo, Yoruba, Fula, Mossi, etc ... and that is how we identified ourselves. Now we have taking a description that wasn't meant to be taken as a complement but as a negative connotation unlike the Egyptians 'black' meaning.

Who am I and what is my nationality? My nationality is American because its the nations I was born to. The question is, "What is my ethnicity". I am like 95% of so-called African - Mixed. As a whole people, we have some of everything within us. I'm talking about Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Native American, all types of African national heritages, German, Turk, Spaniard, etc ... the list will continue to go on and on and on. We are Mixed Americans because that is what we truly are.


Peace


Ru2religious

My Brother, I must disagree with you. I'm sure you read Queen Vida's post and with all due respect she was talking about ppl like you (confused) on this subject.
To start we are not a mixed ppl. The reason I say this is Africans were the 1st on this earth and every other so-called race is nothing more than de-evolved forms of us. Migration of Africans throughout the world and adaptation to new environments caused the de-evolution and now we have so-called other races. The Maafa and exploitation of the Continent of Africa caused a mixing with a watered down version of the original man.
To answer Queen D's question I am African by Origin, American by location.

Ma'at Hetepu

Every black person here is "an African four hundred years removed from home". Before these white people named this place after Amerigo Vespuchie which is where "America got its name, what would we have been called then? We can not be that naive to designate ourselves as something just because the "WHITE MAN SAID SO!" So if the white man decides tomorrow to change the name of America to something else, what will we be then? Igbo, Ewe, Yoruba, Hausa and others are cultural identities because the continent that we call Africa/Alkebulan doesn't have a national identity consciousness yet...and this is the main reason why anybody can do anything to our people. Divide and Conquer hasn't failed yet!!!

:10200::qqb010::SuN012:african americans I am

My Brother, I must disagree with you. I'm sure you read Queen Vida's post and with all due respect she was talking about ppl like you (confused) on this subject.
To start we are not a mixed ppl. The reason I say this is Africans were the 1st on this earth and every other so-called race is nothing more than de-evolved forms of us. Migration of Africans throughout the world and adaptation to new environments caused the de-evolution and now we have so-called other races. The Maafa and exploitation of the Continent of Africa caused a mixing with a watered down version of the original man.
To answer Queen D's question I am African by Origin, American by location.

Ma'at Hetepu

lol ...

I feel where you coming from brutha.

Let me try it this way - We are the world, the very essence of the world is what we identify as African Americans today. I thoroughly understand that the first man and woman come from Akebulan and that all ethnic backgrounds come from the 2 (so-called Adam/Aten & Eve/Chavah/Hefa). Genetically this is sound wisdom and this cannot be debated obviously.

With this being said my brutha, Europeans can say the same thing: "To answer Queen D's question I am African by Origin, American by location"

I am originally African but I live in America. What I was doing was making ethnic distinctions an not so-called racial distinctions. Ethnically, in the modern sense of the word, we cannot by nature reference ourselves as African's because we do not live on the continent of Africa, though our forefathers/mothers came from the continent. You see there are black i.e. brown folks in India that look just like use but they are not to be referred to as Africans because they look just like them and their forefathers come from Africa i.e. Akebulan.

What I'm suggesting is that we be real to ourselves by accepting the very essence of what makes us so-called African Americans and see us for who we really are. Example: My great great great grand father was white German on my fathers side. My great great great grandfather on my mothers side was a Spaniard. My mothers Great grandmother was full blood Apache Indian and mothers fathers mother was Cherokee. My mother fathers father we've traced him all the way back to the slave ships in NC. My dads father father and grandfather were Moors.

Each and every last one of these people are legitimately my heritage and I'm pretty sure some of the family up in here has a lot more. The question is do we denounce the heritage that we don't like for that which we do? I was heated when I found out I had cracka in me - I mean I was devastated and what made it worse was then I found out I had Spaniard in my blood.

Nevertheless, it doesn't take away the fact that it exist and so what I was proposing is that we cannot call ourselves African alone. We must identify with every last bloodline that flows within us. If you hate the least part of you then you hate the whole you. For this reason, as a people we must accept the fact that we are ethnically mixed by reason of having multiple genetic influences running through our veins. If you tell some African that you are an African American who is living in America haven been born on African soil - they will look at you and say, "I AM AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, You are not African. Your forefathers were Africans but you are not. Your forefathers were of pure African blood, you are of mixed blood. Your forefathers were prisoners of war born to African. Your forefathers i.e. prisoners of war born Slave children and thus they were slave American not having a nation. The slaves bore more slaves and then they bore free-wo/men. These free men and women are not African but sons and daughters of slaves. They are not pure bloods but Mixed blooded Americans. You are not African you are a Mixed American."

Now I've been told this .. lol and I had to sit back and suck it up no matter how much I didn't like what I was hearing I could not deny that I have mixed blood flowing through my veins. Here are the options, we either accept 'black i.e. Negro", African American (which we are not), or we designate ourselves as we really are which is Mixed American. The identity crisis come when we take on names that do not belong to us. We are Mixed and so that belongs to us. This title is not negative and can't no one say anything negative about the truth. This is why they don't have a problem with us calling ourselves 'black' or 'African American' because they assigned these names to us and we picked them up.

I am not black, I am a beautiful brown Melanin skinned chocolate brotha. I speak with the gods through my brown skin melanin which the so-called pure blooded others cannot do. I walk the earth understanding every ethnic group because my people represent all facets of this planet. We are what many wish to be. We have the power and wisdom of our African ancestry and we have what everyone else has to offer. We are the lions of the earth, the protectors of this universe - we are of a superior designed which is why it doesn't matter where we go we are hated through jealousy.

When we learn to accept the very essence of what we are - then we will begin to move forward. So then I'm not confused - I'm really on point

Peace


Ru2religious.

lol ...

I feel where you coming from brutha.

Let me try it this way - We are the world, the very essence of the world is what we identify as African Americans today. I thoroughly understand that the first man and woman come from Akebulan and that all ethnic backgrounds come from the 2 (so-called Adam/Aten & Eve/Chavah/Hefa). Genetically this is sound wisdom and this cannot be debated obviously.

With this being said my brutha, Europeans can say the same thing: "To answer Queen D's question I am African by Origin, American by location"

I am originally African but I live in America. What I was doing was making ethnic distinctions an not so-called racial distinctions. Ethnically, in the modern sense of the word, we cannot by nature reference ourselves as African's because we do not live on the continent of Africa, though our forefathers/mothers came from the continent. You see there are black i.e. brown folks in India that look just like use but they are not to be referred to as Africans because they look just like them and their forefathers come from Africa i.e. Akebulan.

What I'm suggesting is that we be real to ourselves by accepting the very essence of what makes us so-called African Americans and see us for who we really are. Example: My great great great grand father was white German on my fathers side. My great great great grandfather on my mothers side was a Spaniard. My mothers Great grandmother was full blood Apache Indian and mothers fathers mother was Cherokee. My mother fathers father we've traced him all the way back to the slave ships in NC. My dads father father and grandfather were Moors.

Each and every last one of these people are legitimately my heritage and I'm pretty sure some of the family up in here has a lot more. The question is do we denounce the heritage that we don't like for that which we do? I was heated when I found out I hag cracka in me - I mean I was devastated and what made it worse was then I found out I had Spaniard in my blood.

Nevertheless, it doesn't take away the fact that it exist and so what I was proposing is that we cannot call ourselves African alone. We must identify with every last bloodline that flows within us. If you hate the least part of you then you hate the whole you. For this reason, as a people we must accept the fact that we are ethnically mixed by reason of having multiple genetic influences running through our veins. If you tell some African that you are an African American who is living in America haven been born on African soil - they will look at you and say, "I AM AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, You are not African. Your forefathers were Africans but you are not. Your forefathers were of pure African blood, you are of mixed blood. Your forefathers were prisoners of war born to African. Your forefathers i.e. prisoners of war born Slave children and thus they were slave American not having a nation. The slaves bore more slaves and then they bore free-wo/men. These free men and women are not African but sons and daughters of slaves. They are not pure bloods but Mixed blooded Americans. You are not African you are a Mixed American."

Now I've been told this .. lol and I had to sit back and suck it up no matter how much I didn't like what I was hearing I could not deny that I have mixed blood flowing through my veins. Here are the options, we either accept 'black i.e. Negro", African American (which we are not), or we designate ourselves as we really are which is Mixed American. The identity crisis come when we take on names that do not belong to us. We are Mixed and so that belongs to us. This title is not negative and can't no one say anything negative about the truth. This is why they don't have a problem with us calling ourselves 'black' or 'African American' because they assigned these names to us and we picked them up.

I am not black, I am a beautifully brown Melanin skinned chocolate brotha. I speak with the gods through my brown skin melanin which the so-called pure blooded others cannot do. I walk the earth understanding every ethnic group because my people represent all facets of this planet. We are what many wish to be. We have the power and wisdom of our African ancestry and we have what everyone else has to offer. We are the lions of the earth, the protectors of this universe - we are of a superior designed which is why it doesn't matter where we go we are hated through jealousy.

When we learn to accept the very essence of what we are - then we will begin to move forward. So then I'm not confused - I'm really on point

Peace


Ru2religious.

Thank You My Bro, Thought we lost you for a sec. Welcome back Bro.
ASE ASE ASE

Thank You My Bro, Thought we lost you for a sec. Welcome back Bro.
ASE ASE ASE

ASE ASE ASE!!!

A person of German descent that was born in America is still a German-American...etc. So the problem doesn't lie there it is simply because Africa is not a Nation it is obviously a continent. exmp.... a person of Itailian descent is not a European-American she would be an Italilian-American even though her race is European.

I have found no evidence that the Egyptians called themselves black simply because they did not speak the English mans dialect. They did spiritually equate their existance to the supreme overstanding of melanin and the tripple stage darkness. But accepting the term black is just pure laziness and lack of self esteem, self awareness, and self education, etc. What will the European call us next? He knows for sure that African-American is not the free National name that inherits our birthrights within the Constitution and throghout the planet.

But I can assure you this much. Untill we trace ourselves back through our foremothers and fathers our condition will not change outside our doors. Im talking about the trash we expect someone else to clean up, the stores we dont own the children we cant controll the drugs we cant stop using the hate we express to one another..etc.

And Obama is not an African-American, black, colored folk, negro...etc. His mother is Irish and his father is what Sudandeese I believe. What ever the case he is not a descendant of slaves and suffers not from the lack of true Identity and Nationhood of or ancient Mothers and Fathers.

echo:SuN049:

i feel like i'm an alien...on a distant planet
not quite african and not quite american
what too do?
peace
khasm

ish is still the same 6 years later...smdh

one love
khasm

ru2religious:

"I am African by origin, American by location..."

Me:

Generally speaking, I can relate to that, too...

FYI...

Later...

Peace...

:SuN044:

ish is still the same 6 years later...smdh

one love
khasm

Chuck:

Our ancestors were scattered...

We the descendants need not act or react like we're 'shattered'...

I embrace the various aspects of the disapora as I also reject what those on the homefront would reduce us all down to as well...

We need not be inferior to these so called white folk anymore!

We only do because we let them get away with it!

We also do know something about the world's people etc.

And now we have to stand up for our own best interests...

It's becoming pretty obvious it's becoming difficult (if not impossible) for others to stand up for themselves at all!

FYI...

:SuN044:

i feel like i'm an alien...on a distant planet
not quite african and not quite american
what too do?
peace
khasm

AMEN!!!

Chuck:

Our ancestors were scattered...

We the descendants need not act or react like we're 'shattered'...

I embrace the various aspects of the disapora as I also reject what those on the homefront would reduce us all down to as well...

We need not be inferior to these so called white folk anymore!

We only do because we let them get away with it!

We also do know something about the world's people etc.

And now we have to stand up for our own best interests...

It's becoming pretty obvious it's becoming difficult (if not impossible) for others to stand up for themselves at all!

FYI...

:SuN044:

i feel what ur saying brother....trust me
it's just that sometimes i find it hard to relate to africans...and i know more than 10 and sometimes i find it hard to relate to african americans because of the mental conditioning....my feelings in this regard are akin to a mullato's in america or africa for that matter...

the older i have gotten the less i feel out of my element in this country and in certain situations but the feeling still exists....probably will always exist

one love
khasm

i feel what ur saying brother....trust me
it's just that sometimes i find it hard to relate to africans...and i know more than 10 and sometimes i find it hard to relate to african americans because of the mental conditioning....my feelings in this regard are akin to a mullato's in america or africa for that matter...

the older i have gotten the less i feel out of my element in this country and in certain situations but the feeling still exists....probably will always exist

one love
khasm

Good morning...

And nice to meet cha...

On the other hand:

'We' didn't create this mess...

'They' may never do more than just admit their ancestors etc. felt and thought like that...

It's also not up to me or you as mere individuals to fix things either!

So all I can suggest is you be there for those who are they for you too...

At least some of us are referring to ourselves and/or others as more than just being 'negroes'
and/or a few of us strive to be more than the socially/political 'correct' term of the moment:

Otherwise do try to be forgiving (if not forgetting) other peoples shortcomings etc.

Simply put:

I just try to reach and teach by the way of my own deeds and words too...

FYI...

Good luck!

Best wishes...

Later...

Peace...

:em0200:

I hope no one here believes that America is a country, but a continent.

African-American, born in the American continent, of African ancestry. What culture? to be filled in later.

I'm African. And I think there should be less black people celebrating there little or non white/asiatic heritage. Thats just sad, that even some brag about it .. :SuN042: