The Front Porch : hi... I left USA... racism too much to bear...

[Omowale Jabali]

What was her experience there? My opinion is based off my travels back in the mid to late 80's, I'm sure some things have changed.

Peace!

She had a great time and was also their in the 80s when Afro Punk and Hip Hop were merging in Japan, which eventually influenced cousin Neneh Cherry and the London underground scene responsible for jungle, breakbeat and Trip Hop. In fact, it was the fact that she lived with my family that led to our friendship. We never hooked up long term but hand our whenever we run into each other.

She used to hang out in Japan with a son of George Clinton. She got a blog on Tumblr where she has recently been writing about done of her experiences. I last saw her about two weeks ago. In you are interested send me a message by email and I will send you the link or hit me up on Facebook.

Shalom!

 

[Omowale Jabali]

She had a great time and was also their in the 80s when Afro Punk and Hip Hop were merging in Japan, which eventually influenced cousin Neneh Cherry and the London zunderground scene responsible for jungle, breakbeat and Trip Hop. In fact, it was the fact that she lived with my family that led to our friendship. We never hooked up long term but hand our whenever we run into each other.

She used to hang out in Japan with a son of George Clinton. She got a blog on Tumblr where she has recently been writing about done of her experiences. I last saw her about two weeks ago. In you are interested send me a message by email and I will send you the link or hit me up on Facebook.

Shalom!

The post above is probably what influences my viewpoint on this subject more than anything else. Having a close friend and family who are musicians who actually lived in Japan and a few other countries outside of USA. My cousin Don Cherry is still popular among jazz circles in Japan and I'm sure this is due to the fact that he also embraced Buddhism. However, for anyone familiar with the Organic Music Society which was more than a singular album, he was rooted in African music. Global African Music. What some in my circle refer to as Transglobal Soul.

 

[Omowale Jabali]

This article is dated but it addresses the Japanese 'fascination with Black Americans'. This is especially true in Japan's independent music scene. Because of the high costs in regards to distribution, import/export the independent scene here used to be about 10 years ahead. Not sure how much of that has been closed because the scene here had gone largely mainstream which is why if you a true independent or underground Black artist with some fly artistry Japan might be the spot. I've never been there so all I can go off of is oral tradition mixed with independent research.

http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2005/04/independent_music_scene_in_jap.html

My Dad traveled around the world twice before he passed. Not once. Twice. His spots were Thailand and Senegal. My daughter went to Thailand for her birthday last month.

Black people have a presence all over the world. Personally, I see nothing wrong with claiming it as the only thing keeping us here is our own personal decisions to remain.

So many of us, too many of us complain about white supremacists, then turn around and express the same stereotypes and propaganda against other non whites, sounding like Americanized black imperialists.

Count me out.

 

[Omowale Jabali]

I will never return.
But I do miss talking with us.

Brother inu,

Thanks for this thread. I plan on being out of here in 2017, if I live that long. Japan seems like an option, even though I am looking at several places in Africa.

My only question is How high is the standard of living?

I've heard it is quite expensive, but so is living in Los Angeles.

I'm looking to transition from education to social media consulting.

 

[jamesfrmphilly]

the fact remains : you will find a lot more BLACK people in Africa than you will in japan…..