Pan-Africanism : WHAT AFRICAN DIASPORANS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CONTINENTAL AFRICAN VALUE SYSTEMS.

[Sun Ship]

I've been enjoying and living my African american culture all of my life

Nobody in the world goes around constantly calling the thing they do daily… “Their culture”. The term culture is a borrowed term and is a way of academically quantifying a people’s daily social observance, unique proclivities and mannerism and so forth. Though I do think we need to take note and pass down cultural knowledge, I also think the more a culture is implemented naturally; the more invisible it may be to the practitioners. Even African scholars can stand back and make a more extensive study of their ancestral ways and view them through the lens of cultural anthropology.

You can ask any liberal thinking cultural anthropologist and they will tell you that African Americans have a culture. The whole world knows this. Once again, African American culture has influenced almost all of modern America’s popular culture and beyond.

The cultural genocide that we are wrestling with has, more than anything, destroyed our ability to accept and properly identify our present cultural continuity and has left us lamenting over the supposed absence of it. Remember there has been a lot of denial and self-hatred involved in our cultural journey in America. Some of this was still present during the “African centered awaking period” of the 60’s and 70’s…sometimes when we were embracing continental African culture, we were still rejecting the deeper roots of African American culture and its direct connection to Africa (cultural continuity)…this is something a lot of brothers and sister refuse to discuss as they romanticize Africa and that time period.

Peace

Brother Sun


PS__since I've been posting in different threads I have posted the titles of a couple of books that dealt with some of our spiritual and cultural continuity...it's unfortunate, we have to read books, to see what is already under our noses...but such is life.

 

[Oba Iparankanru]

There needs to be a way to romanticize those religions before they die with the elders. Yes I agree, many young Af ams did not really know what african american culture was when I asked they thought I was teasing them. Most of my information came from older people in their 50's and up. I think there should be some kind of reference to note some aspects of their customs. terms, dialects, traditions, and courting practices etc.

Because they are clearly distinctive which is why you can tell if someone is acting "black" and or "white" as well as if someone is acting "ghetto" as opposed to "normal" or what have you.

 

[Isaiah]

Nobody in the world goes around constantly calling the thing they do daily… “Their culture”. The term culture is a borrowed term and is a way of academically quantifying a people’s daily social observance, unique proclivities and mannerism and so forth. Though I do think we need to take note and pass down cultural knowledge, I also think the more a culture is implemented naturally; the more invisible it may be to the practitioners. Even African scholars can stand back and make a more extensive study of their ancestral ways and view them through the lens of cultural anthropology.

You can ask any liberal thinking cultural anthropologist and they will tell you that African Americans have a culture. The whole world knows this. Once again, African American culture has influenced almost all of modern America’s popular culture and beyond.

The cultural genocide that we are wrestling with has, more than anything, destroyed our ability to accept and properly identify our present cultural continuity and has left us lamenting over the supposed absence of it. Remember there has been a lot of denial and self-hatred involved in our cultural journey in America. Some of this was still present during the “African centered awaking period” of the 60’s and 70’s…sometimes when we were embracing continental African culture, we were still rejecting the deeper roots of African American culture and its direct connection to Africa (cultural continuity)…this is something a lot of brothers and sister refuse to discuss as they romanticize Africa and that time period.

Peace

Brother Sun


PS__since I've been posting in different threads I have posted the titles of a couple of books that dealt with some of our spiritual and cultural continuity...it's unfortunate, we have to read books, to see what is already under our noses...but such is life.

Brother SunShip, timely and informative post, as usual... There are giblets for the offering in this thread, and yet they go unread, sparsely looked into... I guess we take being ORAL culturally more seriously than imagined...(smile!)

Your thoughts on the "romanticism" of Africa and African Culture is bound to cause some furor if read by our great warrior sista, PDiane...(smile!) I have gotten my fill of the glory of Egypt and everywhere else I aint, too, and it's just tired to me... I am aware of WHAT we've done here in this hemisphere, and what we've done here in North America... Would that I could only get more of us more interested in their very own glory... That is why I asked Destee to put this thing together... It clearly is not as easily realized as I thought it would be... Hope, brother, you'll continue to make your contributions to this forum, and help it to gain some currency from those who don't think it important...

BTW, I've talked to mostly folk within the African Diaspora about their cultures, and their ability to expound on it, and even revel in it, far superceeds that of the average African American... I dig that there are a number of factors and reasons for that, but we've got to change that... Because THAT is why it has been so easy for White Folks in America to steal, rob, and rape, and even claim our cultural copyright while we stand idly by proclaiming it AMERICAN before we claim it's AFRICAN origins... Rectify if I'm wrong, brother(smile!) Happy Kwanzaa, brother...

Peace!
Isaiah

 

[Sekhemu]

Nobody in the world goes around constantly calling the thing they do daily… “Their culture”. The term culture is a borrowed term and is a way of academically quantifying a people’s daily social observance, unique proclivities and mannerism and so forth. Though I do think we need to take note and pass down cultural knowledge, I also think the more a culture is implemented naturally; the more invisible it may be to the practitioners. Even African scholars can stand back and make a more extensive study of their ancestral ways and view them through the lens of cultural anthropology.

You can ask any liberal thinking cultural anthropologist and they will tell you that African Americans have a culture. The whole world knows this. Once again, African American culture has influenced almost all of modern America’s popular culture and beyond.

The cultural genocide that we are wrestling with has, more than anything, destroyed our ability to accept and properly identify our present cultural continuity and has left us lamenting over the supposed absence of it. Remember there has been a lot of denial and self-hatred involved in our cultural journey in America. Some of this was still present during the “African centered awaking period” of the 60’s and 70’s…sometimes when we were embracing continental African culture, we were still rejecting the deeper roots of African American culture and its direct connection to Africa (cultural continuity)…this is something a lot of brothers and sister refuse to discuss as they romanticize Africa and that time period.

Peace

Brother Sun


PS__since I've been posting in different threads I have posted the titles of a couple of books that dealt with some of our spiritual and cultural continuity...it's unfortunate, we have to read books, to see what is already under our noses...but such is life.

I certainly couldn't have said it better myself, my grammar being what it is lol. I've tried to make this point on another thread. African American cultureis is legitimately African as any other in the world, indeed throughout the diaspora.

You're correct in pointing out that in our zeal to authenticate our identity thru the lens of Continental Africans, we have ignored our own authentic legacy as Africans in our own country. One thing I would like to add is that we should be careful not to leave out the native american ancestry that many of us have. There is a very thin line between native and african culture and bloodlines. It has been well documented by Ivan Van Sertima that blacks in the western hemisphere have often been time mistaken for "Indians" and vice verse.

 

[jamesfrmphilly]

is religion culture?
is culture religion?
can an atheist have culture?

few afro americans practice or even know of the traditional african religions.
if your world view is shaped by a white or arab religion how can you relate to mother africa?