The question of African American (meaning here the historic core black American community from here on called “black Americans”) lack of understanding of Africans and inability to connect with African immigrants today is most often couched in language describing problems of ignorance and the failure of Pan Africanism. I would suggest that it is notContinue reading “Pan Africanism is happening in front of our eyes, but not like what we thought”
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Foundations of our Blackness: The Historical Itinerary of Cultural Practice
“To do something and to understand the historical origins of that something, or its larger context, are not the same.” The black people who arrived to the Anglo-American, Spanish and French colonies from the seventeenth century to the end of the nineteenth are generally referred to as the ‘Old African Diaspora’ in the scholarly literature.Continue reading “Foundations of our Blackness: The Historical Itinerary of Cultural Practice”
Unbelievable Dancers
In 2011, African American journalist (Washington Post, MSNBC) Eugene Robinson published a book called Disintegration, in which he talked about important changes in the black community of the late 20th and early 21st century, and how these changes are related to class and ethnicity. He saw the disintegration of the black community as he hadContinue reading “Unbelievable Dancers”
A fragile citizenship?
As I have stated elsewhere, “the political and socio-cultural challenges that are perennial to the African American community of the United States require us to seek new ways to explain the current isolation (social and political) of poor African American communities, and the seeming fragile nature of citizenship that continues to endure for African AmericansContinue reading “A fragile citizenship?”
Black Diversities
Currently the black world stands at an ontological impasse that represents opportunity and challenges. Since the benchmark publication of Mbembe’s Black Reason (2016), the elements of this impasse have increasingly become the subject of public and scholarly debate. These reflections were complimented and in some ways extended, by Felwine Sarr’s book, Afrotopia. (2016) The complexityContinue reading “Black Diversities”
Why it matters
Black in the African Diaspora – Is that redundant? It may seem like this title is a redundancy, but I want to signify the volatile nature of the term ‘black,’ which has many meanings and is situational. Mostly, I think about how the term ‘black’ signifies, in the United States, anyone with any African ancestor.Continue reading “Why it matters”
Blogging while black
Over time, many people have asked me about the unsteady relationship between Africans and African Americans, and this question has come from diverse perspectives and people. Those questions made me think about issues I might not have otherwise considered. It was instructive to learn about being an “Other” when I went overseas. I have oftenContinue reading “Blogging while black”
blackintheafricandiaspora.blog 