4 ms·

In speaking to Africans in the West, in general they share a very traditional view of the situation as many other immigrants do. Namely, to remember who you are

In speaking to Africans in the West, in general they share a very traditional view of the situation as many other immigrants do. Namely, to remember who you are, where you come from, who your people are, and many other things from homeland. Some might say well troughway you’re cherry picking anecdotes to fit a point, there are many immigrants who don’t think this way. And that’s okay too - not everyone wants to be connected to their homeland. But it’s worth noting that we are composites of our ancestors, the places they grew up, the food they ate and how it affects our physical and mental health, and host of other things that we carry with us whether we want to or not.

acephal 6y ago
> In speaking to Africans in the West, in general they share a very traditional view of the situation as many other immigrants do. Namely, to remember who you are, where you come from, who your people are, and many other things from homeland. The point here isn't to say indigenous Africans are not woke or bear no interaction with (post-)colonialism, but that their cultural circumstances are just too distinct to provide much solace to the specific plight of Black Americans, surprised as some are when they move to or visit Africa and discover a perspective they imagined to be in more alignment with their own, as I mentioned above. This distance is palpable in your own commentary that immigrants "remember who you are, where you come from, who your people are, and many other things from homeland." - such a sentence has little to offer to a Black American whose ancestors were physically and culturally displaced in an intractable way. But this also has another edge to it, which the article also wishes to point out, that the "American-ness" of the Black community can lead to notions of whose perspective is more valid, again, highlighted in the substrate of YouTube commentary I've encountered. It is true that most Black folk, just as in the article wrt Liberia, have zero interest in relocating to Africa and elect to struggle for whats owed to their ancestors' contribution to building this country, however the experience of this smaller community of Black American migrants throws light on an interesting aspect of the discussion from where I'm standing

acephal 6y ago

> In speaking to Africans in the West, in general they share a very traditional view of the situation as many other immigrants do. Namely, to remember who you are, where you come from, who your people are, and many other things from homeland. The point here isn't to say indigenous Africans are not woke or bear no interaction with (post-)colonialism, but that their cultural circumstances are just too distinct to provide much solace to the specific plight of Black Americans, surprised as some are when they move to or visit Africa and discover a perspective they imagined to be in more alignment with their own, as I mentioned above. This distance is palpable in your own commentary that immigrants "remember who you are, where you come from, who your people are, and many other things from homeland." - such a sentence has little to offer to a Black American whose ancestors were physically and culturally displaced in an intractable way. But this also has another edge to it, which the article also wishes to point out, that the "American-ness" of the Black community can lead to notions of whose perspective is more valid, again, highlighted in the substrate of YouTube commentary I've encountered. It is true that most Black folk, just as in the article wrt Liberia, have zero interest in relocating to Africa and elect to struggle for whats owed to their ancestors' contribution to building this country, however the experience of this smaller community of Black American migrants throws light on an interesting aspect of the discussion from where I'm standing