Upon my arrival at my internship the women engaged in a conversation concerning the authenticity of my hair. Of course I was not included in this discussion. Amid whispers and side glances, the most curious sister, herself wearing starter locks, approached me. Calculating her steps, as if I was a lion in a cage, she asked “Is that…your hair?”, eyes squinting in criticism. When I replied affirmatively she was astonished, quickly relaying her discovery to the team of on-lookers.
-”She says it’s her hair!”
-”That’s her hair!?!”
-”Let me see..”
-”But how?..”
At first, like a newly caged animal, I bowed and strutted, excited to show off my exoticism. However, I now sympathize with the lion who attacked the hecklers at the zoo. Being on constant display is completely annoying.
Most disturbing is the fact that my African co-workers have even more limited experiences with natural hair than Americans. Although dreads, afros, and braids are fashionable for some Black Americans, others like myself, are conscious in rejecting the European standard of beauty. For us, the idea that a foriegn substance, i.e., “Dark and Lovely”, “Motions”, and “Just For Me”, are necessary to unveil our beauty is ridiculous. Literally transforming into the image of the oppressor is not only the height of assimilation, but also a bit psychotic. Arriving in Nigeria to see perms, weaves, and wigs let me know that this psychosis is international.
Ironically, the things that Black Americans embrace as being part of their African heritage are rejected by continental Africans. In Nigeria, women rarely wear their natural hair, and I have yet to see a cowrie shell or an ankh (staples of the Sankofa crowd). I slowly realized that the pictures I’ve seen of Africans who look the most “ethnic” are of rural indigenes, considered backwards by not only western standards, but their urban countrymen as well. In Lagos, many of the men and women, like my co-workers, are members of the bourgeosie. They too have assimilated into the images of their British oppressors.
I’m reminded of Dr. John Henrik Clarke’s words that a ”culturally conscious people cannot continue to be oppressed.” But what culture should we be conscious of? It seems that diaspora and continental Africans are suffering from an identity crisis. Similar to adolescents who watch too much BET, we’ve merged our innate characteristics with outside influences. This means Africans in America embrace stereotypes of what they think Africa is, and Africans in Africa reject what they know Africa to be. It’s a conglomerate of contradictions that are the result of white supremacy.
While shopping at Cherries (envision a mix between Dollar General and a Korean owned corner store) I noticed an African Pride relaxer. The paradox is obvious.
Wow…who said assimilation and imitation are the greatest forms of flattery. That’s sad yet comical CLEARLY an African Pride relaxer has no place in AFRICA. And to think I spent my high school years walking the halls of an international high school where Aficans hated me because I wasnt african when their own brothers were using terms like “cuz” and “like dis heey(here)”. Every African girl wanted to look fresh out of BET as if that could be our only goal in life. I could say more, but I’ll save that for when you come home for our political debriefing. I for one LOVE your “spider dreads” and that beautiful skin. I see from our previous conversations youre not just in Africa to get a tan. If anyone can teach an African to be an African surely T.Halyard can! lol. With all that being said I love you and be safe…however I leave you with one question. If were not African Americans and Africans aren’t Africans….who ARE we?
“If we’re not African Americans and Africans aren’t Africans…who ARE we?” Damn that’s deep! Let me think about it…
D@#!, I know the revolution won’t be televised but the need for it is certainly being blogged. Sadly, continental Africans as well as here in the Diaspora have been victimized–raped mentally, physically, and spiritually. Imperialism has been successful in endowing us with self-hatred in such a way that they no longer must physically shackle us as we’ve excelled in allowing and assisting them in retaining mental shackles. Ironically, those shackles are now almost a birthright passed from generation to generation. We (continental and Diaspora) still see White as right and try our best to emulate and imitate in an effort to gain the wealth and so called prosperity they have. However, you see that in indigenous cultures of every continent, psychological diseases without a biological foundation don’t exist. Whites seek individualism and compete to be the best. Yet, when things don’t turn out as planned, their support system is non-existent so they then turn to pharmacology for support.
Sadly, that which we know without recognizing still calls to us. The call of the drum or the bass moves us whether rhythmically inclined or not. The ancestral spirits still guide us although for the most part we fail to acknowledge their presence. Rather than looking to God on high for our strength and salvation in the afterlife we must seek God in us now. We are created in the Creator’s image therefore we are endowed with the power of the creator. As the educated continental Africans continue to assimilate, it becomes the responsibility of educated Africans in the Diaspora to go back and fetch it. We must be the new African embracing the old ways. Our history and culture initiated humanity and therefore is strong enough to reclaim it. We in the Diaspora must strategize and successfully effect change. We must become self reliant or we will continue to be subjugated to imperialists. God created us in Africa and in Africa gave us everything we need. Alien whites have been driven by greed and power managing to control the wealth of the world. The world is ours, our birthright in being the original hue-mans—we are obligated to reclaim it.
The difficulty in going back to fetch it lies in our lack of knowledge about our motherland. This ignorance was a calculated tool of mental bondage, and has created a disconnect between Diaspora and continental Africans. So, I don’t know what culture/customs I should be fetching. Nigeria alone has over 200 groups of people who speak over 2,000 languages. When I told one of my white classmates that I was interning for an NGO in Nigeria she said “That’s great! At least you’ll speak the language!” (she meant the indigenous language). Now this is disturbing on many levels, the first being her ignorance of colonialism. However, my anger wasn’t the result of her ignorance, but of the fact that my people were deliberately denied a connection to their traditional beliefs, languages, and cultures.
By the way, wtf does pharmacology mean? LOL! We need you to open your office soon, as you can see you’re people are in desperate need of your counseling services.
Girl…I think when white people are accidentally racist it tells me how genuinely racist they are and of course how many black friends they’ll have. Pharmacology is basically how drugs interact with your body–what it does to your system and how long it remains in your system. I was watching on PBS a while back about genetic tracing back to Africa and specifically which groups you descend from. We are not at all homogenous as after capture we were forcibly mixed. I think tracing back your roots to the “original” would prove bittersweet because we probably wouldn’t agree with all of the cultural outlooks and practices. That’s why overhere we tend to hold on to the African paradigms–those that whole true for all people of Africa: communalism, interaction with nature, significance of elders and ancestors, etc. We would get lost trying to find our “true” customs and cultures so we’re regretfully relegated to general practices that are en vogue in the diaspora. Dabbling in the spirituality has always been scary to me so I’ve never proceeded further beyond praying to ancestors. Our own rituals are so foreign to us they scare us yet their rituals were built upon ours. I don’t know…it kills me that everywhere we look we’re without a true history and ancestory that we can legitimately call our own. Just like people who are sterile are forced to adopt children, we are forced to adopt culture.
I would have never guessed in a million years that this would have been your welcome to Nigerian culture. We have been provided so many images of what being African is supposed to be but many have yet to seek out what being an African means. It sadens me that wherever we are, Africans find the need to judge one another on the superficial and dividing themselves. I guess that’s what we have been taught to do.
Yeah, I agree. It’s the age old tactic of divide and conquer.
I think we all get a wake-up call when it comes to what we see in the media and what’s true in Life. It shouldn’t be surprising, but it is…think about what you learned about Black History in elementary and high school. Remember how we heard news and media reports about the “civil war” in Kenya recently surrounding the election? You would have thought it was the whole entire county….it was a rural village hundreds of miles away from the closest metropolis area.
Euro-centric influence is EVERYWHERE….Asia, Africa, America….where ever we go. I believe we have to be proud of who we are, who our ancestors were, and who our children will be. That’s where our heritage lies…with us.
If you haven’t yet, read “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Class systems have always been present in African culture…..
“I think when white people are accidentally racist it tells me how genuinely racist they are” PREACH DIONE…..NOW THAT IS DEEP!!!