African American Culture and Traditions

Individuality was not stressed but rather the importance of the extended family. I believe that African Americans suffering through the hardships of slavery strengthened the idea of kinship even further. The unity of the African culture became strong due to a series of trials and tribulations.

Still between 1865 and 1876, there was a culture identity crisis for African Americans. We cannot explain the roots of African American culture without

The documentary, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, allows one to experience African American history through key historical sites, and interviews with living eyewitnesses such as those who fought during the well-known civil-rights movement. The documentary sheds light on the experience of African Americans, both in the past and today. The information presented in class further aids in detailing how African American history shaped the African American community in regards to support systems, crises, but most importantly, how these individuals used resiliency to overcome their trials and tribulations towards a fights for rights, freedom, and respect. During the six episodes, one will see that the road and battle to freedom for blacks in America was not linear, but rather complex and difficult- it was much like the course of a river, full of loops and turns, sometimes slow, and sometimes reversing the current of advancement. Although enslavement led to the creation of the African American people, it manifested into the multiplicity of cultural institution, beliefs, and religion and social institutions that the African American people have established- along with their strength and resiliency. From slavery, lynching’s, and the many marches and protests led by phenomenal black leaders, to the gained freedoms and the first black president in the White House, the documentary, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, details an engaging journey through African-American history from a perspective that thoroughly reflects the lives of African-Americans and the community in its

Many of our life lessons were often given by our elders in the form of stories, jokes, and the spirituals which serve often song in the fields, as well as, on Sunday mornings. Yet, as a people, we thought it necessary to hold on these priceless teachings because it has served as the only link to our African ancestry. African American culture is both part of and distinct from American culture. African Americans have contributed literature, agricultural skills, foods, clothing, dance, and language to American culture.

From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern for the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as remembered traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art

The purpose of my research paper is to build awareness, which has been disconnected between the two groups. This paper will underline the very basis of the chasms that have caused this disconnect between African-Americans and Africans. Awareness is essential

the United States against their free will. Blacks from the Caribbean and other areas of the world

The African American Legacy and the Challenges of the 21st Century. (). Retrieved from http://www.doi.gov/pmb/eeo/AA-HM.cfm

As a black American, I not only identify with African American culture. My family origins are of African American and Jamaican culture. As an African American, I identify with traditions such has kwanzaa, black history month, superstitions, and religion. As a Jamaican, it’s quite similar but there’s Rastafari, carnival, independence celebration, and more. Being African American, there’s tradition of close kinfolk relationship and dependence upon my family’s matriarch.

African American identity was established during the slavery period producing a dynamic culture that has had and continues to have a profound impact on American culture. According to research, African American culture developed separately from European American culture both slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in America. African American slaves desire to create and maintain their own traditions. We

Who are we, where did we come from, what has been our experience since we landed on United States soil? The migration of Africans has been very significant in the making of African Americans history and culture. Today's 35 million African Americans are heirs to all the migrations that have formed and transformed African America, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere (The New York Public Library, n.d.). African American history starts in the 1500s with the first Africans coming from Mexico and the Caribbean to the Spanish territories of Florida, Texas, and other parts of the South (The New York Public Library, n.d.). Although

There are myriad reasons that some diverse informal elder caregivers do not self-identify as caregivers, but the most common reason in the African American community is their eldercare ethos. Anderson and Turner (2010) assert that the West African legacy of strong kinship bonds combined with historical factors of discrimination, has shaped the lives of African Americans and has greatly influenced their later-life caregiving decision-making process. Studies have also shown that African Americans prefer to rely on family and fictive kin or kinship networks (nonrelatives) and avoid using former eldercare services because of distrust of their services (Apesoa-Varano et al., 2015). Anderson and Turner (2010) concur and share their research reveals

After interpreting each participant responses to each question, I consider influences that could affect respondents such as; society values, cultural/ subcultural values, and personal values. Starting with question number one all respondents answered in similar ways by starting with introducing body parts with their children. Each introduce anatomy with proper terms. Respondent number two said “silly names” shows society not being comfortable talking about sex. Respondents one and two are both sexual health educators which has affected how they raise their children. Depending on culture, sex is not easy topic for parent or children be open and comfortable. Respondent one and three is African American women. In this sub-cultural, sex it not something you discuss with parents until you are much older. But personal I see it as they are breaking habits in African American culture. Respondent number three in my opinion answered in fear of someone touching her children. I believe that her responses were hyper-sensitive and could relate to trauma or personal experience. We’ve talked about fear in our class and how powerful it can be. Although, each participant started having the sex talk with their kids the ages slightly differed in a year or two when the sex talk was delivered to children.

In the present time the African American culture changed quite a bit in being removed from where they as a people originated or should I say their homeland from whence they came. African American people are a people who are influenced tremendously from their fore fathers and mothers who lived in the southern part of the United States. The nomenclature for this group is to include African American, Black Americans or people of color. I prefer to use African American at this time since I am preferably writing about my own cultural background.

The lifestyle of African Americans reflects the influence of cultural traditions that originated in Africa but at the same time reflects the uniqueness of the African-American in the United States ("Black American").