Essay on African Diaspora

The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to

African-American history are those events that started with the first slave ships from Africa to the Caribbean Islands and carry through their journey as a people both individually and collectively to today's societies across the Americas.

Marcus Garvey, a ‘proponent of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements” (), once stated that “a people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” (Good Reads Quotes) He was in fact very much so right. Most people in this world care about where they come from, who they descended from and where the backbone of their identity lies. Have you ever wondered why almost most orphans tend to look for their family lines or go out in search of where they belong? It is with this very essence my quest to look for answers and investigate about two very distinct yet similar groups. The groups I examine throughout this paper are Africans and African-Americans. What I seek to find out is why two very ‘distinct’ yet similar groups of people fail to see eye to eye, judging from the fact that Africans and African-Americans look alike, originated from Africa and their histories and culture somehow intertwine with each other. The main question here really is: what are the factors that hinder the relationship between Africans and African-American people.

Upon learning about the colonial history in its truest form, one can attest that resistance has been deeply rooted in the African diaspora. One of the earliest forms of resistance was the upstaging of revolts by the slaves on land and ships, which date back to the beginning of the slave trade during 17th century. Since then, African Americans have continued to resist their oppressors throughout the history. This persistent resistance has been inspired from the ideals of black nationalism. In the simplest terms, “black nationalism is the recognition of cultural and racial commonality and a call to racial solidarity” (Harris 2001:409). This ideology has united the African diaspora and paved the way to resistance. Thus, successfully shaping the

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

Jews are the oldest diaspora who had no “homeland” for two millennia (Safran 2005). Despite attempts made by Christian evangelists to end the Jewish diaspora, they survived and developed a new relationship with the homeland. Historically, there has been historical meaning of diaspora for Jews- they were exiled because they were powerless, insecure and minority groups. The Jews diaspora who carried on its culture, maintained its ethnic or religious institution in America (hostland) are unwilling to surrender their identities and uphold a transpolitical relationship to the homeland or countries of origin (Safran 2005).

The Pan Africanism movement covers the African diaspora subject across the globe, most recently in the Asian continent. The following communities discussed in this paper are from India and the Persian Gulf area.

In this assignment, the strengths and weaknesses of the claim that migration creates global connections, will be discussed. This will be done by discovering what counts as migration and how it is valued, how global connections can be both positive and negative, about the concepts of 'diaspora' and 'translocalism' and how important they are when considering both migration and global connections. To enable the discussion of the subject matter, it must first be understood what is meant by the terms 'migration' and 'global connections', migration is used to describe the circulation of people from their country of origin into

For instance, during slavery in America, lighter, mulatto slaves would be given preferential duties over darker slaves which birthed tensions between the light and dark skin people in the Black community that is abundant today. After the interview, she mentions how Ethiopia (and Liberia) were the only countries in Africa that were not colonized. The distinction between colonized African countries gives her a sense of nationalism for Ethiopia. During the the African diaspora, many different African ethnicities were grouped intentionally to limit communication, with an estimated 1500-2000 languages in Africa. Many languages and culture were lost due to isolation in America. Conducting the interview with Muhlet reminded me of the internal tension between blacks in America and emigrants from African countries. There is a huge disconnect in the community because african people view blacks synonymously with slavery and roles of servitude which has the potential to stratify the community. Muhlet’s family like many other families that have emigrated to America likely have tried to keep their culture by opening up predominantly small-scale family businesses in the ethnic hubs of large

The word ‘Diaspora’ derives from the Greek ‘Diasperien’ i.e. “dia” (through) and “sperien” (to scatter). According to Webster’s dictionary, Diaspora refers to “dispersion” so we can say that the word represents a centre called home from where the dispersion occurs. In addition to it the dictionary it also associates the meaning with the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian exile. Thus we get two meanings of the word Diaspora- as a spread of population and a forcible dispersal. However the term Diaspora doesn’t mean any nomadic existence, though it suggests a movement from one place to another, but it’s not a nomadic existence because it is somewhere a journey, however that does not mean all journey can be understood as that of a Diaspora. As in Diaspora does not mean causal travel, even though diasporic journeys are mainly about settling down and about having roots elsewhere.

The word ‘Diaspora’ derives from the Greek ‘Diasperien’ i.e. “dia” (through) and “sperien” (to scatter). According to Webster’s dictionary, Diaspora refers to “dispersion” so we can say that the word represents a centre called home from where the dispersion occurs. In addition to it the dictionary it also associates the meaning with the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian exile. Thus we get two meanings of the word Diaspora- as a spread of population and a forcible dispersal. However the term Diaspora doesn’t mean any nomadic existence, though it suggests a movement from one place to another, but it’s not a nomadic existence because it is somewhere a journey, however that does not mean all journey can be understood as that of a Diaspora. As in Diaspora does not mean causal travel, even though diasporic journeys are mainly about settling down and about having roots elsewhere.

Who are African Diasporas, do we refer to people who were forced to disperse to the Americans and Caribbean during the 1500s to 1800s, or we refer to native Africans moving abroad to settle down. Any of these group falls under the name African diasporas, the culture and values of the African people brought down from generation to generation might have been forgotten by the Africans been forcefully dispersed, but for the native Africans settling in parts of Europe and America, it a question of how to preserve one’s culture in a foreign land. . This diaspora, this African diaspora started in the 16th century, included an estimated 10.7 million forced migrants—about 2 million had died during the Middle Passage—from West, West-Central, and Southeastern

1. Criollos: This term is often referred to as creoles, and it relates to the people of pure European descent born in the Americas. They were often the ones who carried out independence movements in Latin America, as they were tired of being subdued by the European natives and thus wanted to be the elite class. They did not seek to improve the lives of non-white people, and used theories of racial purity to keep them under control.

The underlying key theme that comes through in the three above elements involved in connecting diasporic groups, individuals and communities, and their ‘homelands’ is the communication of knowledge reproduction with in the transnational community. Communication is a key ingredient in the maintenance of identities practiced, performed and experienced because it enables those who go through these processes of identity maintenance to continue adding and building on their identities through the reproduction of knowledge from their ancestors, living relatives, social institutions and online interaction. The reproduction of knowledge is a structure within a society that allows information to be passed down from one generation to the next (reference), through

This caused by the misunderstandings of those who left against those who have lived in said place their entire life. Unfortunately the Diaspora continues even to modern day but for different reason than when it initially began. In the modern day the Diaspora has evolved from forced slavery into a different kind of forced movement whether for education, opportunity or refugee.