Tiya Miles And Grey White's Who Is Black

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.

I am an African America child living. It is the summer of 1979 and I am incredibly hot right now. I live in Wyoming. There are not a lot of people who appear similar to me here. I talk to my mother plus ask her many questions. I remember asking her, “Why am I called an African American?” My mother went on to say that our race originated in Africa. After she explained this to me I asked her, “How did we get here?” She replied by explaining that we were first people sent here as early as 1619 (Robinson, 1999). My mother went on to explain to me that we were part of a slave trade. I learned that we were slaves until a law was passed to give us freedom. I occasionally wonder

This week’s reading of Roderick A. Ferguson’s Aberrations in Black: Towards a Queer of Color Critique offers a queer of color analysis that poses itself against Marxism, revolutionary nationalism, liberal pluralism and historical materialism, and opts instead for an “understanding of nation and capital as the outcome of manifold intersections that contradict the idea of liberal nation-state and capital as sites of resolution, perfection, progress and confirmation (3). By challenging some of the main complacent thinking that characterized canonical sociology, Ferguson pushes for an engagement with racial knowledge about African American culture as it was produced by American sociology if one is to fully understand the gender and sexual variations within the African American culture. One of the principle assumptions of canonical sociology is represented by its use of cultural, racial and sexual differences in the process of pathologizing African American culture. By juxtaposing canonical sociological texts from the Chicago School of Sociology with that of African American literature, Ferguson provides a genealogy of this foundational issue of imagining African American culture as sites of polymorphous gender and sexual perversions and how these perversions are in turn associated with societal and moral failings.

In Brian Copeland’s memoir, “Not a Genuine Black Man: My Life as an Outsider”, he vividly shares to what kind of racism and treatment that he and his family have gone through in a white community in San Leandro, CA during the 70’s. Through an ethnic studies lens, we can see clearly that indeed, the treatment of most Americans or “whites” toward African-American or “blacks” are hostile. There’s an invisible gap between two races, and Being an African-American

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

In her book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” , Beverly Daniel Tatum, explores the identity of racial development in the United States. She analyzes the definition of racism as well as the development of racial identity. Along with these topics she in turn offers possible solutions to racial problems that plague us today.

However, Professor Muggins is, of course, far more concerned with Black America than with Black Africa, and here his journal is much more persuasive. He is right to point out that all forms of social and cultural achievement among the slaves - such as the black family, black Christianity and black speech, music and dance - can be shown to be essentially black achievements. Far from being parodies by inferior beings of white models, these were heroic achievements, constructed and maintained in the face of white attitudes that ranged from condescending amusement through indifference to outright hostility. They preserved, for the Afro-American people, individual and collective self-respect, and prevented them, as Professor Huggins rightly emphasizes, from being mere victims. Furthermore, they contributed to American culture in general some of its most vital, characteristic and creative achievements - hence the paradox that no Americans are more American than the black slaves and their descendants, who were excluded from full membership of American society, North or South.

Rachel Dolezal is an icon to many African Americans of the separation of blackness from black people; to me, she is an example of how American culture simultaneously lessens the individualism of black women and as a community to the point that the performance of black womanhood is desired over the societies. If blackness can merely be worn or achieved, then every white woman with a weave and a reason, every white girl with a snap and a little attitude, can succeed the lived experiences of what it is to become a black woman. Racheal Dolezal is not a black American because she might have finalized her performance of black womanhood, longed for the respect of fellow black people, and Rachel’s parents are Caucasian and her parents considered

There is no doubt that African Americans have a rich cultural background and history like the many different ethnic groups who settled in the New World, whose origins lie in another country. For this reason, America was known as the melting pot. However, the backgrounds of each of these cultures were not always understood or, in the case of African Americans, accepted among the New World society and culture. Americans were ignorant to the possibility of differences among groups of people until information and ideas started to emerge, particularly, the African retention theories. This sparked an interest in the field of African culture and retention in African Americans. However, the study of African American culture truly emerged as a result of increased awareness in America, specifically through the publication and findings of scholarly research and cultural events like the Harlem Renaissance where all ethnicities were able to see this rich historical culture of African Americans.

African American Studies is a very complex subject. To confuse African American studies with black history is a common occurrence. African American studies is much deeper and more profound than just Black history alone. There are many unanswered and unasked questions among the Black American culture which causes confusion and misunderstanding in modern day society. In unit one there were many themes, concepts, and significant issues in the discipline of Africana studies. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Vivian V. Gordan touched on many concerns.

In “What is this ‘black’ in black popular culture?”, Stuart Hall explores the importance of assuming a dialogic approach over an essentialist approach when it comes to examining black popular culture. He believes that essentialism presents racial differences as being natural and universal rather than being a concept constructed by society to create social hierarchies which we coexist in today. Hall felt as if essentialism aided in the creation of imaginary racial boundaries that people would attempt to remain within, resulting in behaviors that they felt were appropriate for their race. Hall believed that the discourse of black popular culture had to be acknowledged in regards to other discourses, such as the influences of black and white cultures

The purpose of this research is to identify the uniqueness and diversity of people and practices of the African American culture. Each culture in life has some similarities and some differences. The similarities and differences that are present in a culture is what make the culture what it is. When dealing with a culture, race, ethnicity, of a people or religion it has a history of where it originates and or a heritage that that culture or people can relate to and always go back to, because this is what sets a

Cross’ book Shades of black: diversity in African-American identity (1991) depicts a perceived metamorphous of black identity through five stages of development—his ideologies are now termed as the Nigrescence theory. In simple terms, this philosophy refers to the process of becoming Black. It also demonstrates daily struggles that the black community may have in developing a healthy personal identity. Over the years, many authors attempt to define what the word black means. Eventually, many came to begin using the politically acceptable term widely applied today to regard black people; that word is known as Negroes. As different historical events occurred, one being the black power revolution on the 1970’s the experience called for a fresh definition of the term negro. Blacks or Africans in America began to be more conscious of their identity and more aware of the differences separating them. This is the experience that Cross (1971) illustrates and is primarily referenced in his five-stage progress including: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion/emersion, internalization, and internalization-commitment. This book highlights some very vital topics relating to mental health, which has been carefully disregarded by other researchers. Nonetheless, it has strong affiliations to the black experience and can positively explain a more normal psychological behavior through logical and very thought provoking

Scholars have dedicated their time and attention to furthering the discipline of African American Studies and can define the field with many different definitions. Through looking at the origins and development in the study we can see how it became a legitimate academic field. As we study the writings of the African American intellect, it will fully explain the importance of the discipline. Their work will justify the study of cultural and historical experiences of Africans living in Africa or the African Diaspora. When examining the scholar’s arguments we can develop our own intellectually informed rationalization of the field of African American Studies.

Race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, poverty, and sexual orientation, all play a role in developing one’s identity and more often than not, these multiple identities intersect with blackness. Being that American society has deemed colored people and populations as minoritarian subjects, African diaspora people can be seen making safe spaces for themselves to survive as individuals and as a part of communities.