I think that identity is important. Whether you prefer to call yourself African-American or Black doesn't matter so much as your understanding of your history. It's critical that the conversation not move so much into a discussion of labels, but action.

What does being Black or African-American compel you to do? I think that's really most important. You must understand that you have been placed here as part of a larger reason and purpose. Generations past have prayed for you to be a man/woman of excellence and power. Your ancestors wanted you to have access...to resources, etc. And now that you are able to garner them and keep them, what are you doing? How to do you pay homage to those before you? What are you doing?

See, I think that our ancestors didn't place a huge focus on language and labels. They just wanted to be included. So, I think it's time to take this a step further than asking of our respective TITLE preferences, but what are you doing with the blessings you've been given? Now that you are called a MAN or WOMAN and recognized for your abilities...what are you doing?

Let's be mindful that it's not about your title, its not about your present circumstance...but what you are doing to obtain all that is for you that matters. So, what are you doing?

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I will bless the Lord at ALL times His praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Psalms 34:1, KJV)



[This message has been edited by nikki25 (edited December 19, 2000).]

Personally, I do not like the term African-American. I supposed if I have to be labeled as anything I prefer Black. Black American if it suits some. African American to me would be someone that came from Africa an were made into an American citizen. Although I will never deny my root connection to Africa, the fact remains that I am not really "Afican" I mean all nationalities can trace their roots out of America because everyone(with the exception of the Indians) migrated to this country. I was born here I do not know anyone from Afica nor have I been.So what constitutes me as "African". I mean I know many moons ago my ancestors were from there but, I was not. I mean since my mom is originally from the South, am I really southern although I have always lived up North? I agree with Ania (by the way pretty name) on what a African-American person is.

Talaxe,

Well said. I can back you up on a few of the differences which you made reference to. One of my cousins married a woman from a South American country and she is "white" by American standards. However, she refers to herself as black.

I remember when some people got upset when Tiger Woods would not refer to himself as an African-American because he did not wish to deny his mother's heritage (she is from Thailand). That still does not change the fact that American society views him as a black man based on the color of his skin.
I use both Black and African-American interchangeably although I prefer Black because I know my heritage consists of more. My grandfather (dad's father) is Filipino.

Man is identified by the land from which his forefathers come from. If this is true, anyone living in the Americas with a drop of black blood in their vains is of African origin. If they themselves were born here, the most accurate way to classify them is "African-American". When you ask someone you went to school with whose name is Napoli, Rizzi,or Barzini what their nationality is, they wont say American white; they'll say I'm Italian(and most times leave off the American). By doing so, they show pride in the origin of their family. Most persons that weren't born in America do so. I admit to the fact that most "black" people were born stateside(here in America), but our families did not originate here; and THERE IS NO LAND CALLED BLACK. Therefore, we should classify ourselves as African-American. I think it's f@#$% up that every other kind of people here demand respect for the origin of their family-and make issue of it-but we don't. We want to run from being of African decent anyway we can-our hairstyles, our vernacular and intonation, and any other way we can. Only our music and clothes now tie us together; and we even subjudge ourselves! We can try to run from it all we want; but to the people that really matter here, we're still a bunch of n gas. So why not take pride in ourselves!!!!

Yes, when you ask them, but no one has ever had to ask me if I have African roots! I'm already pre-classified as having African ancestory because of the color of my skin.
There are various nationalities within European society to choose from (Italian, German, French, Welch, Scottish, etc.) I'm not trying to be rude or funny, but I can't tell which nationality white people fall into unless I ask or they tell me. They check the box that says "WHITE" just like we check the box that says "BLACK".

Your (and others') reasons are precisely why I believe we should identify ourselves as Black and not African-American:

1) many Black people in this country are not American;
2) most Black people in this country are multi-racial or multi-ethnic;
3) we should identify with others in the Diaspora around the world who share our African ancestry and hence our struggles.

Also as a previous poster indicated, there are a number of groups around the world who 'look Black' (ie Hindu Indians, Arabs,etc) but do not identify with our struggles. These people are not included in my definition!

So you see, the same reasons why you insist we should call ourselves African-American are precisely why I feel we should not.

BTW, the name 'Africa' is a European appellation that we can reject for a number of reasons. I'm doing some additional research to back up some thoughts I have on that subject so I'll get back to that subject later.



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MCCOYRED

Dynamic
Salient
Temperate

Mu Psi '86
BaltCo Alumnae

I can't wait to see your proof of your statement about Africa being a european appellation.

AKA2D and Mccoyred,
I agree with you.

Original Ape,
The last form I filled out, I recall checking "Black" and that was last week. No one is running from our heritage. Who decided it was politically correct to refer to us an African-American anyway? No one asked me my opinion.

Obviously, everyone has an opinion and to each his own. I will continue to use black or African-American whenever I want and if I choose to do so because it is my choice.

exactly, why does it matter? well because certain people still want to be discriminatory, they do not want to see people as people, because it gives them no leverage to hate. simply put some people are just evil, http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. and i'm sick of everybody who has a drop of black blood being throw into a category that they do not necessarily desire to be in (ie. Tiger Woods) forget Tiger Woods let him get in where he fits in, when the day is done people will see him how they want to see him regardless of how he sees his self, which i am sure he is already learning. if you are mixed then you are mixed, "say it loud" if you are half this and half that "say it loud" why deny any part of who you are because someone else who is very shallow and ignorant wants to define you for their own hateful purposes. WE need to stop letting others define who we are as a people, because this forced categorizing just breeds division among blacks and those who have some black in them but do not wish to be identified as such. why should they, it certainly is not to their benefit to be black in this country, so if they don't want to be identified as black we should let them have that choice. as for me i am black, both my parents are black, both my grandparents are black, that's good enough for me, also no one in my family is from Africa or has ever been to Africa. but if someone refers to me as African American i don't get upset because some of my ancestors were definitely from that great continent, so its all good http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by PositivelyAKA (edited December 20, 2000).]

Sorry sorors, sisterfriends and fellow "board" participants, this message is a long one, so just skip it if you don't care.

Some of you have asked if there is research in the terminology. Well, here it is...

The book entitled "Melinin, the chemisty of this compound" . You will find it in a Afrocentric bookstore. The book is paperback and is yellow.

A must read is WEB DuBois, "Souls of Black Folk". Research the philosophical arguments between him and Booker T. Washington... Also Carter G. Woodson's "The Mis-Education of the Negro". Research the history of Marcus Garvey and the Back to Africa movement in the 1920's.

Get any book from author John Henrik Clarke. He is called the father of an African Centered perspective. Ivan Van Sertima, another author who as researched the Afrikan heritage of the ancient queens in Afrika. He has written several books. The book entitled "The Isis Papers" by Dr. (my Alzheimer's is kickin' in... totally slips my mind).

The book entitled, "Black Women in White America"

Dr. Martin Luther King's "Why we can't wait".

Kwame Ture of the Black Panthers has written several books on this subject.

Nkrumah, 1st president of an Afrikan nation that won their freedom from europee-on colonization, he has written a book. I think he was from Nigeria, but I could be wrong. And I apologize if I have offended any Ghanians if he's truly from there... However he is from the "sub-continent" of Afrika...

Many of you HAVE to do your research, asap. Ask yourselves how you got to be called---anything. Really, you could be called slave... Really, we are all lucky for folks to call us anything... What does the word "Afrika" mean? What language is word "Afrika" in? Once you will find those definitions, you will determine how you feel your need to identify yourselves... We can barely answer the question "Who am I"!!!

I'm in the field to examine the science of race... And genetically, there is no such thing. We are all gradiations of each other with a polymorphic genetic code. It's like we're all roses and we all have thorns, but we come in different colors and we smell. Some of us are small roses, some of us are big ones. Nevertheless, we are all roses...

To read about the science of "race" or rather the evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens , read in the journal called "Science" under the mitochondial "Eve" from 1987-1990. There have been several scientific articles devoted to this subject and all the biologists cannot find any major differences, such as extra limbs or no hooves, in all humans on the planet... The written science of "Race" is just a bunch of BS made up by some assholic 18th century Sociologists after Darwin proposed his ideas of evolution...

Also, if you choose seek an Afrikan centered perspective, many of your epistemologies (meaning why you think the way you do--there are "forces" that have predicted and already expect your thought processes), then an absolute MUST READ is Dr. Marimba Ani's book entitled "Yurugu". That book... That book will blow your mind... 20 years of her life has been devoted to the science as to why we negroes (and most of us (the "n" word)/negroes/black/Black/afro-americans/African Americans or whatever) are the way we are. She has created definitions to explain why we think certain way and how we got into this BS about race from jump... As my college kids say, it's like "whoa"...

As for what I call myself... I am human. I choose my ethnic heritage to be of Afrikan descent which ties me to a physical land. It's soil that oneday I may walk on and experience the MAAFA that so long ago decimated the existence my anscestors. I choose my ethnicity to be "in American" (spelled amerikkklan) because I deserve it and my anscestors worked this land just like everybody else. I refuse to be defined by others. In fact I want to be indescribable (sp.). Because once I reach that point, I have transcended to my inherited ancestorial "spirit" genes that makes me reach my divinity...

I use the term "Black" myself, however I don't mind if African-American is used. Now let me start with this, if we call ourselves African-American then what does someone like Charlize Theiron (the white actress from "The Legend of Bagger Vance") who is from South Africa and now an American citizen call herself. Is she not African-American? Also, I don't know about you, but like my father, I'm proud to be an American, not that I am denying that I probably have African ancestry as well, but I know for a fact that my "Black" ancestors are the reason why this country is what it is today. Our ancestors helped build this country literally. Not only through physical means but also through all of their willingness and courage to fight for what they believe, their great inventions and other contributions. Now I don't care whether white people or anyone else want to ignore that or give us our just due because they don't define who I am. God, history, family and I define who I am.

[This message has been edited by DST Love (edited December 20, 2000).]

...Like I said earlier, JUST CALL ME BY MY NAME... http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif

**LOL at Soror AKA2D**

Don't get me wrong; I respect people's right to define themselves. No matter what you call yourself, there is a basis for identity. You have Alphas, Deltas,Kappas, Ques, Sigs, Zetas, Bloods, Crips, European-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native-Americans, African-Americans, Latin-Americans; in any event, there is a basis for identity. You choose the basis and hope to receive the identity that comes with it. Think about it.

I'm sorry you misunderstood my intent.

You are valid in the assumption of what Charlize Theron can call herself. She would probably prefer to be of Afrikaaner descent because her anscestors traveled from Denmark (and elsewhere) to populate the land in South Africa. Currently, the Afrikaaners are fighting for their rights as farmers to farm "their" forefather's land... These arguments stem from the post Apartheid regime and the ANC. Either way, the region is rather unstable and may go into conflict at any point much like that of upper sub-Saharan countries, i.e. Rwanda, Sierre Leone, Liberia.

As far as the point of personal preferences, I agree with my soror AKA912D--I have a name my parents endowed to me, I would like others to use it, thank you...

And my point is we all need to get away from the concept of race. I know it has been centuries that we have used our color to define our culture(s) and our reference point(s) in the universe. However, IMHO, we need to move away from that concept now. Practically a whole religion based on a small a gene product, tyrosinase, that is more abundant in darker complexion skin cells which produces higher levels of (eu)melinin. That concept is old, not 21st century thinking, it's soooo last millennia.

If you understand the nature of White Supremacy, you understand how we folk of a darker hue have been deconstructed and subjugated. I knew what I said would make some people disgruntled, it's a hard concept to learn to let go our enslaved selves. It's easier to deny our true sovereignty and claim a cultural asili use to oppress us so that we can easily move thru "mainstream" society. However, it's a high cost to do that--I have to do it everyday and it's practically drive me nucking futs! But what's happening is that we have lived under europee-on ideology for so long, such as who is the best president to lead this country--think immediately, who come into your mind? Ask yourself does your immediate thinking follow your Afrikan centered anscestors thoughts? How come we can't think of the immediate from our Afrikan heritage? Some of do, most of us don't... We have been brainwashed and bamboozled... How do we break outta of it? Think about it. Black Afrikan annihilation did not start with the American Revolution... Nor did it start with the first darker hued person to be sold to a much more lighter hued person... It started when Aristole philosophically segregated the spirit from the body. Most Afrikan cultures are incapable of doing that. Why do you think we are always talking about the church??? Why do you think Ilyana Vanzant's so popular, now? Could it be the transmission of our cultural asili from our Afrikan anscestors? We can never forget where we come from. Why is that? Most white men I discuss this concept with tell me they never think of themselves as anything other than American, even if their anscestors came during the massive white europee-on migration in the 1900s. But I tell you, these folks suffer from classism, too. Such as an elitist caucasian vs. one that comes from a trailer park... Now truly ask yourself this question, who has the harder life, a man of Afrikan descent who has numerous degrees but still gets beat down by the cops or a man of europeeon descent that grew up in a trailer park?