Pan-Africanism
“When did you become so Black all of a sudden?” said my older sister. I don’t associate with the word “Black”. I stopped that my sophomore year of college after attending an NAACP meeting, being in African American studies and filming “Vexed by African Americans”. There is nothing on my body that’s black…not my hair, not my skin, not my irises. I’m brown…it’s simple as that. SN: Do I still stand by my words in “Vexed by African Americans”…yes. I’ve learned that only youthful mindsets can be altered. Grown ignorant people will forever be grown, ignorant people. I tend to now focus all my efforts on the youth, especially those 16 and under. I’ve learned that a lot of Juniors and Seniors in high school are also already set in their ways.
Anyway, a lot of changes were solidified for me during the latter half of my 27th year during my time in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. I learned that things such as World Geography and History aren’t taught in public schools within the favelas. That saddened my heart to the point that I read a chapter to my youngest nephew every night about his ancestry. I started to wonder will these kids ever know where they came from, what do their parents tell them? It brought me back to the thought that people with the same complexion, and obviously the same roots as I, will say things in disgust like, “I’m not Black, I’m Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian, Cuban, Brazilian, etc.” We all are people of African descent. I remember when I was in Cartagena, this guy pointed to his skin and said we have the same skin. I told him that duh, we both are people of African descent no matter how hard he himself tries to claim only Latino. But this is my thing…You. Can. Claim. Both! But why do the most to distance yourself from Africa? True, when I was younger it felt like I needed to claim just one thing, but during middle school and above, the grade of my hair automatically had people asking, “What you mixed wit?” For the record, 65% of my DNA places me in Africa (West African, Bantu). The other 35% places me in Europe (French, British) and North America (Cherokee, Mexican (which honestly is another form of Native American)). I break all of that down to say that I’m fortunate to know at least that. I do/did try to talk as much as possible to my grandparents and my great-grandparents before they left this earth to ask/hear every story. But all of my learning because of traveling has taught me that maybe some children don’t claim their African ancestry because their parents don’t talk about it, don’t know about it, refuse to acknowledge it or even pass it down. What if those are reasons why those of African descent in Latin countries separate themselves so hard from Africa. We can even talk about how the media portrays people of African descent to be poor, uneducated, promiscuous and crime-ridden. I’ve never been poor, I’m extremely smart, don’t even need all of my fingers on two hands to count my sexual partners and I have no record…never even been arrested. And no I’m not the exception; there are millions of us.
“So what is this US thing?” In college and even after, I tried to distance myself from any racial “boundary”. I would just label myself as a brown skin girl who bubbled in “Other”. I didn’t have time for the: “Well you don’t act like them”, “Where are you from, where are your parents from”. The looks and body language that read: “Oh, she’s not like the rest of them, she’s different, I could take her home to my parents (of non-African descent)”, “We’re going to use her for this campaign so we won’t seem like we aren’t diverse, her hair is fine enough, lips and nose proportional enough, not too dark”. Yes, I definitely recognize that if I had kinky hair, really big lips, really flat nose, and really dark skin a lot of people probably wouldn’t even talk to me. I’m just enough but not too much. Did I ever mention why I stopped signing to agencies? I had my last agent around 23 years old. I decided not to re-sign because I noticed since I stopped straightening my hair after high school, agents don’t know what castings to send me on. It’s like they’ve never seen brown skin girls with curly hair; they have curly hair attached to “ethnically ambiguous” looking people. Laughable. As I digress, I do, I sincerely do rep every single piece of my ethnicities, but I’m choosing to stand with those of African descent. Why? Because out of all my ancestry, the world keeps perpetuating this undesirable, even savage, stereotype on those of African descent. They’re the underdog; they need the most help in shattering the screens of how the world views them. So THEM is now US, THEY are now WE.
Pan-Africanism. We are soooooo divided. Not only do all people come from Africa, they were the first to walk to every corner of the earth, they were also shipped, yes SHIPPED, all over the world. Growing up, and it hit really hard in college seeing that I went to the number 2 most diverse university at the time, seeing the disconnect with those who are American born of African descent and those born in continental Africa. I really wish we had a big platform to sit and air out our issues. There’s a lot of resentment from both parties…I included. I’ll save that for another blog, or maybe I’ll be the one to start that forum or assist with it. Even when I’m in Africa, when they realize I’m from America, they point at both of our skin and say, “But we’re the same color.” Uh, no duh, you’re further proving my point of why we should all be one. I’ve learned to just look at them as say, “I know you’ve seen Denzel Washington, Will Smith or Jamie Foxx in American movies to know that there are brown skinned people in North America.” Africa is the 2nd most populous continent in the world, but it’s still in such disarray. I personally feel European and even American powers need to pull out and Africa needs to take no more of China’s loans, but that’s neither here nor there. Nevertheless, corruption is still prevalent; too many chiefs trying to be kings, too many parties of opposition within Africa’s own. But what if, just what if African countries could find some common ground? What if, just what if those of African descent who don’t reside in continental Africa came together and looked out for one another as ONE? Would it scare those of European descent…totally! They have always been fearful of our people, always wanted the power, education, natural resources, etc. that we possess. I mean…European powers feel that way about all people of color regardless of their continental background. Colonialism didn’t just start out of nowhere.
Pan-Africanism vs. Black Power – UNIA/Black Liberation – Black Lives Matter, understand where I stand. I don’t stand with the latter organizations. I’m about people of African descent from all around the world. I’m a global not local type of female. I even call “Black History Month”, “Pan African History Month”. I’m all about the strides of people of African descent from all over the world, not just America. See that’s that division again that I’m talking about…it must be erased for anything to ever get accomplished. The only time you’ll see me with Red, Black and Green is during Kwanzaa. Other than that, I’ve chosen Green, Yellow, and Red. The Pan African flag is essentially the old Ethiopian flag, the O.G. flag.
Green: represents the richness and the fertility of our land as well as hope.
Yellow: represents religious freedom and peace.
Red: represents the sacrifice of our fathers, who spilled their blood in defense of [liberation].
A lot of country flags within the continent of Africa use the same color. So there you have it. You know where I stand. You know who I’m here for. Even though they get on my nerves sometimes for several reasons that I won’t name here, I look at it as a family. Sure, your siblings get on your nerves to the point that you’ll need your space, may even say some foul words towards them…but if anyone outside of your family did that, you’d be gunning for their heads.