Why are many people of African descent ashamed of their African roots?, so ashamed many chose to simply ignore them.
Before many of you run in here and post "Everybody is from Africa" and how "Everyone has roots in Africa" I'm speaking of people who belong to the black race. Though every other race (White, Asian etc.) has roots in Africa they are too far removed from the continent, to be specific the ancestors to these races left the continent thousands of years ago, up to 10,000 years in some cases. The ancestors to native Australians and even Southern Asians, though their descendants today may appear as dark as someone who is black left the continent thousands of years back and have evolved traits, both culturally and physically completely unique of Africa.
The members of the black race today are those who have a recent ancestral tie to the African continent. The African diaspora was a Worldwide event but left its biggest imprint in the Americas. African Americans, Jamaicans, Haitians and the black populations in South America all share a recent African Ancestry. (Note: The black populations in South America are often too mixed to claim a sole ancestry in Africa, their heritage is diversely European, African and Native South American) however a majority of African descendants in other parts of the world are profoundly African. Most people seem to forget that during the African slave trade a majority of slaves were not brought to NA but rather South America and the Caribbeans.
Culture is another Major factor when is comes to the recentness of African ancestry. The cultures practiced particularly in the Caribbean where slave populations had much less contact with the native and white populations are heavily African derived. Caribbean music as well as Meringue and other genres popular in Central and South America are primarily composed of African rhythms and European instrumentation. Dance common to the Caribbean, most notably places like Jamaica and Haiti are heavily derived from African dance. Vodun, a sacred Haitian practice is a cultural blend of the Igbo and Yoruba tribes in Nigeria. Nsibidi, a traditional form of writing originally form the Ejagham tribe in Southwest Cameroon and Southeast Nigeria spread to other major tribes through contact like the Igbo, Iibibio etc. is a common finding in the early grave stones of slaves brought to the Americas more than half a century ago
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What saddens me most about this is that during the late 60's and early 70's there was a push in the African American community particularly to connect more with their African roots. From Malcolm X, to Maya Angelou and even Stevie Wonder
when he needed inspiration for his now "classical era" of albums all traveled to Africa as a means of connecting with roots far lost. On their trips many African Americans noted how enlightened they were upon their visits, and the closure that was brought to them. Maya Angelou even noted on a visit to Liberia her own people identified her and welcomed her as a long lost sister, or as ATRL will say sistren
. The media doesnt help as well, most people have a very negative view of Africa as primitive and rather savage. No not all Africans run around naked, hunting lions
and chasing cheetahs
, and were not all suffering from AIDS
, we don't all live in mud huts
and click for speech
that one actually gets me laughing, oh the stories I could tell
.
I know this is alot to read but I suggest you take time, the "shame" I described often stems from just not knowing or being aware of the cultures practiced primarily in west Africa. When we get to learn more about people we often realize "their" not as different from you as you think
Here are some videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oCx4j69Ilc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8byrlp98Rs (4 part series, you can catch the rest)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agyD5wHkTN8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEHv9yy0vWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIzHIRCBtdE
Africa, just like any other place on earth has a rich cultural history
Nsibidi (Native African spript):
http://lvvfsa.bay.livefilestore.com/...mon.jpg?psid=1
Ife Sculptures, the faces of ancient African kings and Queens:
http://www.simplexlinx.com/wp-conten...ife-bronze.jpg
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...4_1588111a.jpg
see more
Lets not forget Africa is the most genetically diverse continent on Earth, there's no ONE way an African looks, again, just like anywhere else on earth. Please note i am not saying that one should ignore their other roots, i was just bringing to light the fact many chose to ignore their African roots and write them off. Another reason is that the other roots are often more easily identifiable, particularly when it comes to European ancestry.
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