Aisha, thank you for your incisive and powerful message.
As you know, I am a person who is lacking melanin (at least in sufficient quantities to be identified as otherwise) yet I was born in Africa and lived among the people and diverse cultures across that continent for the first decade of my life. I was born to American parents and have always had an American passport & citizenship.
That said I consider myself an American African. My roots are in Africa and I identify with African customs and culture. I love African music and art. As such I am personally offended when I see the inequities and disparities which people who are blessed with melanin must endure in order to be accepted in this country.
I consider my White Privilege to be not only a curse from which I must constantly check myself but more importantly an obligation from which I operate in order to continuously grow in my ability to identify in solidarity with my Black sisters & brothers. I am an Anti-rascist and I recognize that I do make mistakes on that path.
Why am I talking so much about me? Because I just want you to know who I am & what motivates me to be part of this struggle for Social Justice.
Thank you for this blog and for the clarification of why you eschew the terms “P.o.C.” & “African-American”.
Thank you expressing your pride in being a Black Woman. Thank you for doing the crucial work that you are doing moving us all forward towards a paradigm which recognizes each human for the unique person they are within their individual histories, cultural contexts and beliefs.
I wish you well & hope we meet again soon (virtually if not in person).
Aisha, thank you for your incisive and powerful message.
As you know, I am a person who is lacking melanin (at least in sufficient quantities to be identified as otherwise) yet I was born in Africa and lived among the people and diverse cultures across that continent for the first decade of my life. I was born to American parents and have always had an American passport & citizenship.
That said I consider myself an American African. My roots are in Africa and I identify with African customs and culture. I love African music and art. As such I am personally offended when I see the inequities and disparities which people who are blessed with melanin must endure in order to be accepted in this country.
I consider my White Privilege to be not only a curse from which I must constantly check myself but more importantly an obligation from which I operate in order to continuously grow in my ability to identify in solidarity with my Black sisters & brothers. I am an Anti-rascist and I recognize that I do make mistakes on that path.
Why am I talking so much about me? Because I just want you to know who I am & what motivates me to be part of this struggle for Social Justice.
Thank you for this blog and for the clarification of why you eschew the terms “P.o.C.” & “African-American”.
Thank you expressing your pride in being a Black Woman. Thank you for doing the crucial work that you are doing moving us all forward towards a paradigm which recognizes each human for the unique person they are within their individual histories, cultural contexts and beliefs.
I wish you well & hope we meet again soon (virtually if not in person).
Best, Kenyon