I’m not an African-American but I am certain I have some in my blood line. I also know what the culture was before European invaders seized the land and the people into slavery (self research is the key). It was magnificent, beautiful, and diverse (don’t believe the text books). These initial Africans were extremely aware, conscious, intelligent human beings. Raven-Simone comments regarding her not being an “African” but an “American” are beyond insulting to myself and especially to Africans themselves.
The elite has done an excellent job of stripping Africans from their heritage and history and painting ugly pictures of what it once was. They have also done a wonderful job at promoting white supremacy and keeping you blindfolded (who doesn’t love the rose-colored glasses)? The elite has made Africans believe they are something they don’t want to be (which is black), because of the stereotyping that comes with it (lets not forget they created this). Hence, Africans don’t work together (community building is merely a Caucasian and Hispanic trait) instead Africans use violence against each other. They kill each other in the streets of New York, Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles, and many more locations. We see this also in Ferguson where the locals protested violently, looted at their own community stores (which makes no sense why would you destroy the little that you have,) and destroyed their own neighborhood through fires and stoning. I can’t tell which is worse the violence the police used or the violence the people used.
But this isn’t about Ferguson, it is about Raven-Symoné (who’s real name is Christina Pearman, yet Christina perfers to go by her stage name of Raven-Symoné) (which makes this even more of mind boggling discussion) comments about how she is not an “African,” despite her beautiful golden brown skin color and rich history that lays in her hair. Folks we can not run from our past or history. We must dive face first into it.
I also wanted to speak on the topic of labels, as I know this is at the core of Raven-Symonés’ comments. Raven is also a lesbian (great, who cares?) Personally I don’t care if you like men or woman, or both. As long as you don’t lust over animals I’m okay with whatever. Raven-Symonés’ underlying message was that she does not want to be labeled or defined. I too went through this phase. Don’t define me! I am not a vegetarian, I just don’t eat meat! Don’t define me, I am not a woman, I am a human! That last one just sounds funny! Blahzay, Blahzay!
In all seriousness, If there’s one thing I have learned in the past 18 months, it is that we can not fight violence with non violence. Which has also been stated by Malcom X and Stokely Carmichael. Now, get ready for me to connect the dots. Society uses labels to define us. We aren’t winning by saying “don’t define me,” or “I can’t be defined,” because society says we are defined! And we have given society the power to rule us (thus our social security number)! So guess what, society wins! We must use definitions and labels to progress in our advantage. We must rewire our programming to define ourselves as positive things in order to make a positive change in this world. Labels are so important! Don’t be afraid to label yourself, and don’t be afraid to remove that label and place a new one on as you change! Life is endlessly changing even though our society likes to portray change as bad and devolving. We can still label ourselves and not feel constricted to what we call ourselves or what others views us as; as long as we know we are ever-changing beings! And that is okay!
Labels also help us find ourselves and where we fit in. I am happy to label myself as a vegan therefore I can meet other vegans who are like-minded! I am also a yogi, activist, reformist, woman, daughter, runner, model, listener, reader, photographer, and an artist! WOW! I am also so proud to be ME!
As for Raven-Symoné, she has fallen victim to the system which is erasing the Africans all together by diluting their skin, heritage, knowledge, and history.
Please wake up. As Erykah Badu sung, “wake up, we miss you.”