Today is Juneteenth! If you are like me who didn't grow up in the U.S., you probably didn't hear about Juneteenth till you lived in the U.S. for a few years. Actually, many who were born and raised in the U.S. don't know about Juneteenth. "Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it…
As I reflect on Black history, I recognize several aspects that have kept Black people moving despite all the ills of colonization, slavery, discrimination, living in a world where brown skin has historically not been celebrated. Our sense of humor. We have a way of making difficult situations humorous. Our sense of community. We love to come together for everything and anything, to share good food,…
Trauma is the response to a disturbing or painful experience. We’ve all been through some type of trauma in our lives. Many times when we hear trauma, we think of situations like car accidents, attacked at gun point, rape, mass shootings, natural disasters, and domestic violence. However, traumas can also occur from break ups with significant others, losing a loved one, undergoing surgery, living in an…
We have been living in a pandemic for the past 4 months, which means we’ve been socially distancing, living in an unusual way from how we normally do as human beings. And for what seems like the first time in U.S. history, people of ALL races have been forced to examine their perceptions on race and deconstruct their racial prejudices. As tragic as the last 4…
I have to interrupt the Relationship Series again for this post because it’s important we Africans living in America talk about this.The experience of being an African living in America is different from being African American. For many black immigrants especially those who recently migrated to the U.S., it can be slightly difficult to relate to the cause of Black Lives Matter. You might view yourself…
For Black history month, we've been talking about the effects of colonization on Black people. You can read all four posts here. Although it's the last day of February, we don't have to stop here, let's continue the conversation with friends and family.Since we've talked about the problem, it makes sense to discuss what we can do about it. As I stated in my last post,“I…
Between the years of 1997 to 2002, I went to an all-girls boarding school in Cameroon made up of 98% black girls, I mean brown-skinned-Wakanda-looking African girls. We had a few girls of mixed raced (a white and a black parent) similar complexion to Trevor Noah, hence the 98% instead of a 100%. Every year, we would have what is comparable to what Americans call their…
Have you heard of the Bobo doll experiment? When kids of various races and ethnicities were asked which doll was the nice or pretty doll versus the bad or ugly doll, most chose the good qualities for the white doll and the bad qualities for the black doll. This was the case even if they identified themselves as looking like the black doll. In some cases,…
February is black history month in the U.S. Sounds like a good month to examine African history and its effects on us today. When I say "us" I mean black people, not just Africans, but all descendants of Africa. In addition to our genetics, we are products of our history and our environment in more ways than we are aware of. During the month of February,…