Africunts: The Ankara Edition

So recently there has been big debate on the 'innanet' about if it is possible for black people to be perpetrators of cultural appropriation (as it pertains to African aesthetics). The fact that there was even debate about this had me laughing my ass off (and trust, it’s a lot of ass)! There was a particular article where an African sister (Click Here for Article by Zipporah Gene) wrote of her annoyance with what she perceives; “violation is committed against us Africans — all under the guise of tribal fashion and connecting to The Motherland.”

This has to be the most ignorant and elitist shit I've heard in a long time.

So let me get this straight Ms. Gene, you have a problem with black women choosing to wear beautiful head wraps (versus those HORRIFIC satin bonnets)? Do Fulani earrings annoy you because in your mind black women should only wear bamboo earrings (at least 2 pair)? I bet that grinds your gears as well.  Those damn blacks and their fake asses, perpetrating African culture with their African blood. The nerve!

Thankfully, my African friends don't feel or treat me this way, but I have seen and been exposed to others who share the same sentiment as Ms. Gene. Some of these same skin bleaching Negropeans didn't have a problem when it was in style for black women to rock henna, bindi's, and look 'Indian', but let a black woman want to look more African... Oh no, can't let that ride. It's only when we embrace OUR OWN SHIT that anyone seems to have a problem with it (including some of our own brothers and sisters, which is sad ass hell). Where were the complaints about cultural appropriation when Beyoncé was dressed as an Elizabethan Queen or when brotha’s used to wear Asian inspired clothing and become Martial Arts Masters?

  “Yes, I know that African-inspired prints are poppin’ right now and many African designers have chosen to showcase certain styles to the global fashion scene, but it appears to me and my African friends that it’s been taken a step further”-Zipporah Gene

So damn what. When our ancestors were thrown in the bottoms of slave ships they were not separated by ethnic backgrounds, languages, or tribes. All of that became muddled once they reached the plantations. Then they were at risk of being killed for identifying with ANY particular group they came from. Few people of African descent in this country will ever be able to find out their EXACT African lineage, so the juxtapositioning of varying pieces of African anything is our right as well. There may very well be Fulani, Malinke, or Gabonese blood running through my veins in addition to the Yoruba that I already know of and identify with. Who knows. It is because of these factors, that no African person has the authority to validate or invalidate how black people choose to express themselves as it relates to anything African.

While this may come off as simply ‘aesthetics’, did it ever occur to some of you people who feel ‘violated’ that for many of us, incorporating African art, clothing, music, and belief systems gives us a better sense of self? For one second did it cross your mind that some people are actively living a culturally based lifestyle?

So WHAT if some folks are only being trendy and nothing more. 
  
There is a new wave of 'Say it Loud, I'm black and I'm proud' amongst young black people. This is one of the ways it is manifesting. Disdain and annoyance with African based pride doesn't surprise me. However, I am tired of fence-riding African people who one moment want to claim and reap all the benefits of 'black culture', then the next moment are looking down on black people who wish to connect with what their African counterparts already have. I understand the frustration when you see things being 'misappropriated'. There are certain things I see that bother me at times, but what are you doing to educate someone who clearly seeks and desires to know more?

Truth is, black people in this country are like Orphans who know who their mother is but still feel the disconnect. Many crave some type of connection no matter how minuscule. What is wrong with appreciating the beauty and acceptance of anything African? At the very least it is a reflection of feeling a little bit more connected to our ancestral origins (even if subconscious). If it's not YOUR thing that's cool. However, don't rag on individuals who are visually drawn to, appreciate, or feel some type of pride or connection to Africa and choose to express it in dress, mannerisms, thoughts, or beliefs.  Let them fucking be.

If society can accept someone with a penis saying that they are a woman, it should not be an issue or grievance for a person of African descent to accept other people of African descent wanting to express some type of connection to African anything. I think the bigger picture is the fact that people are starting to exhibit more pride and a desire to embrace African aesthetics. This is wonderful because for so long we were taught it was 'primitive', ugly, and undesirable.

“You take a cultural dress, mark or trait, with all its religious and historical connotations, dilute it, and bring it out for occasions when you want to look trendy”-Zipporah Gene

No. Actually that is what the famous designers that Ms. Gene spoke of do. We literally had every iota of African ANYTHING stomped out of our psyche and overall existence. Africans had colonialism, but still had culture, familial structures, their languages, and traditions intact. So native or first gen Africans don't get to judge this either. These 'expressions' and cravings for African trips, fashions, and art is the beginning of our healing as a people.

So… if my American born, Yoruba ass with an Egyptian name wears Fulani Earrings and dances Azonto, I have every right. If my girlfriend only wants to wear a headwrap every now and then because it makes her feel pretty, she has every right. If a brother likes to wear those dashiki print shirts he found at the corner store, he has every right. If your cousin's Grandmother ONLY wears one African outfit every February 28th at the Church Black History Celebration, she too has every right. No one has a right to tell ANY black person in America what part of African culture they should feel most connected to, choose to identify with, or how they are to express it. No one. The time will come when people are more educated and informed on the lineage, history, and cultural context of what they are doing. This is the beginning stage. Things are never perfect in the beginning of anything.

People of African descent can never appropriate what is already intrinsic and maybe some Africans don't get that. Maybe they only see the surface, the aesthetics, and for whatever reason it annoys them. However, it is not possible to culturally appropriate something that you are the natural descendant of, no matter how far removed. One can be ignorant to certain things and the proper context or application but even still, you can't appropriate something that is your birthright.