Week 2: Sunday, January 21-Saturday, January 27
By Sasha Brown
Africa is a continent made up of rich goods, beautiful sights, and sacred cultures and traditions. To me, Africa feels like its home. I am from the United States, so I am an African American. In my lineage, you will see that my family may come from Africa, but because of slavery and Black families being split up and shipped to different parts of the world. I am now robbed of being able to know who I am and where exactly I come from in Africa.
What is Africa to you?
Africa is not only a sacred land, but this large continent is misrepresented; in the United States school system, we were never taught the depths of Africa that it is not only a continent but its countries. If you ask a child born and raised in Nigeria to list countries in North America, they wouldn't struggle. Ask a child in America to name African countries; they can't list many. Africa is a place of rich lands and culture that I was robbed of. To most people in America, when you mention Africa, their minds result in poverty. Why is that? The media plays a massive role, from advertisements and media coverage to television. It was only until the press started to shift that people began to show little to no respect for African culture.
After deeply analyzing the poem, Heritage by Countee Cullen, I realized I must be in touch with heritage. I can't do anything but get angry at the history that plays a considerable part in the injustices we are still experiencing today. I have had the experience of being raised alongside friends and family from all parts of Africa. That experience has kept me close to the culture.
Africa is not solely surrounded by poverty; new technology, innovation, and creativity exist.
The continent has had the best music, fashion, and art artists. One of my favorite artists is Asake, and he is taking over the Afro-beats industry. The quickest way to get a party moving is to play Afro-beats. Africa means so much to me; I’m glad the underrepresentation of the continent is fleeting because great things are to come from Africa.
Below I have a video of some music from Asake, Please enjoy and leave me some feedback.
Good evening Sasha,
First off, the visuals of choice were amazing, the music had a nice vibe to it. Referring to your frustration towards history after reading Heritage by Countee Cullen is relatable. I often wonder to myself, especially in various scenarios what life would have been like if slavery did not exist. I do believe in the butterfly effect, and there would be Pros & Cons if it were so. I see slavery as a placeholder of our origin culture.
I enjoyed the video. Very creative. It kept my attention and also gave great information on Africa.
I enjoyed your read. I disagree with not being able to know where exactly one comes from because African and African Americans are derived in every part of the world. There's a saying that goes around mentioning that blacks are the starters of everything and the backbone of this country, specifically. I think it's a concept worth discussing. I apologize for the way it provokes you and applaud you for being open about it. There is a miscommunication in history, for generations in the way they broadcast the Black community and the African heritage. You always hear about how they did us but never who we actually are. Thank you for your take!