A Serious Discussion About "African-American Culture"
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Arya Tsaddiq
Members Posts: 15,334 ✭✭✭✭✭
This thread was created based on some of the conversations going in @Ajackson17 thread....
Can someone explain what "African American culture" is as if we were examining any other culture across the world?
What does it's genesis look like?
What are our customs/traditions?
Rights of passage for both genders?
Has it influenced any other cultures around the world? Or has AA culture been influenced by other cultures in any way?
How has it evolved over time?
I hope this can spark a conversation that will help us come to an honest consensus about who we are.
Can someone explain what "African American culture" is as if we were examining any other culture across the world?
What does it's genesis look like?
What are our customs/traditions?
Rights of passage for both genders?
Has it influenced any other cultures around the world? Or has AA culture been influenced by other cultures in any way?
How has it evolved over time?
I hope this can spark a conversation that will help us come to an honest consensus about who we are.
Comments
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fortyacres wrote: »why you asking so many questions breh , you narcos ?
LOL
I had to preface the thread. You can comment how you would like.
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Black American culture is derived from our unique experience int he World, from enslavement, segregation, and trying to find a place post-Civil Rights.
Musically, you're talking about the creation of jazz, rock, and hip hop. We have had more influence world-wide musically than pretty much anyone arguably, and at least on par with the peak of the classical era.
Socially, we've basically set the groudwork for what civil rights should be around the World. Everyone compares any plight they may have to us. The whole modern concept of "rights" was essentially shape by us.
In terms of customs/traditions, those are mostly american like everyone else. We celebrate the same holidays, and do the same things daily. -
ThaNubianGod wrote: »Black American culture is derived from our unique experience int he World, from enslavement, segregation, and trying to find a place post-Civil Rights.
Musically, you're talking about the creation of jazz, rock, and hip hop. We have had more influence world-wide musically than pretty much anyone arguably, and at least on par with the peak of the classical era.
Socially, we've basically set the groudwork for what civil rights should be around the World. Everyone compares any plight they may have to us. The whole modern concept of "rights" was essentially shape by us.
In terms of customs/traditions, those are mostly american like everyone else. We celebrate the same holidays, and do the same things daily.
Civil rights was kinda of combined effort of Diaspora Africans so the inspiration is Diaspora property, but Jazz, rock and other music forms except that of hip hop were purely our creations, but Jamaican toasting combined with Jazz and electronica and other art forms we created one the most global style of music in the world. I mean all of them are vastly global.
But we carry this from our ancestors.
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You cant possibly encompass all that is AA culture..
Ill keep it short.. our endurance/survival/socio-political fight is the cornerstone to African American culture.. we may come in different shades different likes sensibilities/experiences.. yadda yadda..
but that is the cru or should be the crux of ...."African Americanism" -
we walk different..
talk different..
wear our clothes different..
we're athletically superior..
we cook wit seasoning. lol
no matter what u throw at we catch it and make an activity of it..
we're innovative beyond measure.. but that comes from makin somethin out of nothin..
from my observance moreso then any other culture we're very loving and tightknit.. TOO loving if u ask me..
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There's going to be alot of ignorance, feelings, and misinformation in this thread.
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What culture?
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Whoop there it is^^
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There's going to be alot of ignorance, feelings, and misinformation in this thread.
Drop yours brotha. -
There's going to be alot of ignorance, feelings, and misinformation in this thread.
But that's why it needs to be discussed. If you are the descendant of a slave here in America, in my opinion, I feel like we don't have a real unique culture. That was taken from us.
I feel like who and what we are is dictated to us and we fall in line for the most part. There are some elements that have survived the brainwashing that we can Sa have an African origin, but like someone said there are so many different cultures in Africa, we will never really know who we were/are.
Or maybe.....ive been looking at this wrong and am incorrect. -
Ajackson17 wrote: »Judge_Judah wrote: »There's going to be alot of ignorance, feelings, and misinformation in this thread.
But that's why it needs to be discussed. If you are the descendant of a slave here in America, in my opinion, I feel like we don't have a real unique culture. That was taken from us.
I feel like who and what we are is dictated to us and we fall in line for the most part. There are some elements that have survived the brainwashing that we can Sa have an African origin, but like someone said there are so many different cultures in Africa, we will never really know who we were/are.
Or maybe.....ive been looking at this wrong and am incorrect.
Imma fall back becausd I'm strictly speaking not African-American. But no other group besides AAs argues that they have no culture (THAT'S whats been dictated to you and you accepted it unfortunately ) -
300 years and 150 after the physical enslavement it's kinda of early to develop a strict and very deep culture, we are relatively young.
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The black culture has influenced the world say what you want about contemporary African cultures but they haven't given you a James Brown or a Ali, Mike Jackson, Jordan, Marley, Tupac. We are the ones every other melanated people want to be when we tap into our greatness.
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Ajackson17 wrote: »Judge_Judah wrote: »There's going to be alot of ignorance, feelings, and misinformation in this thread.
But that's why it needs to be discussed. If you are the descendant of a slave here in America, in my opinion, I feel like we don't have a real unique culture. That was taken from us.
I feel like who and what we are is dictated to us and we fall in line for the most part. There are some elements that have survived the brainwashing that we can Sa have an African origin, but like someone said there are so many different cultures in Africa, we will never really know who we were/are.
Or maybe.....ive been looking at this wrong and am incorrect.
Imma fall back becausd I'm strictly speaking not African-American. But no other group besides AAs argues that they have no culture (THAT'S whats been dictated to you and you accepted it unfortunately )
Na speak your mind. You know where your ancestors come from, correct?
Tell us about them.
Then point ME in the right direction. -
Other people especially other black people don't want to be African American just because people all over the world listen to and enjoy African American art forms that doesn't mean they want to be you. Some of the most racist people love black art and black athletes it doesn't necessarily mean they want to be like you.
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People love black art but they don't love black people
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Ajackson17 wrote: »300 years and 150 after the physical enslavement it's kinda of early to develop a strict and very deep culture, we are relatively young.
This is a ? cop out -
Other people especially other black people don't want to be African American just because people all over the world listen to and enjoy African American art forms that doesn't mean they want to be you. Some of the most racist people love black art and black athletes it doesn't necessarily mean they want to be like you.
I always say they love what we can do it.. music/comedy/acting whatever but a lot maybe most dont respect our humanity. We serve as escapism for them. -
Our culture is driven by the ability to make a dollar out of 15 cents.
We have a survive and succeed at all cost mentality (most of us) -
Other people especially other black people don't want to be African American just because people all over the world listen to and enjoy African American art forms that doesn't mean they want to be you. Some of the most racist people love black art and black athletes it doesn't necessarily mean they want to be like you.
There is a difference between them wanting to be like us and wanting to be us. I think the first is true for cacs but prob not the second. -
Have you ever been to a country with an ancient culture? It's different and there is nothing saying that a new culture cannot inspire when they do all the time, but there is fine tuning and tweaking within a culture over the course of hundreds of years.
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I think when you travel around the world an encounter other groups of people of African decent, you realize how unique Americans of African decent are. Our "brand", for lack of a better term, is being outsourced to the World.
The World in most modern cities outside of the USA is doing "us" in a watered down state. -
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yellowtapesport wrote: »
Eat a ? .
But I guess my issue is the fact that AA have no core, fundamental "culture" that we can call our own. Everything we hold on to stems from being enslaved, or we adopted it from others during that time.
Most ancient civilizations that evolves into the various cultures abroad have a core set of beliefs and customs. Rights of passage. Values and morals tied directly to who they are as a people....these things may have some degree of variance when you look at individuals, but there is always a source that these differences can be traced back to....
Can anyone point these things out for me in AA culture? Maybe I'm missing something.
