Diaspeirein: The Bridge Across

The term African diaspora is used to describe the worldwide compilation of communities that originally descended from native Africans. This includes African Americans, Afro-Latinx individuals, Caribbeans, and Africans living outside of the continent. The word diaspora has its roots in the Greek term diaspeirein–dia meaning “across” and speirein meaning “scatter.” Conclusively, the study of the complete term African diaspora reveals that the communities that make up the diaspora come from one and, subsequently, are one.

Cultures within the African diaspora present a beautiful array of various customs, languages, traditional foods, and much more. Each representative from this vast assemblage of cultures has something uniquely valuable to add to the richness of any intercultural environment, as we readily observe on our own Andrews University campus. Celebrating and learning from cultures that differ from our own is an excellent way to not only better our personal cultural understanding, but also to lend to the uplifting of intercultural communities at large.

In spaces where there are a lot of Black people who have themselves immigrated to the United States or have immediate relatives who have immigrated to the United States–such as Africans, Caribbeans, and Afro-Latinx individuals–it can be especially difficult to find one's identity as an African American. Growing up as a literal African American–my dad being Kenyan and my mom being a native Black Californian-American–has been a complex journey, particularly in navigating what it means to be a Black American.

During BSCF’s Impact vespers last Friday night, Zyon Wiley (junior, pre-physical therapy) excellently articulated feelings that I so deeply resonate with. When asked what being Black has looked like to him, he said:

… on a minor note, I think it’s also looked kinda lonely. I’m an African American and Andrews is a beautifully, wonderfully diverse campus and you’ll see a lot of Caribbean people, you’ll see a lot of African people[,] and sometimes that being such a rich culture, you just feel like a normal African American guy and you don’t really know where you fit in the mix. So I think that although it’s been really comforting being around Black people, trying to find my identity, specifically as an African American, has been something I’ve wrestled with.

As I consider the possible causes for this apparent rift separating African Americans from other cultures within the African diaspora, two issues come to mind: 1) Slavery largely severed the ties between African Americans and their original culture, causing a large-scale identity crisis that is still very prevalent and 2) stereotypes about African Americans held by other groups in the diaspora place African Americans at a disadvantage in regard to making meaningful connections with their original roots.

With reference to my first point, I observe a distinct lack of cultural connection that would bridge African Americans to their African origins. There is widespread ignorance in regard to the continuing impact that slavery in this country has had on Black people. They were cut off from their families, their culture, their languages, and most importantly, their identity. Slavery tore apart the family fabric within the Black community, which has proven tremendously hard to restore. Children were separated from their parents and siblings; sold off to never see their loved ones again. This history has had a lasting effect on African Americans. Even now, families are still suffering from the profound psychological trauma of slavery and discrimination. As recently as the 1960s, a system of racist laws–Jim Crow laws–ensured that Black people stayed “in their place” and were denied opportunities to succeed.

More than 400 years of this type of suffering does not just go away, as suggested by those who may say, “But that was so long ago.” Many immigrants who come to this country, even ones within the African diaspora, are not able to truly understand the damage caused and therefore the reasoning behind generational suffering in Black American communities. This leads me to my second point: the suggestion that the stereotyping of African Americans is a clear contributing factor to why Black Americans may feel disconnected from other groups within the diaspora.   

The belief that African Americans can be nothing more than lazy, loud, and aggressive is a trope that I have found to be disturbingly prevalent within African, Caribbean, and Afro-Latinx communities, as well as communities outside of the African diaspora. To gain substantial evidence of this, I decided to ask a few African Americans about their experiences with individuals from other groups within the diaspora. Most could recall times where they were discriminated against or looked down upon for being African American as opposed to another Black member of the diaspora who “has a culture.” A consistent theme among the interviewees was that it often feels like it is Black Americans against everybody else. If we are not being treated as less than by the majority race, we are being treated as less than by those who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters but who do not view us as such.

Two central contributing factors to the stereotyping of African Americans by other groups in the African diaspora are that 1) Black Americans are misrepresented in the media and 2) many Black Americans do not have a solid grasp on who they are historically and, subsequently, who they are culturally. One of my interviewees made a statement that I think is very powerful in regard to this. She said, “I feel that Black Americans have no language or ancient traditions; therefore, we cannot relate outside of our physical features or generational group unless we have acquired stolen/lost knowledge along the way. I think it is hard to understand a group of people who do not understand themselves.” It is indeed difficult to understand a people who have no anchor, but it is not impossible.

I believe there are tangible steps we can take to begin mending the divide between African Americans and other cultures within the diaspora. One step is to take control of our own narrative by first realizing that knowing and studying our history helps us to know who we are as a people. My mother puts it like this: “You cannot be free if you do not assert your own freedom.” We can do this by educating ourselves through reading books, learning from knowledgeable African American elders and leaders, and finding ourselves in spaces that offer education about our past and our future.

Another step, one that pertains to the African diaspora as a whole, is to foster a sense of familiarity and awareness between cultures. The only way this can be done is to develop genuine relationships with those outside of our own cultures. We need to be intentional about seeking out and building relationships with individuals and communities purely for the sake of attaining a more accurate perception of them. In this way, we can begin to dispel the false stereotypes we often hold so dear. Practically, I think this process can take place through a series of deliberate steps. It begins with reflecting on our own cultural identity–whether we have a strong sense of it or not. Then comes analyzing our cultural identity in relation to other cultures within the African diaspora and deciding if we even should view ourselves as a united people. Lastly comes the part where we actually branch out and make meaningful connections with those other cultures. (I charge each of us to determine what “meaningful” looks like.)

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie posited in her TED Talk, entitled The Danger of a Single Story, that “like our economic and political worlds, stories, too, are defined by the principle of nkali [a noun that loosely translates to ‘to be greater than another.’] How they are told, who tells them, when they’re told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power.” Reclaiming our narrative, as is the theme for this year’s Black History Month at AU, requires intentionality and genuine regard for the humanity of others as to prevent falling prey to the danger of the “single story”. We have the power to re-evaluate the way we view and relate to one another, creating a space to make positive changes and ultimately build each other up as a united people.