Here we go, my first blog for Melanin Wonder. Let me do a quick introduction:
#blackwoman #entrepeneur #motherofthree #foodie #islandgyal #afrocarribean #afrolatina #twentyplusyearwoke #feminist #womanist #purporsedriven #africaismyreligion
Until my early twenties I would take being called African as an insult. I used to be the standard brainwashed Caribbean girl, who was proud of her ‘mixedness’ a.k.a. light-skinned girl. I really did not want to be associated with Africa or African people at all.
Now hold up Millenials! Before you start judging me. Please realise that I had this mindset way before natural hair became the norm. Even before the term “woke” was a (cool) thing. Furthermore, the internet/social media was not what it is today.
As I joined various organisations with a black conscious agendas, everything I knew changed…..for the better. The change started with getting of the hair crack [hair relaxer]. I remember thinking: “Why do I have the need to tame my amazing, strong and wild curls?”. Self development, growth and knowledge of self gradually helped me stop relaxing my natural hair.
The more I found out about Ancient Kemet, African empires and spirituality the more I got intrigued….. All these natural resources Africa possesses! I was mind blown. This is when I knew my image of Africa was a calculated distortion made by “others” to keep me from embracing my heritage, legacy and TRUE identity.
THE CHANGE
This realisation was life changing to me. All of a sudden I was not just a product of captured slaves. My herstory didn’t start in ‘boats’ being beaten, raped or tortured. I come from a mighty continent. I am a the daughter of Mama Africa, therefor I am African.
“I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me.”
For the record: I don’t need anyone to acknowledge my “African-ness”. My ancestors being kidnapped from the mother continent and me being born in the Caribbean makes me an African in the diaspora does not diminish my identity. The same goes for all the Black/Melanin rich people who are still in denial of who they are……the denial of your “African-ness” doesn’t make you less African either. It just makes you a confused one.
The same thing goes for the Continental Africans who are born on the continent as well. I have seen discussions of Continentals accusing Diaspora Africans of cultural appropriation.
For instance the critical comments about Beyoncé for mimicking Orishas such as Oshun. They accused her of appropriating ancient African spirituality. How can we appropriate something that is our birth right? It’s our heritage as well, isn’t it?
I want to state that I acknowledge the necessity to have this discussion. To raise these questions and have meaningful dialogues with each other about these topics is very necessary. Truth is we don’t know each other and end up approaching each other from a colonized perspective. So we need to decolonize how we view ourselves and each other.
That being said, let me go back to African spirituality. I grew up with my grandmother, she practised Santeria. Santería is also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, it is known as an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba between the 16th and 19th centuries.
It came through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. Deities as Oshun, Oya, Shango, Yemaya, Obatala, Ogun etc are very much a part of our culture. We are proud that despite the oppression and severe ramification our ancestors resisted, also on a spiritual level.
African in de Caribbean diaspora created under duress from the African Drums the Caribbean Tambú. From Fufu came Funchi. Growing up I thought the tales of Anansi the Spider were Curaçao folklore, just to find out that these stores originated in West Africa and are told everywhere in the Afrikan Diaspora.
Continental & Diaspora Africa have always been connected. Kwame Nkrumah incorporated a black star on Ghana’s national flag, inspired by the Black Star Line. The Black Star Line (1919−1922)[1] was a shipping line incorporated by Marcus Garvey, key part of Garvey’s contribution to the Back-to-Africa movement. Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican.
So who is the real African? As Kwame Nkrumah said: “I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me.”
A huge part of Africa that is born in us….. is our African certificate in a way it is all that MELANIN WONDER embodies. So who are The Real Africans? It’s the melanin that is connecting us all for me. What is your view?
About the writer
Danitzah Jacobs (@danitzahjacobs) is a mother of three beautiful children. Besides being a womanist and a feminist she is also an entrepreneur. Over the years she has accumulated loads of knowledge on various topics such as Afro Caribbean & Latin cultures, African spirituality & Money Confidence. She is currently developing a ready meals foodline for her company Danitzah’s Afro Caribbean Kitchen but is also ready to launch a new fashion concept from Ghana.
