The First Black President and the Racial Mountain

Everyone commenting on this issue has made some very profound statements that are both logical and historically correct. But I believe it is the oneness of responsiblitiy of all Americans to both respect and accept Barak Obama as a President that we all support...no matter the skin color. Also, Barak Obama is NOT the first American president with African blood. When Obama won the presidency, my first feeling of elation and happiness was that now there is a "sistah" in the White House -- with her children -- that's the real historical event and turn around in America. Of that, I am very proud, and, honestly I am happy that Obama did not choose a White female companion but a Black one because it gives some African American women the hope to believe that darker women are beautiful with our thick lips, big noses, wide hips, and nappy, kinky hair...it gives hope that the African American women can also marry prominent men and be considered a trophy. This speaks volumes about Obama's personality. Although he faced racism because of the color of his skin, he was not raised in inner-city America and he was not raised by Blacks living in the harsh conditions most Blacks have had to contend with historically throughout America; thus, the argument of cultural upbringing proves to be a valid point. Now, I would like to throw a monkey wrench into this debate with another argument...that is, how some media people have taken Obama's election as an opportunity to persecute Black men by indicating that if Obama can do it then any and all Black men can succeed; seemingly taking the stance of White America that Black men are lazy and don't want to succeed. All at the same time, this media person decided to promote interracial marriages on his radio show (like this should be the way Blacks should seek a mate in the future) because he decided to "hook up" with someone of the lighter hue that has the longer straight hair. Some of our prominent Black men don't get it, the light, bright, and almost White women with their long, flowing, straight hair are very aware that prominent Black men will -- the majority of the time, but not always -- pick them because they have traditionally been considered the trophy...AND SUCCESSFUL BLACK MEN ARE STILL FALLING FOR IT...Brothers, most of the time all these women are looking for is some financial gain and they will do anything to get it...and, yes, I feel betrayed when I see a brother with a White woman. This is why I am so proud of Obama. He had a White mother but he chose a Black woman as his life-long companion -- the woman to birth and raise his children. This doesn't make him Black or White, but shows he is honest about his deepest emotions...that is, the emotion of Love. Let's take Obama's election as President as a way toward loving each other, whether black or white, red or yellow; a message that was clear during his campaign -- so why are we arguing about it?

Obama was raised in INDONESIA and Hawaii. His dad is from Kenya and mother White.

Ms. Boof, I hear you. I don't AGREE, but I do hear you. This is even deeper than I thought. Surely, you're not suggesting that Malcolm X and DuBois were race purists, which is essentially what you are advocating. There is so much more I could say here, but it would be counterproductive. I will say this, though. At the heart of your passionate rejection of the idea of American Blackness is your fundamental belief that African Americans are not African, that we are merely "slave" descended. The Ghanaian playwright, Ama Ata Aidoo deals with this in her play "Dilemma of a Ghost," the story of the African man whose family is appalled when he brings home an African American bride-whom they saw merely as being of "slave" stock, and thus unworthy. She too has trouble understanding her new African in-laws and their culture. Really, this whole discussion makes me think back to when I attended a libation ceremony while I was in Ghana, during which one of our hosts prayed that our group of students in our Temple University study abroad program not be allowewd to "steal" their culture. Yes, he actually said this. I never quite got over that moment. But still I was unshaken in my love for my homeland and my people. This just let me know that colonialism damaged the African psyche just as much, if not more, than enslavement did the African American's. Now, my sister, it would take more time than I have to address this. BTW: If you get a chance, please check out my article "Not Just one Dark Body," which is linked in this article. If your comments don't prove my point that we need to begin a dialogue on intercultural/intraracial relations at HBCU's AND in the African world, then nothing will. And still, I respect you, as a beautiful African woman, to the highest. This whole thing reminds me of the film I am presently working on a review for. It is M.K. Asante's "The Black Candle, A Kwanzaa Celebration", which is ALL about African people of the world celebrating our African past and shaping our present-day existence and our future based on the best that is Africa. But I don't want to give away my article here. Be on the look-out for it...Now, if I don't stay off this post, I will never finish it. Respect, my sister. Good night...

I am not advocating "race purity" and please DO NOT twist my words.

I LOVE...

Black people.

I am YOU...before you was YOU, Professor Reed.

Can you understand that?

I am YOU....before you was YOU.

And since GOD created Africa first and made Black people first and in his own image---and since Europeans LOVE their WHITENESS and their blue eyes and blond hair...I am sure that it's natural for me to love blackness.

I made myself VERY CLEAR in my posts...I stated that African-Americans indeed are an African people (or atleast they are RIGHT NOW in 2008---God only knows what you'll be in 100 years).

But let me give some real down-home love straight out the Drum, Sister Reed when I say to you....

"I am not a N*****R....(the "N" word)

And a whole lot of people, both in the United States and in Africa, ARE exactly that---they're N****R-stock.

They want to be ERASE Blackness and become Mulatto (what they see as an improvement), then later, they end up wanting to become Full-on White or Arab.

That is the story of SUDAN and that is the story of Black America.

What I am stating in no uncertain terms is that I, like Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey and even much later, WEB Duboise....reject...the White Man's 1 Drop rule.

Africa, before it was conquered by Europeans, had its own rules---the HEIGHT of "Femininity" in ALL African cultures, including Egypt, was that women have a "Shaved Head". A bald woman with chocolate skin, big lips, Dukan Cake (big ass) and slim curvy figure was the IDEAL image of beauty...BEFORE...the "traders" came to Africa and started TEACHING US that we were ugly.

The PRIDE of a Black man was his ability to produce a SON in HIS IMAGE---"black as all black put together".

My message to you, Black American Sister---is that we were HUMAN BEINGS---before we were slaves. And we were BLACK AS ALL BLACK PUT TOGETHER (before we were invaded).

There was no great HIGH YELLOW tribe as so many Black American scholars try to claim. All of that came from OUTSIDE Africa and the "mixing" started LONG BEFORE slavery.

Now Black Americans talk about loving their "ancestors"...

talk about they're so "proud" to be black.

But everything I have seen and experienced over here tells a different story---and that goes for the N*****R-stock over in Africa bleaching their skin, wearing blond wigs and masturbating to photos of White people, too.

If you love Black people so damn much then give birth to one.

BARACK OBAMA DID THAT.

And that's what I'm saying SOUL SISTER.

'Cause when it comes to being a Black woman, an African "QUEEN"--I'm the real f***ng deal, and I don't live in the shadow of no damn Mulattoes...I don't need them to represent me.

"I" AM AFRICA...ME. And I love every HUMAN BEING on this earth; all God's children. But I'm BLACK, my sons are BLACK and I'm gone DIE BLACK.

SHEER African PERFECTION.

Now you want to PROTECT somebody....protect me.

That's what you need to do, Professor Reed and people of Black America who love blackness so damn much.

Protect ME.

tima usrah, nok-nana (through fire comes the family, beloved sister).

A room full of sisters, like jewels in a crown: vanilla, cinnamon, and dark chocolate brown. Now picture yourself in the midst of this glory, as I describe the sisters who are part of this story... They were wearing purple, royal blue, and all shades of red; some had elegant hats on their heads. With sparkling eyes and shiny lips, they moved through the room swaying their hips... Speaking with smiles on their African faces; their joy and laughter filled all the spaces. They were fashionable and stylish in what they were wearing; beautiful sisters all, who were loving and caring... You see, it’s not about how these sisters appeared; their beauty was in the values they revered. They were smart, articulate and well read, with all kinds of Black history stored in their heads... Jugglers of professions, managers of lives - mothers of children, lovers and wives. They were good-hearted and kind, reaching out to others; giving back to the community and supporting our brothers... All these sisters had struggled in the path; suffered from prejudices and endured the wrath. But they brushed off their dresses and pushed on the door; and they came back stronger than ever before... Now imagine if you will, the essence and thrill, as you stand feeling proud in the heart of this crowd... The Sojourner Truths of today, still out in front, blazing the way... A room full of sisters, like jewels in a crown: vanilla, cinnamon, and dark chocolate brown.

The above classic poem by Dr. Mona Lake Jones, "A Room Full of Sisters," speaks to the wide range of African American beauty, from one extreme to the other. The same holds true for Black men as well. It is one of my favorites, and she is one of my favorite poets. Peace.

Kola Boof, Is their a one drop Arab rule in Africa ?

Wow...

To Dr. Yaa (Pam Reed)and Ms Kola Boof. I want to thank you both for engaging each other in such a critical but binary discussions concerning the ethnic culture of our identy as it relates to Prsident-elect,Obama. However, I must side with Dr.Yaa, but not necessarily in negation of Kola. I have defintely heard that positions propagated by many continental Africans concerning the ethnic identity of African-Americans. Myself, I see Obama as an African-American person with mixed hetitage. But you know what's really deep: the Klan, white racist Southerners, and just plain old crackers, see him as a Black man! The beauty in all of this, is that we have people of mixed nationalities attempting to claim our president,Obama! Appreciating and enjoying the exchange...

Yes, Hannibal....in reality, we are all a combination of mixed heritage, from the Asiatic, to the Native American, to the European, and the African, we who were born in America are a mixture of many different ethnicities, race, and color...the proverbial melting pot! Everybody loves a winner: let's claim our victory as a nation and let no one deminish our success.

First of all...Kola is tripping...."I was You before you were You? Huh....as we say in the USA since appears that Kola is trying to somehow pull out his "African card".....NEGRO Please!!! So-called Continental Africans recently arriving in a wide open USA and enjoying to some degree the limited freedoms we enjoy (if we can call it that)..and then to say who or who is not African..half caste, etc...and then to say Dr. Reed is holding onto an old ideology? Hell, the Half-caste Half Arab thing is much older than the one drop rule....plus, who cares.....We born in America declare to those on the Continent and those perpetrating a certain purity but living in America, our right to our motherland as we see fit. So Kola needs to stop tripping...... back to the article which is where the critique should come in and stay in.... Funny thing about Latinos…they think and “act” (programmed by at least 600 years of racism…particularly anti-African and Anti-Native Indigenous) like they are the only so-called “mixed or multi-racial” people in the world. To read the article about Obama being half-white is so typical of the so-called Latino. While I agree that the social construct of race is stupid, non scientific, and all of the other things said for centuries, what is clear is the almost human cry from many mixed or so-called multi-racial people (particularly those that look, act, and take ALL of their social and cultural cues from Europe) to be white. And when it is all said and done, you always hear the same cry. “Let’s not talk about race….Race is an American thing……Race is outdated…..We are multi-racial….mixed…mongrels, mullatos, etc”. This happens almost EXCLUSIVELY for White or European Latinos who usually don’t know anything about the indigenous blood lines or true historical experiences of their indigenous ancestors. They trot them out like a Christmas tree almost as matter of fact. And when it comes to their African heritage….hell not up until recently where now it is almost fashionable to talk about a distant (or at times not so distant) blood connection to Africa or her people. You did this so nicely in the trace through Peru. The fact is you have lived and will continue to live as a white woman. You are treated like a white woman..speak like a white woman…your first and last name are from whites/Europeans. Your theological and cultural viewpoint and socialization is exclusively or almost exclusively connected to white people. Whether you like it or not (and I believe you like it regardless of whether or not you want to acknowledge it ) you are part of the protected class. And any and all white people regardless of whether or not you come from Western Europe or the Caucusus (Turkey, India, current Arab populations, etc) you reap the benefits…and you do so because people who look like you, talk like you, pray like you, etc have raped, stolen, destroyed, decimated, etc those indigenous peoples who you (and folks like you) like to footnote as part of your heritage. How dare you…..having African (Negroid) or indigenous blood is not simply what we are talking about or have been talking about, particularly as it relates to Barack Obama……Black may start with Black or African blood lines but it does not simply end there. Though for some it does…… Funny thing about so called Hispanics or Latinos who fight so hard against the government and any other entity for calling or classifying them as anything too definitive…..of course so long as they can still be close to being white. Pick ANY so-called Latino or Hispanic national or international organization. Find a leader who is not white…they may call themselves different in America but in Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Peru, or other places, the whites rule and they call themselves white…even if such terms no longer exist in their lexicon. Latinos want to be white…..all of their books, national heroes, movies, television programs, commercials, etc are represented by whites….not even the mixed or so called criollos or mestizos are their face. I saw this even in Cuba where a white European Fidel Castro (himself of Spanish ancestry) in rhetoric says how every Cubano has an African grandmother…yet in all of their books, in their museums, national publications, names of buildings, etc you see no other people than whites…and definitely no African Blacks. Who would have known that Mexico’s first President was a man of African descent Vincente Guerrero..and that many so called Latin or South/Central American nations won their independence on the backs of Black miliarty might. You see, we saw this in America…..that is when we were colored. You see, most of us who call ourselves or who accept the label African America are bi-racial. Frederick Douglass (if you heard of him) was bi-racial. Booker T. Washington (if you heard of him) was bi-racial. And just about every Black person that you see in your jobs, walking in the mall, playing golf, dunking an NBA basketball, etc….are bi or multi-racial. But we have learned THROUGH HISTORY and experiences among a variety of Caucasian and European peoples that it is ourAFRICAN or Black blood that has caused so much disdain and social discontent from whites….spanish, French, arab, jew, gentile, Portuguese, Australian, Canadian, English, Russian, Irish, German, Belgian, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Syrian, Greek, Gypsie, Romanian, Turkish…… You see, no matter how much you’d like to say you are anything other than white…the reality is you are white…you not only have that DNA…your social DNA says so. Your husband, children, mother, and father…to find distant traces of a possible Black or native blood connections has nothing to do with your reality nor your mother’s reality. Barak knows the reality. His mother’s biology could not protect him from being called a nigger. It did not protect Rosa Parks, Dr. King, Louis Farrakhan, Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune…and it would not have helped Antonio Maceo (Cuba) and Guerrero (Mexico) had they been born here. But let’s talk about so called multi-racial Latinos and Latin America. You NEVER hear the names of Africans from these countries in liberal Latin/South/Central America who attained prominence. Their African bloodlines are rarely acknowledged and in physical depictions either de-emphasized or eliminated all together. Of course Europeans (from all corners of the world) spent hundreds of years emphasizing the inferiority of the African or Black DNA…so not just the one-drop rule but the fact that ANY drop of Black blood indicated inferiority from GOD and hence a perpetual social position. You don’t think this started with the English. After all, was it not the Portuguese and Spanish who really started the African Holocaust of Enslavement….and they held onto the system in many cases decades after the English and others…all the while posing national programs to eliminate and purge their “Cosmic Races” of their Black (and sometimes Indigenous) blood and cultural ties. Mexico until recently rarely acknowledged their indigenous background and objected to being called non-white in US and world consensuses…… Note the absence of Black or so-called Latinos with African Black blood who NEVER show up on Latin American history books like: Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis founder and first President of of Brazilian Academy of Letters, considered Brazili’s premiere historical author. Or other writers like Tobias and Lima Barreto, Joao da Cruz e Sousa, Antonio Gonvalves Dias. Of course except when they want to show off their sports gladiators and musical jesters….much like their Anglo Saxon brother and hemispheric rivals, it is always convenient to trot out their sprinters and jumpers every four years for the Olympics or international soccer and musical contests…and then it is back to marginalization. If we go back to the history of so-called Latin America for Mr. Rodriguez and other back tracking neo-liberal race philosophers. We see Independence from Spain and military as well as later political leadership was assumed by Blacks and those of Black blood. We hear no mention of men like Antonio Maceo of Cuba and instead are inundated with photos and movies of Castro, Simon Bolivar or Che’…..Many of the first Presidents after independence in Latin America were Black or so-called Mullato. Joaquim Crespo of Venezuela, Guerrero of Mexico, Vincente Roca of Equador, Ulises Heureaux of the Dominican Republic, Carlos Mendoza of Panama, Bernardino Rivadavia of Argentina….. Where are these folks celebrated let alone mentioned in the general lexicon of so-called Hispanics. So much for Rodriguez’s New America and this alleged “NEW THINKING” about race. I don’t see any new thinking. More importantly, we don’t see any new action. Its not enough to play Santeria, Condomble, Capoeira, hear the drums, and want to jam to African based Rumbas, Merengues, Salsa, and SOCA which are as African based as Jazz, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop, Soul, Rock & Roll, etc. But in the USA, we have learned to acknowledge and now celebrate that African root and contribution. In Latin America, the first thing you hear is , “we ain’t Black…that ain’t really African music…..there may be some influences but this is new…..not African….not Spanish…….Not Indigenous”. We have heard it all before…….that is why we have had to emphasize the Black or African…why there is Afro Cuban All-Stars, Afro Peruvian Music, Afro Salsa, Black Puerto Rican, Black Iraqi, Black Hawaiian, Black Australian, etc… and why you will see more and more Blacks emphasizing their connection to these people. Their ancestors…. You see……After spending all of those centuries trying to prove that anyone with a trace of Black blood was inferior and hundreds of years of social/legal customs set in stone paralyzing the human potential and aspirations of those who had those non-white European blood and cultural ties, we have the proverbial Spanish/Latino or liberal Anglo-Saxon, “everybody is mixed”……almost like we hear today about how ‘everybody experienced discrimination, everybody’s ancestors were slaves, or I am color blind”….. How insulting. Having white parents has NEVER aided anyone that is Black when it came to slavery, jim crow and apartheid whether it bein Mississippi, Massachussetts, Palestine, Colombia, Honduras, Chile, Jamaica, Quebec, or London. Your decision as a “visibly” and physically white woman to make such claims that Barack Obama is not Black is not only stupid but insulting. And it belies not just history but his own experiences…… But then again, we know that so-called Latinos have always been running from their non-white heritage unless it suits them to put on some Aztec or Mayan maybe apache feathers for a ceremony or two. But it is back to being white and safe. Being visibly of African or Indigenous blood lines or being consciously non-white even when your physical appearance may allow you to “pass” is a whole different line of living. Stay in your lane and continue to pass. But don’t insult the hundreds of millions of us from India to Nigeria…from Chile and Peru to Tasmania and New Zealand…..from Hawaii to Atlanta…..from Nova Scotia to Belize…….From Greenland and Russia to Iraq and Maylasia. We have been on this earth for hundreds of thousands of years….we did not invent race. The people to whom most or your DNA and all of your social security belongs to can take credit for that. No amount of trying belated accept those of us who probably have a non-Black or African or white parent into your world will make a difference. Not so much because you personally say so. You may have good intentions. Most ill equipped and historically miseducated folks who write such insulting articles usually have good intentions. But until you walk outside of your door and automatically are assumed to be occupying foreign space on earth, you will never know the life of Barack Obama. He is no different than most of the Blacks or so-called Blacks you think you know….and even millions more Latinos drowning in that ambiguous ethnic creation (diversion) trying to be something they can never be and hiding from their African and native heritage. You know nothing of majority of African Americans……if you did you may not even use that term…we were colored at one time…and back in the early and mid 1900’s those folks who came from so-called Latin/South/Central America and the Caribbean we realized that it did not matter if we called ourselves Hindu, Nigerian, Panamanian, Australian, Colombian, Brazlian, etc…that Black Blood……not our nationality, language, religion, socio-economic status, etc. determined our fate in the US and all over the white world (including Latin America). We are not stupid. Don’t try and claim Barack Obama now…..until you have a single ancestor who has been castrated, hung, spat upon, bitten by dogs, hosed down by racist fire marshalls, church bombed, kidnapped, burned alive, raped, punched, kicked, run over by cars, drawn and quartered, marched across thousands of miles of burning sands, arms amputated and told at every school, church lesson, movie, book, newspaper, etc that you are cursed due to your black blood….until you have that reality you cannot tell us who is and who is not Black….white mother, grandmothers, great grandmothers, great great grandmothers notwithstanding…we have a different reality. And we label ourselves based on the historical, social, and spiritual reality. Just like anyone else…even yourself. Cultures is not race. Language is not race. Religion or creed is not race. Nationality is not race. Your being born in South America does not “un-whiten” you nor does it make you automatically something other than white. So the girl who had a parent born white in Germany and another Black in the USA is not a German American racially though she may be that in terms of nationality if she was born in German. She would be an African German, Afro-German or German of African descent. More than that, she is a multi-racial German. But she cannot escape her African heritage. Plus the Germans know and will remind her that despite her German mother, she is a nigger and not akin to the history and culture of Germany…at least not the Germany that is promoted to the world. And not being born in the USA she may not be part of the African American tribe unless she is living here and experiencing life as an African descendant living in America. If she however was born here, she would be African American……..and her experience would be as diverse and interesting as any other African born here in the US whose parents may hail from Mississippi and the other from Maine, or parents one from Liberia and the other from New Mexico, or parents one from Philadelphia and the other from Greece. When you get to the USA and you have Black blood, you become a part of that tribe. That is OUR reality…it is how we survived the 1600’s, 1700’s, 1800’s, 1900’s, 2000’s, and today….Blacks coming from all over the world with their diverse languages, customs, religions, experiences, cultures, folkways, mores, etc….Hindu, Yoruba, Muslim, Moors, Pentecostal, Baptists, Akan, Santeria, Garufina, Creole, Seminole, Apache, Taino, Nation of Islam, atheist, Mormon, Moravian, Mandingo, Samoan, etc… And when we needed to put all of this together because people were dying with no protection, we formed the National Association for the Advancement of COLORED People (NAACP). We had all sorts of colors….all sorts of cultures….all types of people. And none of that diversity spared us Jim Crow…… You see, Black or African America has always been fluid….being Black is not enough…..being born Black in the US Is not enough…it is all that plus an experience that produces a certain social consciousness. So Marcus Garvey (Jamaica) is a part of that. Harry Belafonte (Caribbean), Bob Marley & Colin Powell (Jamaica), and countless others……. When you say 1.5 million Hispanic-white marriages, most of those marriages were white on white. To us, that is like saying there 1.5 more white Texans marrying white Chicagoans. Hispanic does not mean NON –white. And you know that…though America and writers try and use race, nationality, and culture or ethnicity interchangeably. They are NOT the same. If I were born in London, it does not make me English no more than giving me the name Jose’Maria Hernandez makes me Spanish or Joe Marie Henry makes me Anglo Saxon. Barack knows that reality….because he lives it. You don’t because you have never lived it….Racism never cared about how many white or European ancestors then and it does not now. How insulting….. and you say it was punishable for a white to procreate with a black. Who got punished? Not the white. Spaniard or not…..white does not mean NON –Hispanic!! Hispanics are white too…….and more importantly, they act and have always acted white…maybe not Protestant Western European or WASP white. But white….like an an Arab, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, and Greek (even if belatedly accepted into whiteness). In America (who has replaced Britian as the world’s superpower in military and social might), those realities rule. And we now know that those other places really never needed the approval or encouragement from their Anglo Saxon rivals. We know know (particularly from their descendants like you) that the Spanish and others were actually the leaders and first to promulgate such nonsense…. as early as the creation of the worlds negro. Back up…….we know the truth and the false hood….because we live it every day…and with your article, we have to continue to read it . Willie Lynch….The Bell Curve…..Uncle Toms Cabin Racism is not how much blood you see…it is the sight of any %.....Black for us is never simply color. For us, it is “Color”, “Culture” , “Consciousness”, and a “Corresponding Cosmic Connection” (how you connect with a certain historical reality connected with a power greater than you).

As a white man, I've wondered how some people get their racial identity. Until reading some of these posts, I hadn't realized how much controversy there is on the matter. In any case, we are all human. Perhaps it would be better if we kept that in mind rather than being overly concerned about labels.

I hope that eventually it will cease to matter, but I know that I won't live to see it.

Kola Boof is not a 'negro' she is 'nilotic' which goes to show the ignorance of the longwinded person. I love blacks, love being black, love Africa and agree with Kola 100%

This discussion has been very exciting and enlightening. The bottom line is that we will agree to disagree on this blackness issue. I for one am black and will not let anyone else tell me differently. Because of the brutality that we faced in our enslavement, I declare myself to be Black in opposition to the inhumanity of the theory of white supremacy. Why would I want to be anything other than Black? My foundation came from Black people that loved and protected their fellow captives, held on to the many cultural practices and beliefs thet they left behind in Black Africa and still survived amidst cruel deprivation.

Sunni Ali Ghana,

Going by your attack...I assume you're accustomed to White Folks issuing you a "Head Negress In Charge Card"...

After all, the Whites OWN this house that the Black people built and the WHITES issue the cards.

But there is no such thing as pulling the "African Card." People from Africa are just like peopel from Australia, they speak straight from UMBILICAL tribal acculturation. They KNOW who they are.

Then again....to be nasty right back at your smug ass...

I'm sure "Lightskinned" superior Cracker CREE-HOLES like yourself really do feel threatened when confronted by foreign Black folks who aren't familiar with your "status" amongst "your people" and aren't impressed by your INFUSIONS of White and Indian blood and weak hair.

Puff, puff...

The fact that there won't be any...NUBIANS...born out of Mariah Carey's white ass or that...

To the African EYE...Beyonce looks like an "imitation Black woman imitating a Mexican" (Shakira)---is more pressing to people like me than your meaningless admonition of "Negro Please." Puff, puff.

And for good measure...invest in a GOOGLE search for learning the TYPES of Africoid People (Negro vs. Nilotic vs. Bantu, for instance) before EDUCATING "ME", a Nilotic, about what "Blackness" is.

According to your White Slave master, of course.



ADDRESSING EVERYBODY ELSE:

Notice that I have not "rejected" any group of people.

Notice I have not withheld love or support from any of my blood relations or any other group of people based on their color.

Though most people in Africa refer to OBAMA as "half-caste"--notice he is also the most beloved hero in Africa right now. We accept and love him...as who he is IN WHOLENESS.

And though the people on this thread seem to be Hard of hearing, please notice that I've stated that OVER and OVER again that I love ALL HUMAN BEINGS of every race, creed and color.

Saying you don't see someone as "black" doesn't mean you don't LOVE them, because truly--there are many biracial people and White people in my life that I love more than Blacks.

But I'm very glad that I had the courage to state the TRUTH--

...the fact that "Black People" are not so inferior that just anybody can be them.

The fact that MY PRESIDENT, MY HERO--Barack Obama--is not "Black" but is African and Biracial; a Kenyan Half-Caste.

NOTICE how the "offended" Black Americans...

keep failing to acknowledge how it offends and disrespects "many Black Africans" when Bill Clinton or Justin Timberlake is called a "Black Man" or clearly Creole BEYONCE is referred to (by Al Sharpton) as the "highest standard of black feminine beauty."

Notice the selfishness of these people who give us the Puerto Rican QUEEN on "BET" on a daily basis, and can't acknowledge that movies about Africa routinely "DISALLOW" images of Authentic African women (mulattos are always cast as if the MAJORITY Black African women can't be beautiful or that their DARKNESS and "African hair" is a disease).

Notice how these PROUD BLACKS don't care that African teens are "bleaching" their skin and sporting Blonde weaves as African-American culture informs them they're inferior and ugly.

Notice some of these AA people's asses on their backsides...

Because I suggested that bitch in New York Harbor is not their "real" Mother and is NOT the arbiter of MATRILINEAL African identity.

Notice Dr. Reed's poem about "Sisterhood"...a poem that places the word "Vanilla" BEFORE the words "dark brown" and "black" (I'm supposed to be TOUCHED and relate to yet another AUNT JEMIMA poem that posits me, a Black woman, on the bottom--once again placing me in back of Vanilla).

Notice how so many Black American women are "just fine" with it, though.

Notice how these White, Latina, Mixed Race and other straight-haired women are actually celebrated by this society and don't give a damn about having "solidarity" with what they see as a bunch of "loser black women"---loser Aunt Jemima's that are always kissing their ass and calling them "sister."

Notice how the Black Americans who are angry at me claim to despise "RACIAL PURITY"--yet never question WHITE People's ridiculous notion that you must be PURE WHITE to be a White Person. Notice how they don't quarrel with Chinese and Japanese about who is racially acceptable to bear their name--they respect THOSE people.

But following in their Master's footsteps, they dump all manner of Ard-Varks on us Black folks.

Notice how they're WILLING to be the new version of the sorry LOSER-ASS "MOORS"....(people/tribes who become "Extinct" in African culture are considered "LOSERS")....The sorry as MOORS who were willing to breed out the Chocolate and Charcoal People; willing to breed out the "Black Man" they claim to revere so much, making him EXTINCT, so that they can chant "DIVERSITY", "ONE LOVE"---and as Dr. Reed calls it, the "Possibity", the "Beauty" of Barack Obama's mixed race status representing BLACKNESS.

When have we NOT been represented by a Beautiful Biracial person?

Notice the generations of Black People who watched BLACK MEN (and women) LYNCHED, HUNG FROM TREES---had the audacity to call the White People "DEVILS"--yet wouldn't give birth to that Lynched Black Man again.

Notice them marrying the LYNCH ROPE rather than give birth to that Lynched "negroid" Black man again.

Notice the generations of Black Americans who TOLD THEIR SONS--"don't you marry a woman darker than you".."dont' you bring no Dark skinned girl home"---so they could have LIGHTER GRAND-BABIES;

Notice them claiming that ___________ looks like a White Woman because of some Slavery-time rape and not what actually caused her to look White---the Black Community's COLORSTRUCK machinations and her dark skinned father's desire to ESCAPE his people's LOT in life via her Whiteness, which was his only requirement for marrying her (that she be a "redbone").

Notice my "African-American" Brothers and Sisters, whom I so deeply admire and love, CHASTISE ME with email blitzes telling me that this is because they "LOVE" their ancestors....just as much as I do...And that they're AFRICANS...just like I am...because they're "PROUD" to be Black...and I need to STFU.

and HOW DARE I, Miss African IMMIGRANT Bitch

HA!HA!

...how dare I question their Blackness and their right to be as Light Brite and FILIPINO-looking as any Pale-faced "Ard-vark" with "wet hair" has a right to.

Notice how they have this "Disneyland" fantasy that Africa is supposed to embrace these little BROWN 'N SERVE ____ as "Black" and feel....PROUD (gulp).

Notice that I'm an African woman...and that I have damn good eye sight...and that GOD works in mysterious ways.

Because this one African Immigrant Bitch who is here to stay.

I CAME TO STAY.

And I AM YOU.....before....you was YOU.

That's a statement of TRUE FACT--not a "Card" that was issued. It's TRUE than the Bible.

I AM YOU....before...you was YOU.

And my Black Sudanese ass is not going anywhere.That bitch in New York Harbor--the imitation black woman Redbones and Latinas your daddy loves so goddamn much---you let them Wanna-be QUEEN OF ALL THAT IS KARAOKE AFRICAN trollops know that KOLA BOOF is here, a Black woman who actually KNOWS who she is...THE BLACK MAN'S MOTHER...his genetic LIVING Goddess and WOMB...

Chocolate, Beautiful and worthy of a POEM all to her damned self....

EVEN...if I have to get me a WHITE MAN (which I have done when I wasn't receiving my proper attention) to write it.

I am here in the land that MY AFRICAN ANCESTORS built.

...and also let the Americans know that I slit my wrists in all 50 states of this country and PUT MY BLOOD IN THE GROUND.

My little CURSE on you lying mofos (white and everything else) for what you did to my nappy-headed Black-ASHY ass children.

Yeah, Black Americans.

YOU BAD.

But you're about to find out where you got it from.

BLACKNESS...is a very special flower.

Not just any stain on a bedsheet will do. Not just ANYBODY...can be "US."

It's a NEW DAY!

What the f***!!! Kola Boof, you got issues girl. My advice to you: Run...dont' walk...to the nearest mental health professional. If it's not already too late.

Sunni Ali Ghana: You expressed my long held sentiments exactly, only I could have never written it as eloquently as you. Your post is worthy of framing and putting on the wall of believers and non-believers alike. – Thank you!

Kola Nut seems to hate the African American BECAUSE they were enslaved. And BECAUSE they were FORCIBLY cross-bred. This is a classic case of blaming the victim. And Kola Nut never did answer Robert H.'s question: Where does the Arab fit into the one-drop rule? Doesn't Kola Nut claim to be half Arab? Yet, in the next breath she claims to be pure African? Which is it? And one question: With all that is going on in your native Sudan--genocide--Kola Nut, why aren't you using your considerable writing skills to rail against that instead of attacking your African American kin. And yet you ask Dr. Reed to protect YOU. Who are YOU? Why don't you, the SUDANESE QUEEN, protect your country men and women?

It's offical. This is the site of starke raving mad loons who cannot engage in a conversation without tearing each other down. I feeel like I am the Bill OReily show!

**YAWN**

Learn some "comprehension" skills.

"Fed Up"---maybe you might RESEARCH the name "Kola Boof" and come to find out all that I do and have done for the people in Sudan.

Stop making ignorant comments without knowing what the hell you're talking about.

And for the record...BLACK AMERICAN PEOPLE are my people, too. They adopted and raised me. Those are MY PEOPLE, too.

Kola Nut: With "love" like yours, who needs hate?

Kola Nut, as I said in a post that was apparently removed, yours is the mindset that drives the civil wars of the African continent. And yet the editors leave your insane rants for all the world to read. Go figure...You are a divisive force, and you will bring this website down. You are a shock jock without a platform, so you choose to hijack and ghettoize this website. It is all about YOU, and everyone else be damned. Your friends at the Daily Voice need to sit you down for an intervention. Seek help!

If I didn't love you...I wouldn't take the time to fight with you.

On some level, you know that.

I am taking so much time from my work schedule, fighting with you on these issues...because I DO love you.

Most Africans would never engage you--because they don't come from you like I do.

And what I am...is an African person espousing African views.

There's nothing shocking about what I'm saying.

Anyone who is "shocked" has got to be both weak and naive.

I'm not crazy and there is no intelligent, objective debate captain who could read my posts and deduce that I am crazy.

What I find is that MOST people don't stand for anything...so it's very traumatic when they run across someone who does.

I honestly love everyone reading this thread.

But American racial views are not the only viewpoint and Blackness is not "inferior"--neither is being biracial or being Asian or being White. We're all EQUAL and we all need to be loved and recognized as WHOLE human beings.

We NEED that.

I don't see Barack Obama as a "tangerine" to be loved in sections--I love him WHOLE, black and white together.

I sincerely apologize to the people who think I hate them, because I don't. You're ALL welcome to my house for dinner.

But AMERICA has a tendency to love Lena Horne for being "black" but not love those of us who really are...and that deserves a fight.

FED up, you are correct. Kola's "time" with Osama, real or imagined has really done her in. As to comprehension skills Kola, let some coping skills and get a tatse of reality, it will do you good.

In defense of Kola, I think that what all are saying is the same but from different perspectives. As the argument continued between Reed and Kola and then joined by others -- to me -- crystalizes the insanity that most African Americans fall into because of the negative images and treatment that are attached to us of the darker hue. In actuality, we are blessed because such hatred toward the African comes from shear jealousy...that jealousy has ripped out the heart of being for our beloved Motherland (Africa) and has been replaced by hatred towards each other; hence, we have lost the focus of the blessings and what it really means to be of Nubian descent. Let's stop attacking each other and let's define ourselves ...and not even consider the definition of others, let's treat each other well and then maybe the world will begin to treat us better. Brothers respect the brothers...sisters respect the sisters...and brothers respect the sisters and sisters respect the brothers....Let's start there! Come on, People! Our children are watching us!

THIS IS WHY I (and so many Africans) LOVE AND CHERISH BLACK AMERICANS SO MUCH:

Nilotics are the "parent race" of the Negro; the Bantu, Beja, Pygmy and Oromo groups.

In Africa they each are considered their own "race."

The Negro Race is the child of the Nilotic and Pygmy cease fire agreement.

Inside each race you have (1) "TRIBAL GROUPS"...and inside each Tribe...you have (2) "a CLAN" (usually a group of 3 families who hunt, fish, cook & pray together).

The first race, the "NILOTIC" people (Nilotes), originated in what the Holy Bible refers to as "CUSH."

Cush is located on the Blue Nile in Southern Sudan. Cush is the mother of NUBIA and EGYPT.

The mother of Cush was "PUNT"---a prehistoric dinosaur inhabited nation in Somalia that no longer exists.

In the Holy Bible...Cush is described as being in Ethiopia, because in Biblical times...ALL OF AFRICA was called "Ethiopia"...

Back then (Biblical times), the country that is Ethiopia TODAY was called "Axum Empire."

When you GOOGLE this information, you will find that on a Map, CUSH is located ONLY in Sudan--so I just wanted you to understand why the Bible places CUSH in Ethiopia.

What is the difference between the NEGRO and their NILOTIC parent?

The NILOTIC people (the original people) are EXTREMELY TALL...the average height of Nilotic women is 6'2; the men 7'2. The Nilotic race is CHARCOAL BLACK in color...in general, they do not have the Dukan cake (ripe sexy ass) that NEGROES are world famous for. The Nilotics are TALL, VERY THIN but STRONG and compared to Negroes and Bantus, the Nilotics usually have "thinner" facial features--full lips with finger-long noses. Big ears, huge eyes. ALWAYS, ALWAYS---high cheekbones.

Originally, the Nilotic Religion taught that we came here from OUTER SPACE.

In both Sudan and Egypt, you will find drawings on the walls of Nilotic Africans arriving to "ASLI-NALLA" (the Charcoal Queen whose LAP was a "garden").

The name "Asli-Nalla" literally means "the blackest"

...and Nalla herself claimed that she was from Outer Space, referred to her body as a "Space Suit" and she taught the Cushites that GOD "masturbated" the universe into being.

2,000 years later, The Egyptians would also claim that GOD "ejaculated" the universe into being.

But anyway, our mother, Queen Nalla, worshipped THE SUN. Through wall drawings, it is also obvious that she was Bi-sexual.

And in Africa, Black People (before Islam and Christians invades us) had 2 churches---the SUN and the RIVER---and ONLY WOMEN could be Religious Leaders. The men did the hunting and protecting; the women governed the spirits.

Queen Asli-Nalla died...

and the Cushites became the first to call themselves "Hebrew"--they are DOCUMENTED by today's scientists as speaking the first Hebrew Language; to this day; Cushitic people are SEMETIC---

--and, in honor of their mother, Asli-Nalla, they called the Nappy Hair on Black people's heads "THE PROOF".

Supposedly, GOD had put this hair ONLY ON BLACK MEN AND BLACK WOMEN---so as to Mark them as being the chosen ones, the ones made in his image--and they claimed that "no other race; unless mixed with us" can grow THE PROOF.

They also claimed that TAGHUT (Satan) can only conquer us by removing the Proof from our heads.

The 2nd Child of the NILOTICS (the Oromo are the first child--although many Oromo insist they are the parents of the Nilotics, that they are from PUNT)...

but anyway

...the 2nd child, THE NEGROES, are tall but usually much shorter than the NILOTICS.

The NEGROES are deep, dark Muddy Chocolate Fudge colored with a Muscular build, flat wide noses, catepillar-shaped lips and world famous for their women's DUKAN CAKE (big sexy booty). Most of Africa's greatest warriors were recruited from the Negro race. Many times, the NILOTIC, Egyptian and Ethiopian armies would PAY the muscular Negro armies to fight for them, because the Negroes seemed to be naturally born with more physical strength.

In the year 700..."slavery"....which had previously been an "endentured" social arrangement between Africans self-contained within Africa...moved beyond Africa and changed form.

What is now called "Ethiopia" began selling Black Women as "dancing girls" to Yellow and Red-Skinned foreign nations.

Unlike Africa---the dancing women couldn't "earn their way" out of slavery or MARRY UP---they were slaves for life.

For many years, only "African women" could be slaves. Any sons born from them on African soil were turned into "eunnuchs" and trained to be Sodomy chattel.

Then 1,000 years ago...after many years of trading and inter-mixing on the East Coast of Ethiopia...these Persians, Arab Muslims and Sea People (White Viking-type tribes) invaded Africa from the North.

Slavery was now INSIDE Africa and the Arabs were the dominant Slave Master.

The Arab Muslims forced a special ARAB SLAVE LANGUAGE on the people of East Africa---SWAHILI.

Black Slaves were only allowed to speak "SWAHILI" to their Arab masters and though Africans resisted this language and fought for hundreds of years to retain their Semetic Bantu and Nilotic languges...they were forced to speak SWAHILI for so long that it eventually became engrained on the Eastern Flank of Africa just as African-Americans would later known only to speak ENGLISH.

Prophet Ciisa (who you call "JESUS CHRIST") was basically the Nilotic people's LAST HEBREW warrior. His story and IBRAHIM's story were stolen from Africa and the OUTSIDERS painted them white and renamed it "Christianity."

Before that, The Falasha (original African Jews) were captured in Egypt and eventually BASTARDIZED into a new Jewish race that was "removed" from us by color.

The GREEKS, who had once been "Black" sold out and embraced the Roman and White invaders--agreeing to breed whiter.

This was back when QUEEN CLEOPATRA (a 12 year old, mind you) made it "illegal" for an Egyptian to marry an Egyptian. Under the rule of CESAR, she forced Egyptians to marry Romans--gradually breeding her people just as the Greeks had been bred out.

Later on when the Arab Muslims introduced Modern Slavery to Africa...Everything with the Arabs was "White Supremacist" as they consider themselves "WHITE" and openly teach (even today) that blackness is a "curse" and that ALLAH loves Black Arabs LESS.

To be an "Arab"...you must be born to Arabic-speaking people and you must also speak Arabic. The language and culture makes you Arab.

North Africa was conquered and we fell.

Then 500 Years AFTER the invasion/enslavement of North and East Africa (the NILOTICS)....the Europeans (who had been "trading" with Kings in West and Central Africa) began what is called the TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE.

Just like in East Africa, a handful of powerful, greedy Black men began SELLING their own people into bondage.

When several West African Kings and Queens (notably Queen Nzinga and Queen TinkaTeker II) REFUSED to take part in selling their own people...they were executed and their nations were conquered and COLONIZED by the Europeans.

I remember speaking to Black Americans at a University here in America....and how a MUSLIM group threatened me with bodily harm just because I revealed that in Southern Egypt (the Kom Ombo region), the Black Egyptians have an ancient dish we call "Umfitit" (chitlins).

It can be made with either Pig's Intestines, Goat's Intestines or Sheep's stomach. But it is usually made with Pig Intestines, fried in honey and peppers.

But I remember the rage that was directed at me for publishing that recipe...people calling me "Hoax"...Arab Muslims threatening my life.

My point to African-Americans is that...even if we don't agree; and even if it scares the hell out of our White and Arab brothers and sisters...we need to start having a dialogue. Because you and I, Black Americans---we are much of the same muchness.

I'm not your enemy.

I really do love you with all my heart.

When you speak of race for the diffrent African groups, should that not be ethnic groupings, such as Bantu, Oromo, Yoruba etc. ? Their is only one race, the human race, that first appeared in Mother Africa. Also the Kushitic people of the Sudan in Ancient times, called Kush,& Ta-Seti by the ancient Egyptians, & Ethiopians by the Greeks, a term that also referred to most Black people (burnt face), for they(Greeks) believed that the land of Kush (Ethiopia) populated from Neolithic times the rest of the known world (Which has some truth to it) Also the Kushitc people are not Semetic,(they are Africans) it is believed by some that a proto- Semetic language was first spooken by these Africans (Black people) that than migrated with them out of Africa, into Yemen & the rest of the Mid East, which later became the dominant language used by those people Arab, Hebrews,Etc. It is true that the Ethiopians of Ethiopia today (which used to be called Abyssinia) speek a Semetic tongue known as Geez.

Robert H. I come from Sudan. South Sudan is "Semetic" and black tribes of Kordofan, Nuba and other Blacks in North Sudan are "Hemetic."

Our Nilotic Semetic-Hemetic culture is ancient and still in-tact.

The JEWS do not have lockdown on Semetism. The Cushites were the very first Hebrews and that history of those Kings and Queens remain---even if we're now Christians and Muslims.

As for the "Human race"---I stated that IN AFRICA these ethnic groups are considered "races".

When I wrote what I did above...I did that to give Black Americans an insight into their homeland from the perspective of Africans. To old school Africans--the "Blacks Races" are the ONLY Human Beings. All other people (without the "Proof" on their heads---are HEATHENS and Mongrels).

That's not right, it's not fair--but living in BLACK AFRICA where EVERYONE IS BLACK---that is often the mentality; that only WE BLACKS are truly human beings.

One thing I have been trying to make AAs aware of is that AFRICANS and EUROPEANS are extremely alike when it comes to "racism." It's just that the Europeans got to the GUN first. But if Africans had got the gun first---we would have Enslaved Europe and you'd all be wearing Afros.

Africans are VERY serious about "blood."

A good friend of mine is a White Jewish woman Professor in Africa who's just had a baby by an African chief who married her, but then ABANDONED her when the baby didn't LOOK how he thought it would look.

Barack Obama's Father also deserted him and his White mother and returned to his KENYAN wife.

Africans are more like Europeans, Asians and Spaniards than they are like Black Americans when it comes to race.

Dinka, Nuer and Shilluk are ALL descended from the original semitic Hebrew languages. Much of the "Food" eaten by Chollo river people is KOSHER.

Yes, Robert H.--my Egyptian uncle just told me I am correct.

"Nobiin", the language of the NUBIANS is the only Sudanese language (other than Arabic dialects) that is not related to ancient Semetic or Hermetic tribes.

The 4th Catarct Cushite languages, however, go all the way back to the original Hebrews...BEFORE...Meroe and Napata.

I Personally speak "TIMAS dialect" which is most definitely a Cushitic-Semitic descendent (bastardized by Arabic, albeit). But I can speak it (not "fast", but I can speak it).

My father was the teh Arab Egyptian researcher Harith Bin Farouk.

He studied religious coffees of the Semitic South Sudanese under Nimri.

The WAAQ coffee religion was at war with the ancient Semitic tribes if you're a historian. (my birth mother was a Waaq Oromo btw)

Of course, the White Man's history is recorded slightly different than the African's (or the Arabs).

I doubt the Whites know what they're talking about---and after they flooded the Sudanese Pyramids under Lake Nuba to HIDE Black Africa's role in creating of Egypt and Greek society, I don't know who could trust anything they say.

Kola Boof, I feel you are right about the flooding & all the lost history, artifacts, and maybe the Rosetta Stone that could decipher the Meroitic script. From my understanding the governments of Khartoum & Egypt could care less about what the flood waters will hide,esp Khartoum which feel it is all pagan & needs to be distroyed. Thats why many teams of archaeologist from around the world are there now digging to find what they can before the dam is completed to say nothing of the displacement of the peoples of that region !

Mother Pamela Reed: And I say mother because I see your care for all people who have been discriminated against because of skin colour. Whether the discrimination has come from white, black or wherever.

I was born in Africa and to African parents, but my shade is not blue black. Koola, calls it peanut-butter black, even though she does not know. I think that's really funny! LOL. Any way, I am brown-skinned African (think of Nelson Mandela). So, you are right, black and African comes in all shades. And that is so besides the point that black people themselves do (many times) behave like the wives and siblings of a polygamous marriage. The marriage in which, I will call the husband - Mr Black Africa... That's how ridiculous some of the arguments are to me. For whatever reason, we try and make each other feel like the outsiders to the family’s ‘silver’. Whether by claiming others are too black (as Koola argues many African American black people do to Black Africans). And I have a strong sense she is right. I have heard some heart breaking stories of how, 'especially dark African WOMEN' have been treated by some African Americans. Worse than by white Americans. Being called jungle queens, etc., by people who look almost like them (your ‘kettle-pot’ metaphor). But the reverse is also soo true. I have seen first hand how some African Americans have been ridiculed in my own country and called derogatory terms. Just because they dont seem to behave like other people in my country.

As in that polygamous marriage blessed with witchcraft against brothers and sisters, I can see that, actually the venom comes mostly from irrational and also petty jealousies. I think that Black Africans are mostly really jealous of what THEY THINK African American's culture and life style is about. Well, they dont know Detroit inner city. The Black Americans they see, who take African trips are middle class. On the other hand, I sense that some African Americans, like Barack, are deeply and really ashamed at living with a sense of an uprooted history and identity far from Africa (the proverbial home) and as second class citizens in America. So: they find these seemingly aristocratic black Africans a reflection of their own shame. Hence they hate having them around and as constant reminders.

So we hate other Africans because of what we think they have inside (e.g. a sense of history and pride) or outside (e.g. in western material terms). And it is true that everywhere in the world material resources accumulate to those with lighter skins at a faster rate than those with darker skins. Even traditionally, African rich man want to marry light skinned young girls (whose skin looks like milk as the saying goes). Hence, skin shade has easily become the battleground identifier. But really in this master metaphor of a polygamous setup: where wives as witches harness lightening for the utter destruction of their wedlock sisters and step-children, I see clearly the Black African identity dialogue among these family members willing to do or say anything to remove other from the face of the earth so they become 'the favorites' of the enchanting 'Mr Black Africa'. One has to wonder whether Mr Black Africa HIMself, gives a damn.

Greetings everyone! I have truly enjoyed the discussion - and everyone's input. Kola, I love you immensely! Your historical perspective was not at all unfamiliar to me. Other authors, like Dr. Malachai York, Credo Mutwa and several others have written about our ancient beginnings. I am so pleased to see the mention of our celestial origins. I would love to comment more, but time is against me at the moment. Look forward to chiming in later.

I have enjoyed it too. When Kola is not ranting and raving, she has a WEALTH of knowledge to share. This is a discussion that is LONG overdue. Let's keep it respectful...and honorable.

DaisyDooks,

Thanks so much for you love. I need all the love I can get and I'm very grateful.

FED UP,

I sincerely apologize to you if you felt that I was ranting and raving. That's not EVER what I intend to do.

What you must understand, however, is that we have "cultural" differences in how we express certain things.

I cannot speak to you like a Black woman from Tennessee or Cincinnati.

Just as the passionate ITALIAN mother in Roma is likely to sound loud and threatening to you...so, too, are Nilotic women known for their passion and high pitched "preaching" sound.

People who are "Different" are just that.

We are not crazy or shocking---we are not American. We are not Politically Correct.

It's not my intention to insult you at all, dearest one.

And I really apologize because very often I cry that people in this country misunderstand me so much--when to me--I am speaking clearly and with total honesty. I am trying to tell you, as an African mother, the best I know how to tell you the truth.

I think, "aesthetically", that this country hates Black people (including most of the Blacks also hate "authentic" Black people) and it's extraordinarily hard for someone like me to sugar coat or ignore that fact.

If you could come to my kitchen and sit and speak with me--you will be shocked to see that my TONE is not fiery or angry at all. I am a very gentle, intelligent, loving person and my talent and insight comes from being a VERY abused person.

To watch your parents murdered in front of you--be transported to a foreign country; raised by Black Americans who dont' speak Arabic---be the youngest person in Wash. D.C. history to have a Heart Attack (at age 8) on the very night I was delivered to my Black Americans parents--then to grow up and return to Africa and cheapen myself in the Arab cinema and get mixed up with Turabi and Osama.

After all that--I don't know with what voice you should be expecting me to speak with.

I do my best...to be as truthful as I can without harming myself.

But I don't care to be "LIKED", Fed Up---I feel it is better to be "understood."

I have lived a very hard, terrible life and I'm barely 40. And I would never PURPOSELY try to hurt other people.

I cry all the time, because I am very misunderstood.

My sons will tell you that I like to COOK in my kitchen and late at night--write my books. I have "fans" who run the internet campaign on my behalf, because everyone in publishing and politics is against me. They told me that I am an "underground sensation"--sort of like a Grace Jones for the Publishing Industry. Only "college" black women and gay black men care about or support me.
I am not an important person or I would not be posting with the rest of you.