Pioneer1

Hello and welcome to the site. I'm curious...... Have you been initiated in or do you practice the IFA belief system of West Africa?

Mel I agree! (damn!) 　 　 Lol....and that's why I say we should crown you as new 1st Lady of AALBC! Another problem with Swahili is it's heavily influenced by Arabic since it was helped put together by them for the purposes of trading between various indigenous groups. Infact, even if you look at the term for Kwanzaa's 7 principles...Ngooso Saba....that word "saba" isn't African but actually Arabic or atleast Semitic in origin. Maulana Karinga put it together but the name "Maulana" is an Arabic name as well! And the candle lighting reminds me of Hannukah. But I still give propers to Karinga for trying to trying to give us somewhat of a culture with our own holidays and festive rituals. It is our language that dictates our culture. Ofcourse. Language and words set the framework of the mind. That's why learning a new languages often FORCES a person to think from an entirely different perspective and often times changes their orientation on life. I remember some years ago when I was working in a restaurant and was picking up a little Espanol from some of my co-workers I would learn the words "I am hungry" in Espanol and say that exactly but it made no sense to them. In their culture they don't say "I AM hungry" instead they say "I HAVE hunger". And when I thought about it, it made more sense because it's silly to say you ARE hungry as if you're calling yourself "hungry" when it's actually a feeling you have. One of the problems with us attempting to get our own language is we would have to practically invent it from scratch because there is no single dominant West African ethnic group that we could legitimately latch on too. Plus being here in the West, I believe most West African languages are too limited in their vocabulary for us to adopt without being FORCED to use English or Spanish words to compensate. Looks like Black linguistic scholars have quite a project waiting for them if they want it.....lol. It may take decades to outline and launch a viable and unique AfroAmerican language. Most of the time, without even noticing it -we reinforced the dominate culture - because we only know one language -american english And the fact that most of us only only know American English also has negative financial repercussions. If you notice, most of the people of color who are financially successful in the United States whether they are Koreans, Chinese, Nigerians, Haitians, Cubans, Ethiopians, ect......they all speak languages OTHER than just English. Like I said earlier, speaking more than one language FORCES your brain to think in different modes but it ALSO allows you to talk and plan business and other economic moves amongst eachother without worrying about White people eave's dropping in and stealing your ideas or trying to thwart your business plans. If you notice out in public, AfroAmericans can be talking and it doesn't bother them at all but Caucasians tend to get ANGRY and nervous as hell when Africans and other people of color start speaking in a foreign language around them! They start looking around, sighing, rolling their eyes, ect......because they can't figure out what those people are up to, lol.

FAS White Republicans are decreeing the shootings as racist, calling for an end to white supremacy. Even Trump is condemning white supremacy in the wake of the latest shootings. Lol....and you seriously believe them? There is no comparison between black gangbangers shooting AT each other and managing to hit one or two, and white SANE criminal white supremacists slaughtering hundreds of strangers, and in the first 8 months of this year alone, wounding over 2,000 Ofcourse not. Because these SANE White racists have the good sense to KNOW what they're doing while most of the Black gangstas usually don't. Whether it comes to murder, slavery, colonialism, or domestic terrorism......Caucasians KNOW who their enemies are and tend to move on them in a logical manner. Exactly why these silly negroes in the hood are busting and banging on eachother like rats fighting over rotten cheese is still a great unknown to most people including themselves. Almost running out of excuses as to why so many of our people behave the irrational way they do. Troy Babies will still get aborted, it will just go underground and become messier and more dangerous. Especially for women of color who can't afford to pay for the GOOD underground medics who will still be performing the procedures for the well to do. 　 　 Ld Virtue Welcome to the site. These are young white children, they where hardly men, the hate they displayed was taught and I blame their parents. I'm not an anthropologist but there are some who believe that the hate these young Caucasian males displayed was GENETIC or part of their RACIAL MEMORY. In other words, they don't have to be TAUGHT to hate and want to kill people of color it's IN THEM already and it was BORN in them. If anything, they have to be taught and constantly vigorously taught NOT to hate people who are different than them. What makes a brother kill his sister, Have you ever heard of so-called "honor killings"? It's a tradition well established in Caucasian history where men kill their own female family members for so-called "shaming" the family through sexual misdeeds. For many Caucasian males, the ultimate shame for a Caucasian woman (mother, sister, daughter) is dating and having sex with a male of color. If you look at the place he chose to shoot up, it was a club where interracial dating occured.

I didn't watch it either. I refused to. It's not like I was avoiding it to make a statement, but no one on that stage was energizing enough to even spend time listening to.

This is going to sound like a conservative talking point, but as long as AfroAmericans are butchering eachother in the ghettoes of America it's hard to point the finger at what White males are doing even though it's happening more frequently. In Chicago alone there's a "mass shooting" several times a week. Let's not throw in what's happening in Detroit, D.C., St. Louis, and other urban communities.

Chev & FAS Well.............. I was only speaking based from what I've observed personally. But I can't tell Black women or anyone else how THEY feel about themselves; so if you two say that AfroAmerican girls and women have high self esteem and feel better about themselves and their bodies than other women do, who am I to argue against it.

Lol....... Actually I added that on 5 minutes after my initial post so that it WOULDN'T sound like I was coming right after you to directly contradict you! In reality, I don't think our two posts are incongruent. Your post focused on the motives of Trump's statements. .....that he just talks a lot of smack to get people riled up and push their buttons in order to manipulate them. And I agree with this assessment. My post focus is on the element of TRUTH in his statements. If there were no truth in what he's saying he wouldn't be nearly as effective at setting people off. My point is that instead of getting upset and offended when whoever....racist or just objective observers.....points out our problems, if we as African people world wide would focus on actually FIXING our problems, we would be much better off. But it starts with the AfroAmerican mayors, judges, representatives, and police officers who are actually incharge of running most of this "chocolate cities" doing what THEY are supposed to do instead of waiting on "good white folk" to come down and be nice to them and clean up their communities for them. History has shown that that the only time Caucasians are willing to come into AfroAmerican communities and help them clean up these problems is when they are ready to CLEAN OUT the Black population and gentrify the place.

Like Troy said, much of what Trump does is to get an emotional response and....as they say in England "wind up" people and get them all animated for his enjoyment. But the fact is much of Baltimore IS a slum, just like much of Detroit and St. Louis is slum and wasteland. One of the most popular television shows on HBO....The Wire....focused on the madness going on in Baltimore and people loved it. Well after years of glorifying the violent ghetto life of Black pepole in B-more, why get all uptight and shit a brick when Trump agrees? Like it or not, a lot of what Trump says has an ELEMENT of truth in it: -There ARE too many illegal immigrants flooding into the nation. My question is why do Trump and the Republicans....the same people BRINGING THEM IN....have to be the ones who speak on against this when AfroAmericans are the ones who are being directly impacted from this flood of illegal cheap labor? -And while I wouldn't call them "shitholes" many if not most subsaharan African nations ARE poorly ran and certainly aren't the most ideal places to live which is why so many Africans risk drowning just to cross the Meditteranian sea to get to Europe. Most of them are young men, who don't mind abandoning their families to poverty and corruption just ot flock to Europe, hopefully find themselves a European woman to marry and gain citizenship, and leave their troubles behind them......as opposed to staying in their nation and fighting to free it from corruption and poverty. Ofcourse we don't like it when racist Caucasians say these things, but I'm convinced that one of the main reason most AfroAmerican aren't as animated and hostile at they SHOULD be and out in the streets marching against Trump's rhetoric is because they know deep down he has some good points. Again, they don't agree with his MOTIVES but many do agree with his OBSERVATIONS.

This is not suprising. To be honest, it's rarely a good idea for the founders of establishments to leave their own children in charge of them after their departure anyway. Just because they're your children that doesn't mean they have the same intelligence, drive, and vision you have to even maintain the organization you started....let alone expand and progress it. This type of nepotism is one of the biggest mistakes Africans have historically made not only in business but even when it came to governing nations. Kings were always leaving their eldest sons or daughters in charge INSTEAD OF those who were most qualified to run the kingdom. And often times their stupid and reckless children ran their kingdom right into the ground unless a smarter and more qualified leader rose up from the masses, organized a coup, and TOOK the kingdom from the fools....which was often the case. I'm convinced one of the reasons the West has technologically advanced so far beyond many African nations today is because centuries ago they decided to abandon the idea of "royal rulership" based on family lineage and instead decided to choose their leaders based on how qualified and experienced they were. Sorry, but being "son of Badu" doesn't qualify yo ass to rule Wakanda......lol. But speaking of magazines.................. One of the FEW instances where passing down the organization from father to son HAS seemed to work is with Earl Graves' BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine! Despite what's happening to Jet and Ebony, under Earl Graves Jr. Black Enterprise is still going strong since 1970! I thought Emerge would have followed it's lead but apparently not.

Troy Yeah I like Kamala. She got that good hair Man, you crazy as hell.....lol. Kamala really isn't a bad looking sister when you look right at her but for some reason she doesn't give off any sexual vibes......unlike Michelle Obama who DOES give off sexual vibes. Mel Women worldwide change their literal body parts to look like black women. This is true. However this fact still doesn't negate or dispute the FACT that most AfroAmerican females suffer from low self esteem. How others feel about you doesn't always coincide with how you feel about yourself. Also, keep in mind self esteem and self worth is more than just about looks and whether or not you see yourself as sexually attractive. There are plenty of people who KNOW they look good and are attractive but still have very low self esteem and see themselves as worthless or unworthy. The fact that many young AfroAmerican girls have babies when they're not ready because they want someone to love and need them is evidence of them feeling unloved and even unworthy of love. They know they are sexually attractive and can get a man to sleep with them but they still have low esteem. Many AfroAmerican women refer to themselves and eachother as "real bitch" and "bad ass bitch" which they may claim is a term of endearment but really denotes a FEELING of moral inferiority or feeling that they are so low and unvirtuous that they may as well embrace their immorality. The psychological damage so many AfroAmerican women suffer from in this society is terrifyingly extensive. 　 FAS In the above you deny the beauty and body esteem not only black women, but countless studies have said is so. Black women, even those who look like one of Bey-Bey's kids, THINK they look good. Studies say they're HAPPY with their bodies. Your opinion says social scientists and the women, themselves are liars. 1. BEAUTY and BODY ESTEEM are two different concepts that you seem to be merging together and confusing and further projecting my analysis on your confusion. My comments were on the body esteem (self image) of AfroAmerican women which is generally poor in comparison to Caucasian women in this society.....not their actual beauty which in it's natural state surpasses that of Caucasian women. 2. Yes....I'm saying that for the most part BOTH the so-called "social scientists" as well as the women themselves are LYING. How many adults have you ever met who admitted they thought of themselves as "ugly" or "stupid" or "evil" even when it's clear by their behavior that this is how they REALLY thought of themselves? People can SAY what they like but all it takes is a little insight and experience to tell whether or not someone really values themselves or has a poor image of themselves despite their defense mechanisms. In your view, no one who looks like a sister could possibly think they look good. And that's sad, abysmal.....  Oh, is that my view? Well thanks for assigning it to me.....lol. I have never known any black kid to be 'stressed out' because a Chinese kid wanted nothing to do with them. Nor an Arab. Especially in high school where the MAJORITY of black kids are IN the majority in their respective schools, e.g., they, the black kids, are the jocks, the cheerleaders; they are the "most popular." Who cares about being seen with a Chinese kid when they can party with the black Captain of the Football team? As for college, please, link one study, even an ARTICLE! that agrees that black coeds are "stressed out" because Asians and Arabs socially isolate THEMSELVES, not the blacks, but their OWN yellow and brown selves. Again, your focus is on highschool which is more of a local microcosm......but as I said when these children venture out into the REAL world and have to interact with those outside of their community that's when the reality of racism and social isolation slaps them in the face. If you think AfroAmericans are perfectly happy living in a society where racial and ethnic groups chases after Caucasian friendship and acceptance while simultaneously shunning AfroAmericans, you don't know how human psychology operates. But speaking of highschool....... I'm not sure what highschools you've visited lately but when you speak of Black children being jocks and cheerleaders it sound like the OLD days when AfroAmerican children were in much better shape and had a better diet. Go to most highschools in America today and most of the AfroAmerican children are NOT cheerleading or playing any other type of organized sport. Infact most can't even swim. While these White boys and girls are running around playing soccer, lacrosse, on the row team, diving team, and all types of other sports.....many of our children are obese and out of shape compared to children of other races and the problem is getting worse in many AfroAmerican communities because the children are being taught they should be PROUD of obesity and embrace a culture of eating whatever they want. Where I live you see a constant herd of young White students running around the neighborhood with their shirts off practicing for track and other competitions.....when was the last time you seen groups of AfroAmerican children jogging together? Your contention was that black kids are stressed out because Asians and Arabs socially isolate, don't want to date, them, etc. The above is another topic.   Actually that was just ONE of a list of reasons I gave for why so many AfroAmerican children were stressed out. Violence, unstable households, misdiagnosed psychiatric problems and unnecessary medication are other reasons.

Troy The way you just rehearsed and role played the entire scenario, I think you've discovered a new talent in yourself ! If they want to be President...Kamala and Cory Booker need to hire YOU as a political stategist and debate coach.....lol. BTW, I've been "liking" and awarding people's post for the last couple of months. It's had nothing to do with Cynique's leaving but came after realizing how arrogant and selfish I was after reviewing the thread in which I was wrong about who invented the "turn table".

FAS It will be instructive to see if they/either share such sad, abysmal opinions of black women's psyches and physical attractiveness. What did I say about the physical attractiveness of Black women that was sad and abysmal? My statements were focused on how they felt about THEMSELVES; I don't remember commenting at all about their looks or attractiveness. 　 for the average black student being stressed out because some Asian and/or other minority student doesn't want to be their friend (lol!), I beg to disagree. Most blacks go to segregated high schools in the first place, thus have no non-white co-eds to stress about -- and if they have black friends, why would they??? As you point out, most AfroAmericans go to segregated schools.....another example of other races not wanting to be around us or have their children around ours....so ofcourse many Black students don't notice this contempt others may have for them. However when they get into the universities and see how so few other groups are willing to date or socialize with them THAT'S when the reality hits hard. Nobody lives on this planet and simply "doesn't care" what other's think about them. Very few people became stressed out by people who not only can't give them a job, but have no ability to harm them, at all. In many of the major cities of the United States today, Asians and Whites are the primary business owners and are incharge of employing most AfroAmericans. In many of the major cities of the United States there is a large and well documented history of Arab and Latinos attacking and harming AfroAmericans. Many AfroAmericans have been literally driven out of formerly all Black neighborhoods in Los Angeles by racist Latinos. 　 　 　 　 　 Mel I haven't met black women or girls who even look to Anglo women as the bastion of beauty. Throughout the ages, most women attempted to look Black -and were and are willing to pay to tan, get large butts, full lips, wide eyes, high cheek bones, be wrinkle-free etc. Even in the victorian age - large foreheads and wide hips were in fashion based on African women's natural... and let's not forget in the 50s and 60s perms to get curly hair were all the rage, From what I've witnessed growing up - there has never been a rush to look Anglo. Black women really like they way the look and in all sizes. Maybe some women lighten their brown skin but most of the time, it appears they do it to attract certain black men who fetish women with light skin. Nah, our looks are appropriated by women throughout the world, so no. We may have anxiety and stress but I doubt it's attributed to our looks. I understand what you're saying, but how do you explain Serena Williams, Beyonce, Mary J. Blidge, and Wendy Williams.....4 very prominent AfroAmerican women.....who not only STRAIGHTEN their hair from it's natural curly African texture but also DYE THEIR HAIR BLONDE from it's original darker hue? Surely women who are proud of their African looks and ancestry wouldn't alter their physical appearance to characteristics almost exclusely found in Caucasian women unless they saw these characteristics as superior. If AfroAmerican women weren't stressed about their looks why is it that Koreans are getting rich from selling millions if not billions of dollars in haircare products to AfroAmericans? Very low self esteem.

Sounds like YOU did a better job changing your own mind than I did.....lol.

Troy It's not my USE of race that is problematic, it's your UNDERSTANDING of it...or rather MISUNDERSTANDING that is causing problems. You keep looking at race through a CULTURAL lense which is a huge mistake. Race may influence culture but one has to do with genetics and phenotype while the other has to do with language, foods, experiences, and other behaviors. When I asked Maurice was he "Black"....if you noticed I capialized the word and put it in quotation marks to make it clear that I'm not using the term in a literal sense but in it's most commonly used racial sense. I also made it clear that I don't like using the word "Black" for a racial term. And your misunderstanding illustrates my reasoning for NOT being fond of using the word "Black" with regard to race......because it's an inaccurate term and often too confusing. Few people on this planet are actually Black in color, most are various shades of brown. Maurice Thank you. Is the East End of London where they speak Cockney?

AfroAmerican kids are very stressed out, they just express their anxiety differently than White kids. It's like those stats that claim that AfroAmerican girls have much higher self esteem and body images than White girls because very few of them suffer from anorexia or bulimia. That's not true at all. Most AfroAmerican girls have FAR less self esteem when it comes to their bodies than most White girls and the fact that they DON'T engage in many crazy diets and tend to eat what they want without obsessing over being "pretty" is evidence that many of them feel so hoplessly unattractive and beyond the standards of beauty in this society that they don't even see a need to compete. VERY low self esteem can make it to where you'll just GIVE UP and not care about your looks or body image. AfroAmerican kids are stressed out with the violence in their communitys along with being socially segregated by Asian, East Indian, and Arab students who in schools and universities often times have nothing to do with THEM but will readily be friends with White kids. Being told that you're not wanted or not worthy to hang around is damaging to the self esteem of most kids. AfroAmericans are often socially isolated in school and in society in general by other races and ethnic groups. AfroAmericans are just trained not to complain or "cry" about their frustrations because they figure no one will care or listen to them anyway....let alone do something to aleve their frustrations. They learn to "suck it up" at an early age and move on.

Man, I'm glad I saw this question before I ran out the door for lunch.......lol. To answer your question: no But that doesn't mean I don't consider her a "sista" in the colloquial sense because she's AfroAmerican. When I use the term "Black" or "African" I use it as a RACIAL term for people with a PREDOMINANCE of African ancestry. When I use the term "AfroAmerican" I use it as an ETHNIC term for those who have ATLEAST SOME African ancestry but grew up in America and share the common AfroAmerican experience. They can range from having only trace amounts of African ancestry to being 100% African descent with no Whites or Native Americans in their family tree. Cynique was just a typical light skinned AfroAmerican woman.....with Chinese eyes, lol.

Maurice Welcome to the site. With Trump, Boris, and that character down in Brazil....all you're witnessing is just an "unmasking" of the Satanic racism that was hidden for years. It's a strategy where they're trying to make it more acceptable to be racist in public. I have a couple questions for you...... 1. Are you "Black"? I put Black in quotes because it's a term I don't care too much for using. 2. Obvious most Africans in the West have familial roots in Africa but more immediately, since you're in the UK if you ARE "Black" does your immediate family come from Africa or the Carribean?

Well if she ran past your crib in what I presume to be running shorts....you've seen more of her physique than I have.

Try both......the beginning OF the end.

Ofcourse, because the average highschool student today is on as much MEDICATION as the average psychiatric patient from the 50s! Look at all of the medicine these kids are taking for autism, ADD, ADHD, manic-depression (bipolar), and other psychological problems.....and smoking weed on top of all of it! Besides all of this medication, I think the biggest cause of this anxiety is coming from their overwhelming use of social media such as facebook and Twitter. Most of these kids are totally addicted to it and their life revolves around it. Many of them rarely have actual human CONTACT. Another thing I've noticed is that the boys today take FAR LESS social risks today than they did when I was a kid. Approaching females and risking rejection just to be clowned on by some of your boys was actually part of the FUN when I was a kid, but now these boys are so sensitive that they are afraid of rejection and would rather stay in thier tight little circle of friends from school all the way up to adulthood rather than take the risk of meeting new people.

Well......... I understand exactly what you're saying and that you're feeling frustrated but as you said you LOOK like a Caucasian and it's for that reason that I'd have to advise you against this. As you pointed out, too often Anglo Amerians are quick to claim cultures and heritages that don't belong to them, but I've also noticed that among other ethnic groups like Latinos and Arabs it's often the lightest and whitests of those groups who seem to shout their ethnic pride the loudest. There are hundreds of thousands of Black Puerto Ricans running around New York and Jersey but I don't see a lot of them with the PR flag on or t-shirt on, they blend right in with the AfroAmerican culture.....but the Caucaians Puerto Ricans are up front waving the flag and organizing parades and repping their culture to the fullest. If you were an Afro Latino who looked more African than that typical "Latino look" I would no doubt advice you to promote your Puerto Rican heritage, but since you're on the opposite end I'm opposed to it. But again, that's just my personal view.

I'm glad to see this. This is the type of wake-up call these Latinos and Arabs need to let them know the REAL America and how so many of these Caucasians REALLY feel about them. I just wish Trump was doing this with Asians too. Since they like education so much Trump will give them a GOOD old fashioned education on White Supremist ideology American style. For decades AfroAmericans have been trying to tell these people about the racism that exists in this nation but they didn't want to listen and insisted that hard work and education and keeping their mouths shut would suffice; hell many of them even joined the Republican party and ran around calling themselves "conservatives". ........but now they're beggining to learn what time it really is.

Kind of like what you do for feminists, right? You don't speak for them...but you convey to us their likes and dislikes, lol. Chev To me this is just plain common sense. Mel Lightskinned and light eyed? Well....that's a start. You're on your way back home!

Sista is the spittin' image of Venus Williams. I thought Venus had gone Hollywood for a minute, lol.

If you're VISUALLY impaired, allow me to repeat my EXACT statement but with larger print: Actually I'm more like a Maroon......and far from the plantation Now if you're MENTALLY impaired, I don't think I can help you much there.