Out of Africa

… the black Americans and the African immigrants — share the same hue, but they speak differently. They dress differently. They come from different cultures. Different worlds. Different experiences.

If ever there wasn’t a truer statement. These differences has fueled the tension between Africans and black Americans for years.

The reasons?

It’s all rather complex. But I don’t think it can be simplified in the way this Ronake Times story tries to tell it. Unlike the author, I don’t think it’s ”the story of different waves of European immigrants at the turn of the century scrapping among earlier arrivals to find their place in America. It’s the story of Boston schools in the 1970s. It’s the story of today’s virulent call for immigration reform that would build an actual wall along America’s southern border.”

I think the tensions go a little deeper than simple “intolerance” of those who are different.

There’s a great divide between Africans and black Americans. And it’s a cultural divide. Here are two groups that share the same roots, and at one point shared the same history … but there is more a misunderstanding of our differences, and why they exist that causes this tension.

Africans deal with people of different ethnic groups almost all the time. Basically every African country comprises of multiple ethnic groups, so intolerance of differences cannot be the reason for animosity on their side. As far as black Americans go … I can’t really say.

From my experiences, the tension has been due to being an “Oreo,” not speaking “black” enough, not relating to many of the common themes and ideals of black American culture. I experienced so much rejection from black Americans growing up, that I just avoided them in general until college.

On the flip side, I know Africans who do act like they are better than black Americans, stemming from the idea that we have culture and they don’t. And Africans hold many of the stereotypes and prejudices white America has against black Americans.   

There aren’t many stories out there looking at this tension, or seeking to even start a dialogue about how to bridge this divide. So it’s kind of a shame that this story I did find is so shallow in its analysis of the issue.

South Africa is seen as the most progressive nation on the African continent — at least in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, lately, the country has been in the news for a lot of things that aren’t considered so progressive.

For one, a lot of Nigerians are being killed and harassed in South Africa. How much of this is true, I’m not sure. But the Nigerian Senate is urging its federal government to issue a travel alert, and its definitely something to look into. South Africa, however, is listed as the country with the second highest number rate of violent crimes.

Also, here’s an editorial urging South Africans to live in harmony with foreigners, “in order to develop respect for human rights and bring peace and humanity to their communities.”

I went to the museum today with a group of about 20-30 Africans. Very few of them spoke English, and none of the volunteers spoke any of their native languages. There were no translators. The trip was planned by Karen Morris, who teaches “In Search of Africa,” a class at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She and her students wanted to share the art they love with the people of the continent they were learning about.

Only Karen could speak French, which some of the immigrants spoke, and therefore acted as the main communicator between the groups. But once the groups split up to explore the museum, communication wasn’t really necessary. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

What was amazing to observe was how the group of immigrants reacted to the art work. It was a whole new world. And ideals Americans take for granted were foreign to them. Something as simple as not touching the artwork, or not being loud. There was so much they hadn’t seen and so much they didn’t know.

And since they don’t understand English, they can’t read the placards to gain any understanding.

Overall, the day made me think about how helpless immigrants and refugees must often feel. Without programs to help them integrate in our society, they are lost.

Going to the museum also pointed out cultural differences that act as barriers between immigrants and the American community. One of the ladies had her baby on her back, which is normal in most African countries. She was told she couldn’t keep her baby on her back as she entered the museum. None of us could figure out why … it’s not a backpack, nor is it a baby carrier … but “rules” are “rules,” right? Eventually they found her a stroller to loan during our tour around the museum.

Also, they all wanted to touch the art work and peer at it closer, often setting off the alarms that remind people to stay back and not touch. They tapped on the sculputres, and pressed their faces against some of the glass. Luckily no security guards were around to go crazy on us … although a group of them followed us through an exhibit after eyeing us for a while.

Malaria is one of the top 5 killer diseases for Africans, even though unlike HIV/AIDS its completely treatable. But without access to treatment, and with no means to prevent the insect-transmitted disease.

This week, Laura Bush met with Congress to update them on her husband’s Malaria Initiative, a three year old Bush administration program aimed at reducing deaths in 15 African countries.  By 2010, the $1.2 billion program pledges to cut in half the number of deaths due to malaria.

The theme of World Malaria Day for 2008, which was yesterdy (April 25) focused on spraying to safeguard protection across borders. This is considered a somewhat controversial issue, since pesticides are often considered to be harmful for humans. 

It’s amazing how many African countries are currently undergoing one conflict or another. And often times, living outside of the continent disconnects us to these perils and the effects on a country’s people.

The Loyola University Museum of Art, here in Chicago, has an exhibit called “Be a Witness.” It’s a mix of drawings, letters, poems and artwork created by children in northern Uganda. While a lot of the artwork is basic pencil and crayon drawings that only a mother would find a masterpiece, they tell a story of a generation that needs a better tomorrow.

In the pictures, the children depicted a lot of violence — machete-wielding men, stick figures shooting each other, chemicals being dumped into a lake. And unlike children in the Western world who draw sometimes disturbing images as recreations of what they see on TV or in movies — these are images that northern Ugandan children have seen, have experienced.

The drawings are also of happy things — images of family, children playing. The dichotomy of it all amazed me. And for those of you in the Chicago area, the exhibit is well worth checking out.

There are also photographs of the children and their lives in Uganda taken by Dave Thatcher. He and Nathan Mustain are member of the student group, Invisible Conflicts, that brought the exhibit to Loyola.

I had a chance to speak with Nathan and Dave and learn a little more about their organization earlier this week. Its mission is to tell the stories of conflict that are ignored by governments and media. They also wanted the group to be about personal growth, recognizing that everyone has individual conflicts in his or her lives.

For more details about the exhibit and Invisible Conflicts, you can read my story.

Uganda is just one of many African countries suffering from conflict.  The Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sudan are listed as conflict zones. And Keven Sites, yahoo’s “In the Hot Zone” reporter, has Chad, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Angola, Burundi and Angola on his watch list for potential and/or brooding conflict.  

When and how will all this end? I must say that I am thankful for groups like Invisible Conflicts that seek to provide aid, not just for the major necessities (like food, clothing, etc), but for the future of these countries.

I don’t know too much about Madagascar as an African country. In fact, I’m sure most people think very little of this beautiful island when they think of the continent.

The first thing I learned about Madagascar related to nature. It’s the home of some of the most wonderful and vibrant species in the world. And if anyone has younger siblings, or used to watch PBS in the day, you might remember the show Zoboomafoo - he was a lemur from Madagascar.

The country is known for it’s biodiversity — which researchers hail as unique. However, according to this blog entry, that biodiversity is at the expense of the country’s people.

While the country is one of the top three “hot spots” for biodiversity, its people are some of the poorest. It’s also considered the most environmentally challenged. Out of poverty, many Malagasy are destroying the forests and the animals that are found no where else in the world.

In 2002, Madagascar was listed as the eleventh poorest country in the world, and an estimated 75% of the island population lived below the poverty line. Most of the children in its villages don’t go to school.

A lot has been done to save the environment. And a lot of promises have been made to save its people. But can both be saved equally and successfully?

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Patrick Augustin, the director of the Pan-African Association here in Chicago. We pretty much discussed the various issues facing African immigrants and refugees.

The association mostly helps Africans who are “fresh off the boat.” They help them find jobs, do any citizenship/green card paperwork, provide ESL lessons — anything to make the transition easier and help them in their new life.

Something I found interesting (and something I sort of picked up on while reading the book “What is What”), is how misinformed many of them are when they come to this country (primarily the refugees). They are told they’ll find everything they need here, and life will be easy. But for most of them, it’s not. Even after they have been here for years.

Many of the other issues we talked about are things I think all African immigrants deal with on some level or the other. For example:

• Situations were the kids become the “adult”: For a lot of refugees, the parents don’t speak English. Or at least, not a lot of it. Since the children are in school, they pick it up faster and soon are running the house, so to speak, because they know/understand how things work better than their parents. For a lot of African parents, also, they let their kids “live the American way” and more or less lose control over their status as parents — leading to their children being disrespectful and lacking discipline.
• Getting picked on: I got this as a child, and I was even born here. A lot of Africans have a hard time in school — either for the way they look, dress, speak (or don’t speak). In refugee situations, many of them are still grasping the language. Kids are brutal, and the child of an African immigrant often gets the short end of the stick.
• The high tension between African-Americans (black Americans) and Africans: whatever the reason, it exists. Africans really need advocacy to ease this tension. We may be different culturally, but we all share the same roots.

The director of the Pan African Association also talked about Pan-Africanism, something I’m personally an advocate of. When it comes down to it, Africans need to stick together and not let ethnic tensions or prejudices separate us. He mentioned how often times Africans in need reject their resources simply because no one from their ethnic group is there. There’s a separation and segregation between the various cultures. But to move forward in the Diaspora, Africans have to work together — be partners in their development. And if we think about … if Pan Africanism can aid the African outside of the continent, can’t it aid the African on the continent?

Christianity and Islam has infiltrated their way into African countries, leaving traditional spirituality by the wayside. A lot of traditional African religious practices are deemed as “primitive” or “evil” and if practiced, it’s done in concealment.

In this essay on the African Path blog, Kofi Akosah-Sarpong explores African spirituality - its history and its present. While it may have lost proud backing on the continent, in the diaspora its a different story.

Despite unkind words used to describe African religion, it has been moving on and accessed by most Africans, even those in the diaspora. While African religion and its deities are worshiped wholly in Africa, diasporan Africans, with their heavy mixtures of all sorts of neo-liberal values, have been mixing African religion with other Western religions perfectly – a feat that demonstrates the resilience of African religion as a global religion without any propaganda or fundamentalism or suicide bombing or the urge to convert anybody to its creed but as one sees it or feels it. African religion do not have problems with American social scientist Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations that argues people’s cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world.

In the United States of America and South America, among others, some think Jesus Christ is Black or African. In the Brazilian state of Bahia, where Yoruba’s Obatalahas been syncretized with Catholic’s Our Lord of Bonfim or in Cuba where Santería is the fusion of Yoruba religion with Catholic’s Our Lady of Mercy, African religion has been mixed with Christianity, especially with Roman Catholicism across the Western Hemisphere.

To Akosah-Sarpong, treating traditional African spirituality as “pagan” is part of the on-going problem of labeling everything African as backwards and leaves Africans with a lost identity. He doesn’t seem to think that Christianity or Islam are false religions in comparison to African spirituality, but instead feels outside religions should be translated through African spirituality.

I find his argument interesting just because, like him, I do believe that missionaries not only evangelized but also manipulated Africans in the spread of their religion. Whether bring back African spirituality is one of the keys to progress on the continent (which seemed to be an underlying part of his argument), I’m not sure. But it’s something to think about.

Obatala Santeria

A lot of black Americans hold some resentment toward Africans because our ancestors sold their ancestors into slavery 200 or so years ago. A lot of Africans cannot relate to racism or the culture slavery created for their American counterparts because none of that is a part of our narrative.

While slavery may not be part of many African narratives, for the people of Mauritania slavery is still very real part of their country’s cultural narrative.

One of my classmates posted this blog, which looks at how slavery in Mauritania is comparable to to slavery in the American South. It is an internalized institution where about 40 percent of the country are slaves. There an ingrained mentality of ownership that many of us imagined dissolved years ago …

The Olympic Torch left Argentina and is set to make its run in China-friendly Tanzania, where its expected to be a trouble-free run.  In landed in the country’s capital, Dar Es Salaam, which in Swahili means “Port of Peace.” This flows very well with the 2008 Olympic games’ theme “tour of harmony.”

Whether this “port of peace” should be a harmonious torch relay is a different story. Cities across the world have had held protests as the torch has hit their country’s shores. UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, announced he wouldn’t be attendingthe Olympic games. And Kenyan Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai said she had pulled out of the torch relay in Tanzania to protest China’s human rights record.