#GlobalBlackness

[trascapades]

🙌🏿#ArtIsAWeapon Sending love, congratulations and best wishes for a spectacular event to my creative, fly family @darnell13 & @demeatriastyle - I am there in spirit!! #FashionAFRICANA #AFRICANISM #GlobalBlackness

@charlylpalmer

@paultazewell

Reposted from @demeatriastyle Join us for an evening of #fashion, #music, and #art, and support FashionAFRICANA’s inaugural gala, AFRICANISM, on Saturday, November 25, 2023 at Pittsburgh Public Theater in promoting and celebrating Black creativity. Tickets: https://africanismgala.eventbrite.com

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Join us for AFRICANISM, FashionAFRICANA's Inaugural Gala! It's time to celebrate African-inspired fashion, culture and the creative arts in a glamorous evening filled with style and elegance. Our event will be held at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, where you can immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere showcasing and honoring the richness and vibrancy of the African diaspora through fashion and art. The evening will feature leading Black and African designers, artists and creatives. Dance to the rhythm of African beats and indulge in delicious cuisine. This is a can't-miss event for fashion enthusiasts and culture lovers alike. Grab your tickets now and let's celebrate AFRICANISM together!

#AfricanFashion #AfricanCulture #FashionGala #SupportCreativity #AfricanDiaspora

#AfricanDiaspora #ArtIsAWeapon #AFRICANISM #FashionAfricana #BlackCreatives #Celebration #GlobalBlackness #Pittsburgh #trascapades

[bad-and-brujii]

Do it for the culture ✊🏾✊🏾 #AMood #Repost via @motherlandconnectza #motherlandconnect #globalgrowth #travelingwhileblack #culturedAfricanAmericans #theblackexperience #southafrica #dubai #2017 #traveler #travelphotography #travelgram # #africandiaspora #globalblackness

#globalgrowth #theblackexperience #travelphotography #traveler #2017 #repost #culturedafricanamericans #africandiaspora #amood #motherlandconnect #travelingwhileblack #travelgram #southafrica #dubai #globalblackness

[caribbeangyalsrunit-blog]

Who Am I? Who Can I Be?

My alma mater, Hamilton College, prides itself on its motto of “know thyself.” I don’t know about other alumni, but I certainly know that my time there taught me not only to know, but also to name myself.

I remember in my first year of college we talked about naming in two of my favorite classes: Introduction to Africana Studies and Queers of Color. In those discussions I learned how different groups had been stripped of their power and named by another, and how they took on different names to reclaim that power.

Among my peers who were predominantly white and wealthy, I found it crucial to my survival to have others refer to me using the language I had claimed for myself. It was with this mentality that I approached my study abroad experience. 

Needless to say, I had to make some adjustments as I circumnavigated the globe over the course of a year, making stops in Spain, Vietnam, South Africa, and Argentina. In the United States I had grown accustomed to labeling myself as Haitian. Growing up in Miami, the American city with the largest percentage of foreign-born residents, it was not uncommon to hear people saying “I was born here, but I’m {insert nationality here}”. There, my answer to the question “where are you from?” was always “Haiti.”

This answer changed slightly when I made my way to the frigid north. It became “I was born in Haiti, but I grew up in Miami.” But then, when I spent four months studying abroad in Spain, I found my answers changing depending on my desire (or lack thereof) to speak to the person asking the question, the people surrounding me, and a host of other factors.

I should mention, too, that my first time using an American passport was on my way to Spain. I got American citizenship at age 18, and before that I always used my Haitian passport when travelling. When returning to the States, I was all too familiar with waiting in line for eons with other non-US passport holders. And so it was quite the change to be in the express line when coming back.

Throughout my travels I consistently found that people used the language they had access to in order to describe me. In Spain, when I was alone, most people would think I was Dominican or Equatorial Guinean. But then, when I was surrounded by my white peers in my study abroad program, I was quickly grouped in with them as American.

Something about this felt uncomfortable to me. It struck me as odd that I was only American away from American soil. And knowing that many generations of Haitians before me could not claim the identity for fear of discrimination, I fiercely clung on to the label. At first, I would correct them and say “I live in the United States, but I’m Haitian.”

At my internship in Spain, my boss would refer to me as “yankee.” I didn’t mind being labelled as a non-Spaniard, but it was the label of “American” that rubbed me the wrong way. When this happened I felt a deep sense of erasure. I tried to explain that, just as Spain had many immigrants from other countries, the United States too had immigrants from all over the world. 

As I continued my travels, my thought process around the naming of my nationality (as well as other parts of my identity) started to evolve. It was true that I wasn’t used to referring to myself as American, not even using the hyphenated Haitian-American. I’ve only started using the label within the last year.But  I was never really opposed to being American per se, I just knew that legally speaking, that wasn’t the case. And so I claimed the country that claimed me.

But our identities, and especially the privileged ones, are so much more complex than what we claim. How we navigate the world is dually and simultaneously constituted by what we know about ourselves, as well as what others feel they know about us. I was American abroad not only because I had lived as a Haitian in America, but because I wielded a passport that came with a history. That history allowed me to access countries with an ease that my Haitian passport could not grant.

  In spite of being born in a country that suffered at the hands of the United States, I  was still benefiting from U.S. imperialism and my American passport was only a symbol of that. As I made my way from country to country, I was less uncomfortable with being labelled as American because I grew to understand that it wasn’t a negation of my very real struggles as a Haitian immigrant. In terms of the space that I occupied in those countries, I was in fact American. And my nationalities, just like my other identities, are multiple. I knew this even though others didn’t. And I knew they couldn’t. 

This process of being able to speak about my privilege as an American is one I like to compare to being able to speak about white-passing privilege. American isn’t who I am in my totality, it’s what I can be. Similarly, whiteness may not encompass the entirety of someone’s racial identity, but white is something that my white-passing peers can be. And when it comes to the material advantages granted by Americanness and whiteness, how institutions name us can outweigh how we name ourselves.

In reality, it doesn’t matter if I identify as American. What does matter is that I have the passport-privilege of being an American. Make no mistake, this of course intersects with my many other identities. How I’m perceived as a black American-passing woman abroad is entirely different from how a white American man is perceived. 

And there are points in time where my Americanness is the least salient of my identities and I feel totally marginalized. In Vietnam, for example, people would stare at me wherever I went and take pictures-oftentimes without my permission. (And in South Africa, people would similarly other my Asian classmates) In those moments, they were not looking at an American. They were looking at a black person.

But this is the undeniably complex nature of power and identity. These dynamics are not static. They vary depending on the parties involved, their histories, and the overall context in which the interactions are taking place. These days when I travel, i’m becoming less concerned with asking “who am I?” and more focused on answering the question “who can I be here, and to whom?”

#Travel #GlobalBlackness #haitian #Haitian-American #American #Identity #Passport #SocialJustice #Globetrotter #BlackGirlsTravel #BlackGirls

[zorakatsdawta]

👑✊🏿🖤 #panafricanweekend #face2faceafrica #globalblackness #united (at Times Square, New York City)

#globalblackness #united #panafricanweekend #face2faceafrica

[chezzaouttanowhere]

I fuck with stewed shit. #chezzaouttanowhere #cookingram #berbere #foodisbae #foodislife #foodisreligion #globalblackness

#foodislife #cookingram #foodisreligion #chezzaouttanowhere #globalblackness #berbere #foodisbae

[adamsrib66]

AnjanetteSpeak 31 Days of GlobalBlack Feminism Ida B Well-Barnett from AdamsRib TV on Vimeo.

Another episode from my series “31 Days of Black/Global Feminism”.

[kohananails]

Kente 🧡 Check them out in @globalblacks department store in the @oshawacentre 💛🧡💛 . . . . . . . . . . . . . #nails💅 #nailart #nail #nailtech #nailsofinstagram  #pressonnails #pressons  #bowmanvilleontario #nailswag #oshawaontario #durhamregion #durhamnails  #torontonails #ajaxnails #pickeringnails #smallbusiness #onfleek  #blackownedbusiness #nailsoftheday #nailsofinstagram #smallbusiness #durhamregionhandmade #kente #blackhistorymonth #africanfashion (at Bowmanville, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/CaFSNmHuV9y/?utm_medium=tumblr

#nails💅 #nailart #nail #nailtech #nailsofinstagram #pressonnails #pressons #bowmanvilleontario #nailswag #oshawaontario #durhamregion #durhamnails #torontonails #ajaxnails #pickeringnails #smallbusiness #onfleek #blackownedbusiness #nailsoftheday #durhamregionhandmade #kente #blackhistorymonth #africanfashion

[maschultheis]

Weeksville Heritage Center: Megan Schultheis

This past weekend I was able to enjoy two of the four exhibits that were showcased their historical and cultural significance to all of society today. The three that I visited were the jazz, and funk exhibits. Among the three exhibits that I saw, they all managed to unify to blend in the the contemporary and historical elements to portray blackness as an identity is one cohesive exhibit. 

The first exhibit that I visited was what seemed to be the main attraction, the Funk museum, which combined the contemporary work of artist Xenobia Bailey and the historical importance of the first home to be owned by an African American. Bailey's exhibit was modeled in one of the many preserved Hunterfly Road Homes in the Brooklyn area. It was meant to be an 'urban reconstruction'  that remodeled one the historical homes to be made of "up-cycled" furniture. Bailey created and staged the furniture to appear as if a young artsy couple lived there with the help of the Boys and Girls High School. This allowed our young generation to not only take part in a community activity, but it gave then a first hand look at how life was different living in a house such as the one they decorated. By remodeling a possible home that their ancestors may have lived in, the students were given a slight glimpse of what kinds of life their ancestors may have led. 

The next exhibit that I visited was the very unique Jazz attraction which was very noticeable by the back end of the pink Cadillac. I did not see much of this particular exhibit due to the fact the speaker went on break, but from what I heard, he explored how music was a large cultural element that added to blackness as an identity. One of the topics that was broached was about how music effected black activism in the 60s and 70s. The man went on to explain that "society is a thermostat and movement is the thermometer. It reflects what the thermostat is showing." From my point of view, I believed that he was trying to explain that the music was the thermometer and the black activism was the thermostat. The type of music played during that time reflected upon the important events at the time. The music is a recording that can be played to reflect upon the important issues or topics of the time, thus making it an integral part of blackness as an identity. 

#globalblackness

[trascapades]

✊🏿🖤🥁🇵🇷💃🏿#ArtIsAWeapon #BlackLivesMatter #DancingIsFreedom #Bomba 🎥 Reposted from @teampuertorico EN LOIZA, PUERTO RICO. AHORA LO PUEDES COMPARTIR! ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 @team__latino #AfroPuertoRican #Boriqua #PuertoRico #MiGente #Liberation #AfricanDiaspora #GlobalBlackness #Revolution #BreonnaTaylor #TraScapades #ArtIsAWeapon #BlackMusicMonth https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEq298gJ3U/?igshid=1imhvgoijiaug

#artisaweapon #blacklivesmatter #dancingisfreedom #bomba #afropuertorican #boriqua #puertorico #migente #liberation #africandiaspora #globalblackness #revolution #breonnataylor #trascapades #blackmusicmonth

[trascapades]

🇧🇷💚💃🏾🔥#ArtIsAWeapon

#DancingIsFreedom

GIT IT #Dancer @ketulamello!

#Samba #Beauty #Strength #Power #BlackJoy #Glow

#Brazil

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Reposted from @ketulamello Quem aí está com saudade de quebrar tudo e fazer o Ketulão numa Escola de Samba? 🙋🏿‍♀️

#ketulao #imperatrizleopoldinense

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#Dancers #Fitness #Bawdy #BlackBeauty

#TraScapades #GlobalBlackness

#Instagram

[trascapades]

🌌📢🌍🎶🎙#ArtIsAWeapon #YallGonnaGetThisBlackExcellence #planetafropunk @afropunk #virtualfestival, this weekend, Oct. 23-25. RSVP for the full lineup of #music #art #conversations and more at link in @afropunk's IG BIO or

www.planetafropunk.com

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Reposted from @afropunk

We’ve created a virtual global hub with exciting #artists, #entrepreneurs, #activists, #speakers and #socialjustice #warriors that will keep you #informed, #entertained and #inspired.

We’ve designed a safe space for you, our community to celebrate and inspire, cry and shout, and to heal and motivate one another. All across the world we will connect in sameness and in difference to discover the joy in our Blackness. You can expect music and art, with the opportunity to circulate the Black dollar and support Black-owned businesses, as well as many in-depth conversations. These will all be the foundation of this global community’s three-day virtual reunion.

A HUGE thank you to our sponsors @target, @bose, @grubhub, @mauimoisture, @benandjerrys, @aarp

✨LINK IN BIO ✨

#AfroPunk #BlackMusic #BlackArt #BlackJoy #BlackCulture #GlobalBlackness

#TraScapades #ArtIsAWeapon #BlackGirlArtGeeks

#Instagram

[zorakatsdawta]

#Ghom Bop Part Deux aka Black Excellence en Blue. Shout out to my gracious “indigenous informants”! Pro-tip: Hood bars are the same everywhere lol 😂 #GlobalBlackness #DurbanNights #MyFolkLoveAGoodBlueLight 🇿🇦 (at KOKO BAR SOUTH BEACH)

#durbannights #globalblackness #ghom #myfolkloveagoodbluelight

[zorakatsdawta]

#GlobalBlackness #Diaspora #Repost @falzthebahdguy ・・・ 🇳🇬 THIS IS NIGERIA. 🇳🇬 Happy Democracy Day in advance! 🇳🇬 Shouts to Childish Gambino for the inspo. :: Director @Prodigeezy Producer @Sirwandethomas :: FULL VIDEO IN MY BIO!

#diaspora #repost #globalblackness

[ariesluna]

"Tell My Story" is a song about growing up as a Black Indian in America from talented Music Artist Maimouna Youssef aka MuMufresh of African & Cherokee, Choc...

#black indian #globalblackness