African Americans and Africa

Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang

African Americans in search of Africa either as tourists or with the intention of settling there permanently, must prepare a business plan that will help them achieve their goals.

Saying they are going to see the motherland is not enough, because Africa is as different as various U.S. states; countries of the European Union; kids from the same parents; fish in the same pond or vegetables from the same seed.

Some African Americans have gone to Africa to work in U.S. embassies, non-government organizations (NGO’s), media or armed forces. Some married South Africans or Nigerians that were in exile in the U.S. Ordinary folks don’t have that introductory course.

The best way to see the Africa in their business plan would be to visit someone they know, let’s say Lupita Nyong’o is their friend. Then they will see Kenya in all its glory and gory.  

Italian Americans, Polish Americans, Irish Americans, Cuban Americans, Pakistani Americans and all double-digit Americans have the added advantage of family ties in the old countries, so parents can always arrange for someone to host U.S. family members.

Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

African Americans do not have that umbilical cord. They are the only Americans with no ‘family back home’ because they were wrenched from Africa and padlocked in chains.

RECEPTION BY AFRICANS
The business plan is important because it will determine how they are received by locals, especially if they have the same facial features as locals.

Most tourists usually land in cities like Lagos Nigeria, Lusaka Zambia or Johannesburg South Africa. They move out to the interior after a few days, if the business plan calls for visiting out of town places of interest like game parks or ‘cultural’ villages.

One reception is familiarity, where locals talk to African Americans in Zulu, Swahili or Yoruba because they look like them.

Trouble starts when African Americans reply in English then the wish list unfolds, especially young people: they would love to go to America; they gush about their favourite basketball stars, rappers and reality shows of the bold and beautiful people. Some even come up with some accent they think is ‘American.’

The African middle class might be mad at African Americans from being born in a country that still regards the continent as poor, despite its minerals America and Europe mine for free by paying miners in local currency while they sell gold and platinum in Stock Exchange currencies.

People don’t go the same direction like water (African idiom) therefore, there is a section of the African middle class that is happy with the U.S. because they control U.S. hamburger and coffee franchises in the continent.

Visiting African Americans are therefore in a quandary.  They left America to find a slice of Africa only to discover that the U.S. has the whole loaf.  

It has nothing to do with the internet either. America has long marketed itself through movies, radio, television, newspapers, magazines and music, before the internet got here.

THE OTHER AFRICA
The business plan we mentioned earlier might call for a visit to the rural areas. This will be much easier in South Africa because of excellent roads, even in residential areas where black people were forced to live during legal racism, called apartheid.

African Americans must brace themselves for another shock: the dollarization of rural Africa. Five, 12 year-old girls wear weaves in their hair so that they can throw back their ‘long hair’ or tuck it behind their ears like white girls, damaging the hairline around the forehead very early in life.

Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Herd boys, who used to teach younger ones about animals; milking cows; the land; wild poisonous berries and wild fruit they can eat; culture and customs are now glued to their phones visiting the world, mainly America because of the English language.

WHAT NEXT?
Disappointment. That might not seep in if the personal development, was the primary focus of the ‘Visiting Africa’ business plan. Personal development as in understanding yourself better.

l Why did my great grandmother bury her children’s umbilical cords behind the house?

l Slaves in the south prayed in the forest away from gun-slinging masters. How did they worship and what is the connection with what they remembered about Africa?

l Why did the old black folks in Georgia or Michigan throw a drop of liquor on the ground before they drink the bottle?

l Why did the old folks beat drums and sing in the street during funerals?

l Why do many black men like women with a certain physique?

l Why do Baptist church members respond to preachers’ sermons with grunts, Amen’s or ‘teach?’

l Why did I give my kids African names like Khanye West’s parents? Khanya is a Zulu name which means be bright/you are the light.

l Why did the original street break-dancers perform in a circle, one enters the circle, does his thing and make way for the next dancer?

l Where does the storytelling or eulogies in rap come from?

All the above does not apply to all African Americans because they have their differences based on class, religion, economic circumstances or not even liking the idea that they are black.

Despite the differences, they enjoyed Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther directed by Ryan Coogler. The box office said so. That is why it is a must to have a business plan before you visit Africa. What do I want from this trip?

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang
Author:  Sweetness, a South African novel.
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