Could black Americans appropriate the African culture?

Appropriation. The latest word every one wants to use, hurling it at one another with faux intellect. read more

And it is a tragedy and a shame that more Black Americans do not explore deeply their African culture for they will find a legacy of Kings and Queens and everything in between which has as much color and drama as any European or Asian culture. read more

American education doesn’t do much to tell the story of African slaves in America, so many black Americans are unaware of the cultural ties to Africa. The same goes for Africans, who often don’t know much about the shared cultural signifiers between them and African Americans. read more

But cultural appropriation requires a degree of economic and political privilege black Americans simply do not have. We cannot oppress Africans, shame their cultures, claim it for ourselves and then decide it’s trendy. Even if we could, that's certainly not what's happening here, by any stretch of the imagination. read more