06.15.08
An Unconscious Discourse
AsSalaamu Alaikum,
I was inspired to write this blog when I read the post of ukhti Muslim Apple titled
Obama’s Blackness, The Convert’s Muslimness Part 1 .
It has been my observation the mankind naturally has the inclination to categorize,separate, and polarize what he sees and understands. Man naturally has the inclination to follow some type of order. In fact, it is very natural to do so. The day is not the night, night is not day, gas is not liquid and vice versa unless forced into certain conditions. When man acquires knowledge, he tends to differ from other men due to the knowledge and interpretation of which he accepts of that knowledge. Mayhem occurs when a set of men decide to force upon another set of men their interpretation, ideologies, beliefs. Such things are seen through out societies and through out history. Today, I will discuss one such aspect of this within a specific set of people, the people of the African Diaspora.
The African Diaspora, as I understand it, is the dispersal of innumerable African people throughout the world due to the subjugation of the oppressive crime of colonization and chattle slavery placed upon Africans throughout the last several centuries. According to some scholars, the diaspora itself as well as the conditions of slavery and colonization upon the peoples of African descent caused these pepole to have a crisis of identity,causing an unconscious discourse within the communities of people of African descent affected by the Diaspora. This unconscious discourse is too complex to be explained fully in one blog. I would like to introduce it to my blog and inshaAllah begin a dialogue about it.
This unconscious discourse, in my opinion, the struggle of people of African descent affected by colonization and slavery to find the identity of themselves and their people as a people. Such a discourse causes one to ask questions such as:
What is African American?
What does it mean to be black?
What is African about me, and what is American about me or my people?
These questions, in my opinion are formed because the question:
Where do I come from? -in terms of lineage,place of origin in Africa,etc.
cannot be answered due to the Diaspora.
So in essence black communities are left with a big if in the department of:
Who am I?
It’s not enough to say I am the descendant of slaves, when it may well be that those slaves may have been kings. Those slaves may have been muslims. Those slaves had an identity of which I have no relation to except for the blackness of my skin. This is not true. In fact, the identity of the slave, well at least some characteristics are embedded within the cultures of which benefitted from the oppression of African people, i.e. American Culture, British Culture,French Culture, etc. Specifically in America, things such as the musical instrument known as the banjo is actually an African instrument assimilated into American culture, so much so that most blacks don’t know of it’s African Origin. Foods such as Gumbo, stances such as akimbo and many types of body language are inherently ” African” or rather specific to the people and cultures of Africa. The skinny is… this is where the discourse lies. There is struggle to find out, to put together, to solve this enigma of who we are as black people. Unconsciously, in our seeking to better ourselves, by acquiring education, seeking a better job, speaking properly etc., we are actually seeking to be more like those who have subjugated our people to oppression. We separate ourselves and our people see us as not as ” one of them” because of it. This is not always the case,but this, is an aspect of the unconscious discourse. I pray I did a proper job in explaining this and I will be here to clarify, modify,and discuss. Right now I’m dizzy.
AsSalaamu Alaikum
Muslim Apple said,
June 15, 2008 at 5:37 am
Asalamu alaykum,
I consider myself part of the African diaspora, a part that is often overlooked. My parents are from Nigeria, we are from the Ibo tribe, yet I am an American by birth, schooling, and in many ways upbringing. I am African American, have dual-citizenship, yet many black Americans with almost no connection to Africa often question my Americanness with questions like “when did you come over here” or “where are you from” and Africans question my African credentials by saying that I am American not African. The issues of race and racial identity are indeed complex.
Abdul At-Tawwaab said,
June 15, 2008 at 6:01 am
Walaikum AsSalaamu Ukhti Muslim Apple,
As I stated in your so timely part 2 Obama post
, that is our struggle , this play on words as if we should question who we are. I am a decendant of Indigenous Americans and African slaves. I can trace back my maternal lineage to the first of us who landed to America, unfortunately where the ship picked my ancestor up is still a mystery. Such things don’t discourage me and I don’t need anyone to validate my blackness. Allah made me and His Authority over me is the Authority I submit to. Conveying that to my brothers and sisters in race is sometimes extremely difficult. The condition is so set,within our culture, we don’t see it. Fanon, in the book ” Black Skin,White Mask” recalled a period in Trinidad where glanced upon a darker skinned person on a bus, he himself being of the lighter complexion. He glanced at him with disgust, like who is this dark person? which caused in him an epiphany, I’m black like this person is black, why am I looking at this person with such disdain because he’s black? In so many we have been witnesses and victims of similar treatment, especially as intellectuals. But it’s a game you see, that’s skinny. Life must lived and the end of the day, blacks must realize that whole heartedly unconsciously and consciously that we are equal as men and women as humans to everyone and don’t have to classify ourselves by the standards of our skin color set by our oppressors.