Black Culture Discussion Thread

I don't think people are trying to dress like how folks in Africa dress.

It's more about rocking fabrics and patterns that are uniquely or markedly African. Things like the Dashiki or kente cloth.

Like, damn nobody hates when it's traditional Native American or Scottish fabrics. Why we gotta be all nitpicky?

What about when this was the wave in the 60's/70's? Was that inauthentic?

Why are we tryna rain on parades out here?

This thread is starting to take a turn...
No i responded to ur statement and corrected you. Those stylish-hipster-urban chic if you well types are not the geninue ones like 90s folks. These are the "different" hungry kind just looking to stand out for cool points of how interesting and "different" they look. They dont give a damn about Africa or African Heritage.
 
 
No i responded to ur statement and corrected you. Those stylish-hipster-urban chic if you well types are not the geninue ones like 90s folks. These are the "different" hungry kind just looking to stand out for cool points of how interesting and "different" they look. They dont give a damn about Africa or African Heritage.
truuu, it's the Americanized "African" look. 
 
I don't think people are trying to dress like how folks in Africa dress.


It's more about rocking fabrics and patterns that are uniquely or markedly African. Things like the Dashiki or kente cloth.


Like, damn nobody hates when it's traditional Native American or Scottish fabrics. Why we gotta be all nitpicky?


What about when this was the wave in the 60's/70's? Was that inauthentic?


Why are we tryna rain on parades out here?


This thread is starting to take a turn...


No i responded to ur statement and corrected you. Those stylish-hipster-urban chic if you well types are not the geninue ones like 90s folks. These are the "different" hungry kind just looking to stand out for cool points of how interesting and "different" they look. They dont give a damn about Africa or African Heritage.

I guess I'm taking the "anything is better than nothing" approach to this.
 
How is this solely an issue with the black community? :rolleyes

None of these traits are black only.

Lack of unity - Ask asians about the unity in their culture. They hate people within their own culture much less other asians.

Exploitation - America is pretty much run by big businesses. The reason ISPs may be able to charge for internet fast lanes and slow lanes as well as block sites that are not illegal is because the current head of the FCC is a former lobbyist for broadband/isp/cable companies. The ten richest guys in congress have net assets of 1 billion dollars. Many people in congress are lobbyist. In fact one that recently caught media attention is Eric Cantor basically lost to his opponent in the primary. Now he works for a wall street firm. His curent contract is worth 4 million over 2 years. If he ever goes back to congress he can quit and they will pay him anyway (because that is where the firm would much rather he be)

Glorification of Destructive behaviors - What race doesnt do this?

Hipocrisy in music - Dont listen to much outside rap so I cant comment on this

Lack of leadership - Dont think this is a black issue at all But there is about as much leadership here as anywhere else people just arent noticing black leaders. This has always been the case. There are black people in big brothers big sisters, there are black politicians, black business owners, etc.

Still doesnt stop these from being black issues as well as issues that affect other races.
 
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This sums up the shallowness of the whole idea. Have a rep sir.

Nigerian here. All of these shots were taken IN NIGERIA. My cousin and his friends

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That stereotype comes from the fabrics and patterns used in African formalwear OUTSIDE of a business setting. Which is only ever worn when fraternizing with other Africans in African social events. Even then they didnt do it right.

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I caught the "talks white", "oreo", etc jokes when I was younger.....ironically, the majority of it was from white kids tho.

Never, really had a problem getting along with black folk, no matter what their background is.

*'Ye shrug*
I dont get oreo but I did get talk white. If you are ignorant enough to call anyone those things you are too ignorant for me to associate with

Africans don't like us?

:lol

How many Africans have you even met to make that statement?

I can back him up. If I made a hierarchy of races/cultures my dad would want me to settle down with African Americans would be at the bottom and I would say his list is more or less the general list you would get from any African. But I wouldnt say it is because he is a racist. More like a xenophobic. Think of it the way fresh off the boat asians depict black people in their media since they are too xenphobic to befriend one


It is not all negative. In Japan there are subcultures of people who do want to be black but are so out of touch with black culture they have no idea how offensive their image of black culture could be to certain people.
http://www.vice.com/read/b-style-japan-desir-van-den-berg-photos

As you can see by my photos many Africans draw from African American culture.

Its a two way street. Africans and African Americans dont get along. I can't speak for Black Americans but it is usually the older Africans who hate black americans. The younger you are the less of an issue you have with black americans.

Can confirm. I am African, raised in Europe until I came here at 9 years old. Entire family is African but it is changing as my generation is getting older.

"New Black" :lol :{

You are still old Black to racists
:rollin

Besides Hispanic folk I really don't have that many friends outside of my race
In europe I had friends of all races. For the most part few people in London only have friends in their own race.

In America tho most of my friends over the years have been minorites but right now I mess mostly with hispanics but I have black and asian friends as well. This was not always the case. Friends and their races have changed over the years.

I think "New Black" is a reaction to this thing that's been happening for at least the past two generations.

Whenever you have a Black kid who's from an affluent family, or even just not from the hood, or if they're in the hood but they're parents are raising them to speak and act differently, they tend to be dismissed and ostracized as not really being Black.

It hapened to me alot. When I was living in a really bad neighborhood (For those Maryland heads, I lived in Pioneer City projects in Severn out in Anne Arundel County) I would go over to my friend's house and their parents would say to the kid IN FRONT OF ME "I don't want you hanging out with this kid anymore. He talks White and people are gonna think you're soft. I don't like how he talks. Why does he talk like that? I don't like that. Etc." These are grown adults telling their kids not to hang out with other kids in the neighborhood because they "talk white". That was a huge hit to my self esteem I'm not gonna lie.

Then I moved to PG County, which is the burbs, but I realized that Black kids in the burbs have the same complex. Since being from the burbs and having educated or well off parents is not accepted in the hood, all these kids I went to school with made sure to live as hood a life as possible in their million dollar homes. They went to the hood as much as possible, honored people who lived in the hood, and were straight up embarassed at they're parent's success. Alot of the people I went to high school with ended up murdered in the very projects they wished they were from. Alot of chicks I know are strippers in DC and Baltimore now, being as ratchet as they knew they should have been. Or they're just super regular living in the actual hood because they didn't add to their family's success.

I don't consider myself "New Black" or whatever simply because I'm not a joiner. I'm Knowledgebones72, I'm a book editor who works in SoHo who loves Air Max 1's and will take your broad if I've got a few gin gimlets in me.

I've been a 5%er, and saw through the BS of the people I was getting my lessons from. I'm sure if I ended up associating myself with this "New Black" movement, i'll find some reactionary agression toward those who said we weren't "Black" enough back in the day. So i'm just gonna do me, and hope that through my life and my work I can play whatever role possible in pushing the culture forward, and helping my people get ahead.

Repped, spot on.

Many black folks living in privilege are tantalized out of the suburbs. When I was in a suburban school it was nothing to see a black family move in, after working so hard to get out the hood, just to go back a semester or two later. People who were born in privilege often wish they were not in order to find a sense of belonging cuz you will not get it from white kids. Thats why if you are in a suburban school with a decent minority population (in comparison to some of the schools i have heard about in the north suburbs) you will notice everyone self segregates anyway. All the black kids hang out almost strictly with themselves and the hispanics, all the asian kids hang out almost strictly with themselves, etc.

Tho my childhood was up and down and up and down as my parents never really had a "steady income". Tho they were employed.

I've lived in the South side Chicago and been disrespected for not being like other ****** (basically being too european for them). I've been in the suburbs and been disrespected for not being black enough for but still being too black for white people. Like the Earl Sweatshirt quote "Too black for the white kids, too white for the blacks". But imo the disrespect you get from white people about this issue is worse than the ones you get from white people. From my sisters experience, it's the other way around.

I said in a different thread, that in my opinion, gentrified black and hispanic neighborhoods >>>>>>> suburbs. Yes I do effectively **** with self segregation, it is my OPINION, I understand fully why someone would have the opposite view. Do you. But if I was making 150k in NYC I would be living in El-Barrio, Gentrified Harlem, Gentrified Bed-Stuy/East Williamsburg(NOT Bushwick) (forgive me if I am mixing up the neighborhoods) before you catch me in the suburbs in Queens or anything like that, cause I am not going through that suburban ******** again. But I have no desire to live in the actual hood either.
 
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Once again, this is NOT a case of people going "this is how they must dress in Africa! that will make me REAL Black!"

It's more "these fabrics and patterns are disctinctly African, and I think that's pretty cool as a Black person."

I really think you guys are taking it the wrong way. It's more of an homage to the OVERALL cultural heritage that most American Blacks have no real way of connecting to.

I don't get why cats in here are trying to be so exclusionary. This is the Black culture thread, and cats are actively trying to make Afrocentrism cool, and cats are sitting around hating.

Once again, something is better than nothing.

Like, jeez.
 
If becomes cool to rock traditional African fabrics and patterns, I really dont see a downside at all. Except recieving hate from people who have opinions on how Black I really am and decide how much I know about Africa without any evidence whatsoever.

Let's UNITE, ya'll. Let's INCLUDE anyone trying to push connection with Black positivity and EDUCATE eachother.

I just don't understand the DIVISION going on in this thread. If there's any place that should NOT be accepted, it's the Black Culture Thread.
 
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I feel you, bruh. I specifically moved to Upper Marlboro.


So...yea....pushing Black Culture in a better direction....let's talk about that.
much better. I still dont like the idea of New Black.

I don't like the suggested ideology behind the whole "New Black" movement. Racism and Eurocentrism is still VERY strong in this country and the Western world at large.

I do, however, like the idea of evolution in the culture of Black America. Unfortunately, through my own research into who is pushing the "New Black" message strongest, it seems like the term they should be using is "Acceptable Black by America's standards", and "New Black" should be left up to those a little more interested in bringing everyone forward into new ways of thinking, as opposed to what appears to be bringing themselves closer to who they'd rather be around and farther from those they would rather refer to as "Those Black people."
 
Hustle. Fight. Intelligence. Swag. Food. Fun. Heart. Athleticism. Creativity. Fearlessness.

I don't need a dashiki to be proud of that. If you do, do you.

Moving forward.

Education. Skills. Money management.

Even more base.

Urban farmers markets. After school jobs. 16-22 year old job training centers. Unions. Home ownership for lower middle class. Increased police training.


Personal level

Educate yourself. Gain at least one trade skill. Eat healthier. Criticize everything. Learn your rights. Hold yourself to the same standards you hold others. Self reflection.
 
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Once again, this is NOT a case of people going "this is how they must dress in Africa! that will make me REAL Black!"

It's more "these fabrics and patterns are disctinctly African, and I think that's pretty cool as a Black person."

I really think you guys are taking it the wrong way. It's more of an homage to the OVERALL cultural heritage that most American Blacks have no real way of connecting to.

I don't get why cats in here are trying to be so exclusionary. This is the Black culture thread, and cats are actively trying to make Afrocentrism cool, and cats are sitting around hating.

Once again, something is better than nothing.

Like, jeez.

Im not saying people are doing it to be real black. I'm saying the mentality behind the people creating those shirts is: Use of bright colors and imagery from Africa? "Dressing African"

The third PICTURE is the only ones doing it right. Didnt watch the videos but besides that none of that **** resembles anything an African would wear.
 
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This is the first time I have ever heard new black. All black people know new or old black dont matter in anyone's eyes
 
 
What the hell is a "new black"
Its when your black, but your not really black. In other words, its describing the new generation of educated blacks or exposed blacks who are surprassing the sterotype.
"The New Black doesn't blame other races for our issues."

- Pharrell Williams 
As if to confirm that he has reached an otherworldly level of fame, Pharrell Williams  has aligned himself with an entirely new race of human being. The ubiquitous star spoke to Oprah  last week, blubbed while watching fan videos of Happy  but, most curiously, defined himself as The New Black. "The New Black doesn't blame other races for our issues," said Pharrell, one of the world's most successful musicians, to Oprah, billionaire queen of the world. "The New Black dreams and realises that it's not pigmentation: it's a mentality and it's either going to work for you or it's going to work against you. And you've got to pick the side you're going to be on." It's a comment that not only suggests he has a library full of Deepak Chopra books under that hat, but that also highlights how daft it is when a millionaire attempts to speak for an entire race.

In response, writer and blogger Feminista Jones  created the Twitter hashtag #whatkindofblackareyou?. Via email, Jones says that while it's admirable to believe that black people can now transcend race, Pharrell's comments are ultimately a "slap in the face" to people who do not fit in with his narrow ideas.

"Acting like there is any one way to be Black is as problematic as acting like Blackness can be redefined because one celebrity says it is," Jones explains. Her hashtag touched on the plurality of people's experience, with definitions shared online ranging from the lighthearted ("I'm the 'How tall are you? Do you play any sports?'") to the pointed ("the kind of Black that gets fed up with disconnected Blacks like  @Pharrell  not recognising that they are Black too"). As Jones says: "Some of us love being black and recognise that we are a diverse group of people with some shared experiences to which many relate and are proud of."

Even if Pharrell's public persona suggests he does not live in a world where he encounters many "isms" on a daily basis (take when he told the Guardian  that the video and lyrics of Blurred Lines were "not objectifying" for example), his take on The New Black seems incredibly naive, if not damaging.

At best, his inner hippie needs to check its privilege, at worst he is denying racism through the demarcation of Old Black and New. Jones herself is OK with not being labelled by him, though. "I know what kind of Black I am, and it isn't 'new' and I'm proud of that."
Source
I get it, Pharrell Williams is happy.  He’s happy his “Happy” song eventually topped the charts. He’s happy that people embrace his “singing.” And he’s so happy he cried tears of joy during a recent Oprah Winfrey interview when he saw other people sing his song.

Everyone loved that segment.

Pharrell, Oprah, and tears–ratings gold.

But outside of the clip, Pharrell had some interesting thoughts on what he refers to as the “new Black:”
The “new black” doesn’t blame other races for our issues. The “new black” dreams and realizes that it’s not a pigmentation; it’s a mentality. And it’s either going to work for you, or it’s going to work against you. And you’ve got to pick the side you’re gonna be on.
Hey Pharrell, let me borrow those rose-colored glasses for a minute.

Last time I checked being Black was more than just a mentality. If that was the case, then I could choose to be just about any other race because, you know, my mentality wants to be White on Friday, so I can use White privilege for just one day.

Frequent Clutch  contributor, Michael Arceneaux  (@youngsinick) read Pharrell for filth on a recent Facebook status:
Y’know, I’m tired of these rich, disconnected Black men (this means you, Kanye West) denying the lingering prevalence of racism to the amusement of whites whose attention they so desperately covet. I wish celebrities’ opinions didn’t matter so much, but they do frame the culture & Pharrell’s bulls–t is poison. Structural racism is real, struggle vocals and the mix and matching of refrigerator wisdom over an uplifting beat be damned. In sum, Pharrell, grow up, or at the very least, shut up and “sing.”
And there’s the problem. These artists don’t live in reality. Maybe Pharrell should ask some of the Black guys that are in the Virginia Beach area, just how “new Black” they were when they were being racially profiled.  I’m sure  they”ll be happy to explain it to the cops while they’re on the side of the highway with the contents of their car being searched.

It’s almost like these people become famous and get to walk around with a shield that guards them from racism, or they don’t watch TV and see the victims of racism on the news. Hell, even Oprah should have mentioned the fact that she was recently on the receiving end of racism during a recent high-priced shopping trip.

In response to Pharrell’s comments the hashtag #whatkindofblackareyou was formed.

Not everyone agrees with Pharrell’s description of the “new Black,” but freedom of speech reigns supreme, so he can be whatever kind of Black he wants to be.

I, on the other hand, will be the kind of Black person that calls it all ********.
Source

[h2]  [/h2]
[h1]Howard University Professor Isn’t Super Impressed with Pharrell Williams’ ‘New Black’ Comments[/h1]
June 18, 2014 4:23 PM

[h4]  [/h4]
[h4]Related Tags:[/h4] GQnew blackOprah WinfreyPharrell Williams

By Brian Ives

Pharrell Williams  raised a few eyebrows over his statements about race in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, particularly his use of a term “the new black” — and a prominent professor at Howard University isn’t really buying it.

The superstar said in the Winfrey interview that “The new black doesn’t blame other races for our issues. The new black dreams and realizes that it’s not a pigmentation; it’s a mentality. And it’s either going to work for you, or it’s going to work against you. And you’ve got to pick the side you’re gonna be on.”

He discussed this same topic in his GQ cover story: “This is the new black. Oprah Winfrey: That’s the new black. She’s a black billionaire. President Obama: He is a black American president. Regardless of what you think about him, this is his second term. That’s the new black. LeBron James: the first black man ever shot on a Vogue cover, a black man. Me: a guy that’s written a song at 40! Nominated for an Oscar, four GRAMMY awards — at 40! That’s the new black!”

Response to his term “the new black”  has been strong, inspiring the twitter hashtag#whatkindofblackareyou, and The Root  offering  “25 Alternatives to Pharrell (or Any Other Celeb) for Insights Into ‘the New Black,'”  listing links to people and organizations “Who care about these things, study these things, talk and report and write and educate on these things all the time — not just when Oprah asks.”

Dr. Greg Carr, Howard University associate professor & chair of the department of Afro-American Studies, reacted to Pharrell’s “new black” theory in a new interview (via HBCBuzz) — and doesn’t seem impressed.

“My first impression is, this is a young man who is an excellent marketer,” Carr said. “I don’t think that Pharrell believes that there’s a ‘new black.’ Perhaps there’s a new opportunity. If he thinks there’s a ‘new black,’ I think  a quick perusal of history, particularly style makers and culture keepers in black communities in this country, will reveal very quickly that that’s been an ongoing conversation since enslavement.

Related: Pharrell Apologizes for Wearing Native American Headdress on the Cover of Elle UK

“It’d be interesting to visit Pharrell — and others — in, say, 30 years from now… and see if perhaps he might be more conservative.”

Dr. Carr was asked if it is possible for African-Americans to be aware of the past and not have it  have a major influence on life today — and he says it’s not structurally possible.

“For every heroic individual who succeeds, there are countless others who continue to struggle and be oppressed in their system,” he said. And he points out that while there are successful African-Americans, that has been the case for a long time: “Even during enslavement, you had a tiny fraction of black folks who had negotiated some space for themselves, to exist in the system. Same thing during Jim Crow. Same thing today.”

He poses a question to those who have tasted success on Pharrell’s level: “Are you really attempting to live a life that improves conditions for other people, beginning with the people that you come from? Or, are you just trying to enjoy your life, provide for yourself and your family, and have some fun before you close your eyes?

“The spectacle of blackness has always been something that society has grasped and wanted,” he continued. “We can go back to the 1840s. One of the leading performers in this country was a guy named Thomas ‘Daddy’ Rice, who used to blacken his face, he called himself ‘Jim Crow.’ He was one of the biggest performers in this country for doing dances that he said black people did.

“Fast forward 170 years, and you go on the Billboard charts. Is there anyone bigger than Robin Thicke? No! Do we see Miley Cyrus twerking? Yes! What does that mean?  Blackness has always been a commodity. And there have always been individuals who represented that kind of titilating proximity to blackness that people have wanted. So us being on GQ  covers and being billionaires, that’s almost predictable. As Greg Tate wrote, ‘The thing about blackness, people want everything from blackness… but the burden.” Pharrell is saying, ‘Look at Obama.’ Yeah, look at Obama! And look at education. Look at Obama, and look at the prison-industrial complex. Look at Barack Obama and ask yourself a question: what has improved for the masses of black people in the six years of the Obama presidency. But people like his style! They love his wife’s style! The kids of beautiful, the mother-in-law’s in the White House. That’s improved the life of one family.”

Pharrell has not responded to Dr. Carr’s comments.
Source
 
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