identity and pan-africanism

Author: Keishunda Curtis

Black Art, Circular Design  |  February 22, 2021

“Home is not where we live. Home is where we belong”.  African Proverb

At the opening of an art exhibition in London titled The Self (2019) curated by Makesa Kaizen, a panel discussion focusing on mental health and the male experience expressed the importance of identity in understanding and managing mental health within minority communities.  Discussions on themes of identity and Atlantic Africans with Dr. Clarence Maxwell, author of Prudent Rebels (2019), made it clearer the degree to which black people suffer from severe low self-esteem and an extreme preoccupation with self-image.  Because of this arguably, black people are physically, socially and psychologically fragmented and lack the unity, trust and love needed to amass power as a nation. 

Members of the black community are so divided, there is often no consensus regarding who is black or African, and many often deny, minimise, or outright denounce their blackness and or African-ness.  In contrast, there is little confusion when defining members of the European nation for example. This lack of cohesion on so many levels impacts the identity of Atlantic Africans.  Being foreign people, in a foreign land, with foreign values means that the intrinsic value of heritage and culture, which are essential elements of one’s identity, become more and more lost as the generations progress. Having no understanding that there is a common seed or thread between Atlantic Africans has resulted in an entire nation of people feeling lost, used and abused for centuries. 

When thinking of factors that have affected the identity of Atlantic Africans, the current climate in response to human trafficking being presented in the media comes to mind.  One who follows the news regularly in 2019 could hardly mention human trafficking and sex abuse and not think of Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged 17-year-old ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts. As a matter of context (which can somehow be skewed when dealing with black people and multiple studies confirm this), imagine that Virginia Roberts was forced to have babies for her abusers.  Now, imagine that these same abusers or maybe their sons and/or nephews then trafficked and abused her daughters and then her granddaughters and her great granddaughters and this continued for over 300 years.

As a personal observation, I find it so interesting how perceptions between England and her colonies differ regarding ethnicity.  When seeing a light-skinned black person in England, it is assumed that they are the offspring of one black and one white parent. However, when you see this same person in America it is more common that the person identifies as black and is the offspring of two black parents.  In UK there is almost a baffled look when identifying as black which to me relays a thought of how one can have such a mixed skin tone and still be of two black parents?  What is even more interesting is the point at which we stop acknowledging that light-skinned Africans in the Americas, and Caribbean are the result of human trafficking and rape?

I raise these factors to highlight the complexities and layers of influences that would affect the identities of Atlantic Africans.  Violence, trauma, displacement, trafficking and abuse has impacted these communities for centuries.  In a verse from American rapper Styles P (2005) song I’m Black he expresses that,

“Whether I’m poor or rich, or rich or poor
Though its all the same shit
(I’m black)
Even though my skins kind of light
That means my ancestors was raped by somebody white
(I’m black)”.

It seems there is an acceptance of the fact that identity is tied to racism and ‘whether poor or rich’ he is still perceived as black first and that shapes how he has learned to view himself and his environment. His method of repeating I’m black throughout the song appears to pay homage to his African heritage and at the same time demonstrating how a mix of influences and experiences have shaped him as black.  There is a lot to unpack; a collective awareness is required as the impact of legacies of violence and trauma have affected everyone.