Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 1, 1993 TAG: 9302010270
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
DISCOVERING AFRICA
A frica, to many Americans, is simply a blip in the news, with reports of violence and horror in Somalia, South Africa or Liberia. But in the hearts of many black Americans, Africa means more than occasional news flashes.Still, many young blacks admit they know little about the continent.
Their images are general and vague, and they sum it up as a land once belonging to kings and queens now suffering the tragedies of famine and apartheid.
Today, the mysteries of the "dark continent" are unfolding, and schools are trying harder to include Africa in the chronology of human existence. Until now, say black students, the history of their people in the textbooks began with slaves being shipped to America and ended with the Emancipation Proclamation and a brief mention of the cotton gin in between. Some are going beyond the classroom and discovering Africa as their homeland.
Virginia Tech student John Curtis X believes in increasing African consciousness. Black Americans are stolen children, he said, who must become reacquainted with their motherland.
White people have asked him, " `Why should you be proud to be black, to be African American?' But it's not like being Irish American. Africa is a diverse continent of a number of nations." It's not a case of connecting with a particular country, it's connecting with a people - with a consciousness, he said.
Others say blacks should focus on securing a strong future in a land they've inhabited for more than three centuries.
"It is important for people to study Africa," said Coretta Alexander. "But we can become too obsessed with what goes on in another continent. We have a rich culture and heritage here.
"I'm an American of African descent, and to say I'm an African person is inaccurate," said the Hollins College student.
Alexander said blacks should have a greater tie to America because many have American Indian blood. Her great-grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee.
Mark C. Jackson, a senior at Virginia Tech, agreed. Sometimes blacks get caught up in the splendor of Africa and forget about the suffering black Americans have experienced in this country, he said.
His generation never will see the shores of Africa unless they get a good job and make lots of money, he said. Instead of dwelling on what was once their home, blacks should work toward a secure and positive future in America.
"We look back to Africa because that's where the positive is." That's how blacks respond to people who say blacks are a watermelon-eating, lazy race, he said. It's fine to learn the history and recognize the contributions of Africans centuries ago, but "why can't we do things for our children so they can say look at what our parents did" instead of going back to ancient times to find accomplishments, Jackson says.
There is some confusion among many young black Americans as to which land - Africa or America - to accept as their homeland, said Radford professor Reginald Shareef. But it's not a case of accepting one and rejecting the other. It should be a combination of embracing the past and the future.
The negative images of Africa projected by society "makes us ashamed to connect" with the continent. Other ethnic races continue to bond with their heritage regardless of how long their families have lived in America, Shareef says. Black Americans should do the same.
The Kente cloth, a brightly colored fabric from West Africa, has become popular in the black community and represents a link to Africa.
However, some wonder if it's merely a fad.
John Curtis X explained it as "a superficial way to reunify themselves with the past."
Shareef agreed and used former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry as an example. Barry "clearly violates the law but attracts people back to him by wearing [Kente], but his behavior doesn't do justice to the clothes."
During an African day at Patrick Henry High School, sponsored by the African American studies class last year, students had the opportunity to wear genuine African costumes.
The clothes were brought to the class by a family from Ghana, said co-instructors Robin Neamo-Parker and Fletcher Nichols. The Ishangi Family Dancers of Africa brought about 100 costumes and a variety of instruments, and performed at the school. They are scheduled to return March 5.
Last year, students wore the traditional African styles all day. Neamo-Parker and Nichols said they saw their students walking with dignity in colorful knee-length robes from West Africa. They had learned the traditions and names of each color and style.
"They weren't invisible anymore," Nichols said.
"And they got a very positive reaction from other students," Neamo-Parker added.
Not only black students were changed by the experience. White students who take the class said they changed their misperceptions of black Americans. The class introduces students to items in American culture that came from Africa, from music and language to mathematics and science.
They are overwhelmed with the information, and many black students spend the first three weeks angry at what they never had been taught about their own people, Nichols said.
The class dispels myths that Africa is backward and primitive. This misconception, said Ugandan native Joshua Rubongoya, was started in the textbooks.
The media portray Africa as "a land of tragedies and political instability," or as a jungle filled with wild animals. That's what sells in America, said Rubongoya, who teaches African politics at Roanoke College. There is a wave of grassroots democracy sweeping the continent that is never mentioned in the news.
When Rubongoya came to America, he said, he soon discovered that black Americans cannot relate to Africa "because it's really two different worlds and takes a lot of raising of consciousness to understand the values."
Rubongoya, a television reporter and announcer in Uganda, arrived in the United States in 1984 to get a doctorate in political science at the University of Denver.
While in Washington, D.C., he was pleased to see so many black Americans, but after three weeks, "I realized I had to do a lot of homework for further communication."
He discovered that black Americans were culturally American and not African. "I was very disappointed."
There are countless differences between Americans and Africans from the food they eat and how it's eaten to the way they sit - in Uganda it is considered arrogant to sit with crossed legs.
Family values may have been a hot topic in American politics recently, but family is the basis of African life. An African identifies himself as "the son of so and so, and born in such and such a place," not with a social security number or profession.
The African family unit is strong and could be an example for Americans to follow, he said.
In America, income yields respect and the elderly are sent to nursing homes, but Africans pay great respect to their elders and ignore income. Black communities would make more progress if the family unit was not disintegrating.
A strong family unit was once the mainstay of black communities. "It's only recently that black Americans have bought into `I'm not responsible' behavior," said Fletcher Nichols. As a child, his family included the church and school and all rallied to get him to college.
It has been only a generation or two since that family support started to decline. Today, "America doesn't think that all children are America's children," Nichols said.
Most young black Americans believe society has placed a cap on what they can achieve in America, he said. But African students know their past and as a result are confident about their future.
Many blacks are ashamed that they don't know more about Africa but it's not their fault, said Travis Williams, a junior at Radford University. Schools don't offer much incentive to learn more than the brief lessons on black history.
He believes it is the schools' responsibility to teach young people the role of Africa and black Americans in history. But admits families should play their part.
He learned from his mother and friends at church about some of the contributions of blacks. When he was 7 years old his mother told him that Charles Drew, a pioneer in blood plasma research, died in a segregated hospital because it had no plasma that would have saved his life.
"I'd never learned that anywhere else," Williams said. "Little by little I'm learning, I'm making a conscious effort."
Many students complain they can't find information on Africa, but that's a cop out, says Shareef. The books are there - Gainsboro library in Roanoke is an example - but it takes time and effort to find and study them. Black Americans must stop blaming society for their ignorance, said Shareef, and teach themselves.
"If you don't have a handle on yourself and [your] history, you feel insecure," he said. "All you know is that you landed in this country in bondage."
Knowledge yields a positive self image, he said. For him and others the bottom line is self determination.
CINDY PINKSTON/Staff
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