African when its convenient part 2

AFRICAN WHEN ITS CONVENIENT Part 2

The amazing feedback I received from my last post prompted me to continue this discussion.

I received mixed messages, some who agreed with me and some who totally disagreed and made their views very clear. Please read my previous post if you have no idea what i'm talking about.😀

I received one message in particular that really set me back and had me thinking. It was from a Man born of Liberian parents but who had never been to Africa. The closest He ever felt to Africa was His Mother's cooking and hanging with the Nigerian students He met in college.

For His own privacy, we'll call Him Alex.

Alex's argument was that I was promoting division by defining a line that tested ones 'Africaness', The same way the old-folks had the 'Congo' and 'country/native' divisions. If you're Liberian then you're familiar with these terms.

Alex told me He was Just as Liberian as anyone else and that He'd  never identified himself as anything else regardless of whether He'd ever been there or not.

Alex also explained that Americo-Liberians as they are often called have morphed their own identity that was Liberian but distinctly their own. This confused me greatly being someone who always saw things as either black or white. 

"Neither African Americans nor Liberians back home know what its like to work multiple jobs but still be in debt because they had an entire family to support " This part struck me the most.

Although I was tempted to disagree with Alex on this point, I kept my opinion to myself. He seemed very emotional during our conversation. Who knew that such a small piece of work would hit home the way it did?

  

Alex also shared with me that if  Americo-Liberians didn't embrace their African heritage they wouldn't drive for hours for funerals of people they had never met simply to be around their people and provide support in the hardest times. All of this left me feeling confused. Although He made some interesting points, I never intended to promote any division at all. My argument was that some Africans chose when they identify as African. For example at a job interview,  most Africans of dual nationality would conveniently forget to mention their African background because sometimes its simply not necessary, or during the Ebola crisis, many feared the stigma. However these same individuals would be first to post a picture of Emmanuel Matadi at the 2016 Olympics, hashtag #Liberiananadproud . 

To me, being Liberian is more than just having the Liberian flag in your Instagram bio. Handles like @libgirl @liberianqueen @realistliberian45 all bring smiles to my face. There are countless other examples.

 Being Liberian is more of a state of mind than a simple insta handle but maybe that's just me. Nevertheless  I commended Alex for reaching out to me. Eventhough I appreciate good o'l verbal sparing, providing a listening ear to a deep rooted issue made me feel  even better and Yes! I consider Him just as much my Brother as Kelvin who lives on Broadstreet. 😁

I'd love more comments from all of you and if there's anything you'd like me to share with Alex i'd be happy to do so. 

                                                                          With love, ZIYA💋💋