Facebook note about being black

February is Black History Month.

I am Black.

After being Muslim of course.

And, after being female of course.

I am a black person. And proud of it.

I would not choose to be born of a different race if human beings were offered such choices (& thank goodness we’re not or else we’d all elect to be Na’vi living on Pandora, don’t you know it!).

A professor of mine, a white American teaching in Cairo declared, ‘Women are the Ni****s of the world!". She was quoting John Lennon/Yoko Ono. I think black people are still the N’s of the world, actually, but I am also optimistic that this won’t be the case forever.

Fairly recently an Ahmadi Muslim reached out to me. If the reader is not aware, Ahmadiyya Muslims believe that there is an established Khilifaat and the caliph is alive and living today (Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community). I won’t pretend to know the intentions or hopes of this Ahmadi Muslim in regards to telling me the things he did, but the fact that their caliph lived in Ghana for 10 years (though he was born in India and is of Persian descent) was something that was brought up in our conversations. "In fact", the brother told me, ‘this man was the first to successfully grow wheat in Ghana, something which was thought impossible.’

When I read that, I could just imagine my fellow Black American brothers and sisters perking up at that information. I could imagine the swell of warmth in their bodies upon hearing such news and I’d anticipate that they’d be 90 percent more likely to open their hearts to what such a man like him (one that cares about the plight of ‘black folks’) had to say/teach.

There are a significant number of black Ahmadiyya Muslims, several of which are relatively famous, and I think part of their conversion to this particular sect of Islam is because of the void it helps fill in an _African American_; that is, in an abducted, slave-driven, beat down, brainwashed, racially targeted & disenfranchised Nigga. The same goes for the Nation of Islam (if not moreso).

Black people are still searching for their roots, for their heritage, and a sense of belonging in the modern global world. Black people want to feel a connection to Africa, they want to have a ‘back home’, they want to know the names of their fathers and grandfathers (at the very least). Black people are still gullible and self-loathing and confused. In 2011.

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And why not? It’s an established view, everywhere in the world, that lighter skin is ‘better’ and it’s a fact that blacks are more susceptible to society ills and disease, for whatever reason.

Still, as I said, I’m optimistic. And, we have certainly come a long way.

“we’d all elect to be Na’vi living on Pandora” — hahaha so true, I love that film. <3 I’ve never heard that in connection to John Lennon/Yoko Ono. But then it’s not like I know much about either of them. I have heard some feminists say that before, though. I mean, I’ve heard some people compare sexism to racism. It’s cringey/weird to hear. I don’t think it’s comparable. Maybe I’m missingthe point though but… I don’t know. I don’t have any understanding of racial inequality because I have no experience. I just think it’s sickening and thick/stupid to compare things of any nature to race. Well, within reason. I don’t know if this has anything to do with what your teacher was saying though.. But it just made me remember some of those feminists I have heard speak this way. Feminism seems like something which is dominated by white women. At least I’ve noticed that in the UK. I was watching the news and they had this white feminist on and she brought race into it. Well, the woman interviewing her was black & laid into the feminist & asked her a ton of questions about racism in connection to sexism. None of which she could answer haha. It was funny..

(CONT) to see the interviewer challenge the feminist on something she clearly knew nothing about. Watching the feminist pretend to be able to relate to racial inequalities and even claim to “know exactly how” the interviewer feels (yes, she went there) was both embarrassing, stomach churning and hilarious. Anyway, sorry, this is probably irrelevant to your post as I have no idea what the teacher was meaning! Just a ramble about something weird I remembered. This was an interesting read particularly about how black people view themselves in this world. I had read something somewhere about how some black people feel, well.. lost. It definitely makes sense given everything. Anyway, excuse my ignorant comment (I know it is stupid because I have no idea about topics of race or religion).. But I am optimistic too — although not right now because the crazy politicians here seem to want to mess around with such things (go figure). xoxo

ryn: Cavalierly indeed. I daresay she cares more about feminism because it is something which has a chance of affecting her. People are so selfish and ignorant ;..and if they’re not selfish and ignorant they’re avoidant.. or worse. Thank you for the nice notes. & I had never considered that before, about trust. You’re kidding me, my writing never seems right, to me. I feel the same way about yourwriting as you described mine in your note (the reason I added you). You are a much better writer than me & a lot funnier too. & you always have something thoughtful to say. (ok now, enough with being sentimental *slaps herself*).. I’ve noticed I always dislike anything I write. I think whenever a person reads something they have written themself, they dislike it. What do they call that? Something about green grass? Hope you’re having a nice day. xoxo