We went out into the streets of Seattle to ask Black people, “What is one word that describes being Black in America?” I wasn’t expecting any specific type of answers. Some surprised me as Black people responded: King, Beautiful and even Hebrew. The wide variety of answers alone illustrated the complexity of the Black experience in America.
The captivity and dismantlement of Black people and Black culture in America is the reasoning behind my original answer to this question. Slavery, segregation and mass incarceration has produced a complex experience for all those who identify as Black in this country. What even is Blackness? We know that it’s non-whiteness for sure, but what else is it? What is it made of?
Melanin, Sugar and Spice, I suppose.
“We’re the only culture who don’t know our history, we don’t know our original tongue where we come from or anything about our original past,” one participant told me, “All they’ll tell is ‘you’re from Africa’.”
Even with this knowledge (or lack thereof) each participant was proud of their Blackness, unashamed, unafraid and undeterred by the painful history behind the mystery of what Blackness is, or was before it was torn apart by Western Culture. “I love being Black in America…think about it, that’s why they’re scared of brothers. What can’t Black people do?” Another participant stated before listing out Black men that leaded in each industry ranging from business to entertainment and sports.
Regardless of this Blackness is a gift. We may not have the privileges of Western (white) culture, but now we have the power to define what Blackness is ourselves.
Watch this episode of TaleTV’s Tale Us to see what people have to say.
