TCUBE:

why are africans losing their id's in the west?, I think the image of africa in the west is so terrible that associating ones self with the continent seems embarrasing(I am proud african, no send them')so this is my suggestion
"
1 Here's a warning to Africans viewers, avoid watching CNN news coverage of Africa, it can be bad for your health. Bad for your health because its portrayal of Africa is more often than not, in a negative light and may leave you mad, angry and frustrated. I know the temptation to watch 'Inside Africa' is especially strong for those in the diaspora, since it is one of the few visual links to the place you call home. But you stand to be disappointed more times than you will be pleased

2. I think its high time we africans create our own cnn,fox news and co so that the world wouldnt have to rely on sucker networks like cnn for news about our beloved continent, africa forever,

almondjoy:

Africa never had a strong cultural identity

almondjoy:

It gets weaker by it's inability to unite and speak with one voice. Or by the increasing inability to take care if its citizens without being handicapply dependent on the west. For example, Nigeria has crude oil it cannot refine but employs westerners to import refined oil in 2008. The Chinese can never allow that. That is why they have the US by the balls now. China has a strong cultural autonomy richly embedded in National pride and a competitive spirit.

almondjoy:

As a result, stronger nations are going to keep eating "Africa" up till it exists in name only! I think it cannot be helped sadly enough.

almondjoy:

If you can't beat them, join them or get beaten to a shameful pulp! I am joining them for sure because the have more to offer me than Africa does. Now or in the future.

almondjoy:

You problems ma dear, are greater than CNN and FoxNews. Infact, they are doing you a favour of letting you know what the world thinks of you and your fellow Africans.

~Lady~:

they're lost!!!!!

londoner:

Like any culture, it survives because it has to be kept aliove by the people who claim to belong to it. The Chinese/Indians etc are in the west just like we are, they preserve their culture, they esteem it and continually make sure it remains relevant to them, their communities and families. People are the lifeblood of any identity, if they chose to disguard it (which in my opinion is what has happened in many African communities), they will lose it, simple.

Its actually a choice whether conscious or otherwise.

naija_diva:

What chinese/asians are you talking about? Just because they still speak chinese doesn't mean they are perserving it. A lot of them forget that they are asians as soon as they step foot out of Asia.

Girl, i gotta disagree with you on that one. At least you know they speak their language.
Find a Nigerian who just stepped foot out of naija a year ago to live in the states,they
'Americanize' more than the Americans themselves.Asian people do not only speak their language
but they also eat their food. Most Nigerians i've met who were born here don't eat no naija
dish save for Rice, which is not much of a Naija dish Cuz lots of people eat those. This does
not apply to Nigerians alone but people from other countries. They go 'I was born here so
am an American'. That's total BS.

chiogo:

Girl, i gotta disagree with you on that one. At least you know they speak their language.
Find a Nigerian who just stepped foot out of naija a year ago to live in the states,they
'Americanize' more than the Americans themselves.Asian people do not only speak their language
but they also eat their food. Most Nigerians i've met who were born here don't eat no naija
dish save for Rice, which is not much of a Naija dish Cuz lots of people eat those. This does
not apply to Nigerians alone but people from other countries. They go 'I was born here so
am an American'. That's total BS.

chiogo:

Girl, i gotta disagree with you on that one. At least you know they speak their language.
[b]Find a Nigerian who just stepped foot out of naija a year ago to live in the states,they
'Americanize' more than the Americans themselves.[/b]Asian people do not only speak their language
but they also eat their food. Most Nigerians i've met who were born here don't eat no naija
dish save for Rice, which is not much of a Naija dish Cuz lots of people eat those. This does
not apply to Nigerians alone but people from other countries. They go 'I was born here so
am an American'. That's total BS.

That is so 100 percent true


@topic

Majority of them are lost

chiogo:

Girl, i gotta disagree with you on that one. At least you know they speak their language.
Find a Nigerian who just stepped foot out of naija a year ago to live in the states,they
'Americanize' more than the Americans themselves.Asian people do not only speak their language
but they also eat their food. Most Nigerians i've met who were born here don't eat no naija
dish save for Rice, which is not much of a Naija dish Cuz lots of people eat those. This does
not apply to Nigerians alone but people from other countries. They go 'I was born here so
am an American'. That's total BS.

Find a Nigerian who just stepped foot out of naija a year ago to live in the states,they
'Americanize' more than the Americans themselves

and who told you the food people abroad know as Chinese, is the exact same food actually eaten in China?

not to mention some people limit the Nigerian food they eat because of the caloric content and trans fat. Health reasons.

naija_diva:

I don't know what naija folks you live around but where i live, most africans i run into are nigerians, whether born here or there and they love naija dish and embrace their naija roots. as for the other africans around here like the sierra leoneans, i love them and all, but they are a total sell out.

tpia:

so in what way does the food eaten or not eaten by a Nigerian you don't know, affect you personally?

and who told you the food people abroad know as Chinese, is the exact same food actually eaten in China?

get your facts straight.

You've never met Chinese, Italians, Irish, Polish or any other nationality who don't speak their parents' languages?

For some even their parents don't speak their own languages. Does Obama speak his father's language? Did JFK speak Gaelic? have you heard Guilani speaking italian?What is the percentage of Americans who actually speak their grandparents or greatgrandparents original languages? Not counting Hispanics.

Continue taking panadol for other people's headache.

am not saying people shouldnt practice their culture. But no need to abuse anyone for whatever level of culture they're comfortable with. sheesh. Just do your own for your own self and whoever agrees with you, and keep moving. Everybody doesnt have to be the same.

They do embrace their roots because they have to(or that's what i think) by greetin' elders at parties which
is mostly because their parents are there but on the real, they don't eat naija food. am talkin' from experience
Cuz i have these cousins----5 of 'em, only one of 'em eats naija food once in a while, d rest just don't care.u see??

naija_diva:

that's true but it goes the same way for other people as well.

but i guess it also has to do with your location and the people around you because here in Maryland, we have a big nigerian population in comparison to where you are in bouston. if you are in a place where there is not that much cultural diveristy, you are going to tend to blend in with the rest but if your in a place where people are proud of who they are and where they come form, then it makes you want to be proud of where you come from too.

naija_diva:

if you are embacing your roots because you have to or your parents force you, then i don't call it "embracing". its just you doing what your parents tell you to do.

That's not true. Who told u there're not much Nigerians here?? There are tons of them, trust me. I may
not know them but i do see a lot of 'em when i attend naija parties and am wonderin' 'so all these
Nigerians live in boston??" By the way, that has nothin' to do with knowin' your roots/culture. One shld be proud
of their culture whether they're in the midst of their people or strangers.

chiogo:

They do embrace their roots because they have to(or that's what i think) by greetin' elders at parties which
is mostly because their parents are there but on the real, they don't eat naija food. am talkin' from experience
Cuz i have these cousins----5 of 'em, only one of 'em eats naija food once in a while, d rest just don't care.u see??
Jeez, to be honest, that was really immature. Aren't we havin a discussion here?? what u mean by if it affects me personally?/
That was just a response to the topic just as what u wrote was YOUR response to d topic.
I don't have to meet all Asians to make whatever comment i want to make. And actually, i've never met one who cannot speak
his/her language. Talkin' bout Obama not speakin' his father's language, did u bother to check the circumstances surroundin'
that?/ Obama, for one, did not grow up with his father, so where on earth would he have learnt d language, from his white mother??
And once again, i am not makin' it personal problem just as my comment shouldn't be your personal problem either.

Most Nigerians i've met who were born here don't eat no naija dish save for Rice, which is not much of a Naija dish Cuz lots of people eat those. This does not apply to Nigerians alone but people from other countries. They go 'I was born here so
am an American'. That's total BS

chiogo:

@naija_diva, Lol, how else would i see them if not through such gatherings. I know more than a couple at school
but know that my school is divided into 3 schools but all in one buildin' but where am at, I
know like 4 of 'em. most of the ones i don't know who i see at parties probably live outside of
Boston, like Cambridge, etc [b]but come to Boston for parties,meetings, etc. more than 80% of my[/b]church are Nigerians.

\

chiogo:

@naija_diva, Lol, how else would i see them if not through such gatherings. I know more than a couple at school
but know that my school is divided into 3 schools but all in one buildin' but where am at, I
know like 4 of 'em. most of the ones i don't know who i see at parties probably live outside of
Boston, like Cambridge, etc but come to Boston for parties,meetings, etc. more than 80% of my
church are Nigerians.

@tpia, once again, u're misconstruin' my post. I only posted a response, why're
you havin' seizures/heart attacks for?? and then askin' me how my post affects
me. From the way i see it, u're the one gettin' worked up Cuz i didn't attach
all those meanings to my post but u keep pickin' out parts.

if keeping culture alive means people criticizing me  because I don't measure up to their standard of cultural perfection, then make them siddon there. I no get time.


neither do I believe Africans are losing their identity anyway.  Rather, they are redefining culture to fit in with their environment. And most Africans I know will fight tooth and nail to keep their culture as they perceive it.

Come and see how folks in real life rain abuse on anyone they feel isnt following "culture". Nothing they wont accuse you of: pride, rudeness, arrogance, "lost", etc etc.  Na wa. 

@naija_diva, Whether they 'follow' or not is not what matters
When I said '80%', i was only talkin' about my church not naija parties.
whether someone recommended the church or not was not my point but to prove to u that
there are lots of Nigerians in Boston. Obviously, if they attend the church regularly, they live in or
at least, close to Boston, u dig??

4Him (m)
USA
Posts: 752

Offline

  Re: Why Are Africans Losing Their Identity In The West: ?
« #4 on: February 19, 2008, 06:22 PM » 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote from: almondjoy on February 19, 2008, 07:17 AM
Africa never had a strong cultural identity


false.

Quote from: almondjoy on February 19, 2008, 07:17 AM
It gets weaker by it's inability to unite and speak with one voice. Or by the increasing inability to take care if its citizens without being handicapply dependent on the west.  For example, Nigeria has crude oil it cannot refine but employs westerners to import refined oil in 2008.  The Chinese can never allow that.  That is why they have the US by the balls now. China has a strong cultural autonomy richly embedded in National pride and a competitive spirit.


this is as funny as it is disjointed. What has cultural identity got to do with natural resources?

China wants to become a world power . . . it has nothing to do with having a rich culture.

what do you mean by cultural autonomy? I'm puzzled.


Quote from: almondjoy on February 19, 2008, 07:17 AM
As a result, stronger nations are going to keep eating "Africa" up till it exists in name only! I think it cannot be helped sadly enough.


You can't eat Africa up . . . its virtually impossible . . . where would the billions of Africans go? To the already over-stretched Europe or America?

Besides . .  are these countries "strong" because of their cultures? Egypt has a strong culture and is still only a developing nation.


Quote from: almondjoy on February 19, 2008, 07:17 AM
If you can't beat them, join them or get beaten to a shameful pulp!  I am joining them for sure because the have more to offer me than Africa does. Now or in the future.


what has this got to do with cultural identity?


Quote from: almondjoy on February 19, 2008, 07:17 AM
You problems ma dear, are greater than CNN and FoxNews.  Infact, they are doing you a favour of letting you know what the world thinks of you and your fellow Africans.


No wonder Africa never develops.