Igbo offspring always outstanding

EzeUche:


It is just a matter of time when we will have added them to the Igbo race. I see a bright future for us all.

Hi, nice to hear that from you.

ezeagu:


Where did they get this from? Nigeria, well, eastern Nigeria doesn't even have any slave castles.

The reason why many Jamaicans feel more connected to the Ghanians is not necessarily because of culture, or Nigerian evilness, but because of the living culture of the Maroons which they can still see and hear today, unlike Igbo culture which is hidden inside overall Jamaican culture. The other reason for the connection is because most Jamaicans think that they are mostly from Ghana because of 1. the popularity of the Maroons 2. because of the exaggeration of Ghanaians in European books and 3. because of Jamaican ignorance to the rest of the continent of Africa. An average Jamaican does not know that unu is a Igbo word, or obeah is Igbo spirituality or that akara is a Nigerian snack. Jamaicans even shout 'awoh', which just shows how ridiculous it is to feel more connected to Ghana, I mean, many Jamaicans look exactly like eastern Nigerians.

do they?

many of them look Ghanaian though.

i was going to reply this bigfrancis21 post attempting to link Umunede to Caribbean (Jamaica), but unfortunately it's been hidden.

the moderators on nairaland are a riot for real.

seun osewa sef, smh.

No you ignorant retard. There is an Igbo village in the states. Secondly we never said we were only igbo. We except all the tribes we're from.
And yet many of you Nigerians wonder why we only like ghanaian people because they actually understand us and do more to help our people than you Nigerians ever did. And you all wonder why you are not loved by any other african nation especially the south Africa, it's because of that ignorant ass behavior you all have. And secondly africans kill other africans all the time, that shit on all the black nationalities not just African Americans.

Truth according to Kendrick Lamar.

bigfrancis21:

At least they still hold on to their Igbo ancestry out of other possible ancestries they may have.

@bigfrancis damn! you are desperate. little Sierra Leone claims more African American than Nigeria today speaking. Niaja slaves all killed themselves.

30% of slave stolen from west africa are igbos, 40 Yoruba 8% Fulani , 2% hausa and the remaining 60% goes to other tribes. When watching american films i easy point out igbos and yorubas. Especially igbos they are easy to sporte. That movie about music/rap "empire" their lots igbos in the movie but they dont know.

FWIW, I'm an African American who has undergone genetic ancestry testing. I carry a significant amount of ancestry identified as Nigerian under Ancestry's algorithm, which was a wonderful thing to find out, but what was most amazing was to be able to find distant Igbo and Yoruba relatives (and relatives from other parts of Africa) who had also taken the Ancestry test (from Iwo and Aba respectively). I can definitely say that I, for one, have Igbo ancestry. Because African Americans have never selected marriage partners on the basis of African ethnicity at any point in our history, we are mixed as can be when it comes to our African origins. As a result, essentially all of us have at least one Igbo ancestor, especially those of us with South Carolina and Virginia roots.

I have noticed a few things over the course of my life though that can be helpful in understanding the social/cultural gap between Igbos and African Americans of Igbo descent and what can be done about it:

1. The reintroduction of direct African cultural practices to African Americans has a history of its own. Dancers like Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus made direct contact with African musicians and dancers in the 1940s-1970s and helped them emigrate to the US. The interpersonal connections they made shaped the cultural forms most African Americans had access to. For example, Katherine Dunham was instrumental in Babatunde Olatunji coming to the US and he put together a performing company of African American artists to accompany him. My mother's first dance teacher was among those African Americans and was also a part of Katherine Dunham's dance company. Her dance teacher founded her own dance company to teach African Americans in North Carolina where she was from (which still exists to this day). So my mom learned about Yoruba culture a lot when she was a teenager in the 1970s, which she then taught to me. So, I grew up knowing about Shango and Ogun and the other Yoruba Orishas. Babatunde Olatunji also helped Papa Ladji Camara of Guinea come to the US, and he brought the djembe and its associated dances, which I also grew up knowing about. Both musicians had a lot of support in propagating the culture's of their ethnic groups from their home governments as a form of diplomacy. Igbo dancers and musicians, for reasons I don't entirely understand, didn't get the same support from the Nigerian government. So when African Americans look for African cultures to connect to, we go with what we can find.

2. Most African Americans who seek African Traditional Religious practices (myself included) gravitate to the Yoruba tradition. The reasons for this are related to the point I just made, but not entirely. At the same time that Katherine Dunham was developing connections to African artists in the 1940s-1970s, Cubans (including musicians) were also moving the US, bringing the Santeria/Lucumi tradition with them. It took off like wildfire in Latino communities and has now spread throughout Latino communities to the point that you can find it in pretty much every city. I live in a random part of Texas and there is a babalawo from the Santeria/Lucumi tradition who lives down the street from me. It's EVERYWHERE if you know where to look for it. The popularity of Yoruba religion among African Americans has to do with our proximity to Latinos more so than Yoruba people actually reaching out to us with these practices. There has been a second wave of Yoruba people doing that in more recent years, but most African Americans who are receptive to that already had an awareness of the Orishas/Ifa by way of Latin Americans. I say all of that because African Americans are also involved in cultural exchange with other parts of the diaspora as well, which can be really confusing from the outside.

3. Kiswahili also has its own history with African Americans, largely from the influence of Ron Karenga (inventor of Kwanzaa). He picked Kiswahili as a language for his cultural movement specifically because it wasn't associated with a particular ethnic group. At that time (the 1960s/70s), there was no way for African Americans to really find out where we came from other than a large section of the continent itself, so it kind of (KIND OF) made sense to go for a language that we knew wouldn't favor one form of ancestry over another (since we had no connection to east Africa in that way).

4. Igbo people are prevalent in the US, and many African Americans encounter them in business and academic settings. There is immense opportunity for personal connection there. It just doesn't necessarily take the form of culture. American society, for much of its history, has been CONSUMED with cultural conflicts, so culture (in the forms of language, religion, customs, dress, music, dance, food, etc.) become very important markers of identity that attract the attention of African Americans. Values, like the importance afforded to academic achievement, business acumen, community, family, etc. that are very important to Igbo people (and most African cultures) can take a back seat. Igbo people assert their "Igboness" through school etc. in a way that may be imperceptible to most Americans (including African Americans).

5. Most African Americans are heavily Americanized, and many buy into stereotypes about Africa, and Nigerians in particular. I've know of African Americans who were genuinely dismayed to have Nigerian ancestry because they had such a low opinion of Nigerians. That truly saddens me, and I have made it a personal mission to re-educate those people because Nigeria is an amazing place to be from.

6. Most Africans do NOT expect African Americans to know ANYTHING about Africa, which is a blessing and a curse. It's a curse because many people can become defensive about the history and culture, which they (likely for good reason) may expect to be mocked by us because of our ignorance. It's a blessing because no one smiles brighter than an African who meets an African American who knows something about their culture. When an Igbo person tells me their name and I say "oh cool, you are Igbo. What part of Igboland is your family from" they have a smile that could sell any tube of toothpaste. I can tell that there is a significant desire to connect with us, and, for more African Americans that one might expect, it's totally mutual.

7. African Americans are still overcoming centuries of indoctrination against all things African. My grandmother who was born in the 1930s, for example, only began to refer to herself as an African American in the late 2000s because everything she was taught about Africa as a child was so negative (and outright false). A lot of what African Americans gravitate to in African cultures are the things that we can use to disprove certain prevalent stereotypes about Africa. It's not that Igbo culture can't do that, but when we don't have access to the information, we don't know to use it or even refer to it.

8. There is still a lot of residual fear about Africa too. It's HARD to get most African Americans to try any kind of African food. Most of us are straight up terrified because we have no idea what it would be like. When I first had Efo Riro w/ pounded yam for example (I know its Yoruba but hear me out), I almost cried because it was so similar to the spicy collard greens and mashed potatoes that I had been eating for my whole life. We can lose sight of all the cultural similarities between Nigerians (in general) and African Americans because of our differences, but they are still there. Those differences did not come about by choice. They are forced and artificial.


As far as what I think can be done, I wish Igbo ethnic associations did outreach to African Americans. When I got confirmation of my Igbo ancestry, I sought out a local Igbo organization, but it's difficult to know how to approach them. On one hand, I value the culture and want to respectfully learn about it, but I don't know if I would come across as strange or out of place by seeking to learn about it through that organization. I don't know that what I am personally looking for is within the mission of those kinds of organizations. The information I am looking for isn't necessarily freely available and I recognize that I, at some level, am an outsider. But there are other levels at which I am not an outsider, and I'm not sure how I fit in.

What could also help is for Igbo people to tell African Americans what you want us to know about your people. Every culture is different, so help us get to know you in a way that you would like to be known (and the same goes for us). We as African Americans have A LOT of work to do in unlearning ignorant attitudes about Africa, that's a given. But we also need to think about how we want to engage with other communities and take initiative too.

JikanBaura:
30% of slave stolen from west africa are igbos, 40 Yoruba 8% Fulani , 2% hausa and the remaining 60% goes to other tribes. When watching american films i easy point out igbos and yorubas. Especially igbos they are easy to sporte. That movie about music/rap "empire" their lots igbos in the movie but they dont know.

Actually, in terms of numbers more Igbo slaves were shipped off the shores of Africa than Yoruba slaves. According to the numbers, about 1.4m Igbo slaves were shipped compared to about 500,000 Yoruba slaves. However, Yoruba tradition and culture were most felt in the new world of all ethnic groups because they began to arrive in their numbers towards the abolishment of slavery when tight cultural stripping of names, religion and traditions of african slaves had begun to die down, and the new arrivals had more freedom than earlier-arriving slaves. The Oyo kingdom engaged in several wars with neighboring Dahomey in the early 1800s and Yoruba slaves were mostly spoils/captives of war sold into slavery. These late arrivals had way more freedom to practice their religion, bear their African names, speak their language and acculturated much more slowly than those before them whose acculturation was forced and sudden. As of mid-late 1800s Yoruba slaves were still arriving in Brazil and Cuba and as recently as 1920/1930, Lukumi/Nago was still spoken natively in Latin America. For Yoruba slaves in the new world, their memories of home/africa was still fresh and their connections to their cultures and religion still strong, thus they were able to hold on to those much longer than those who arrived in the peak of slavery. Way more Yoruba slaves were able to find their way back home to Nigeria or Sierra Leone compared to the number of returnee Igbo slaves. Slaves from other cultures/tribes embraced the Yoruba slaves and religion/culture as a way of reconnecting to their african roots/mama africa and the Yoruba Ifa religion, originally restricted to Lukumi/Nago/Yoruba people, later spread to include any afro-descendant who was interested in being a member. However, just like all Roman Catholics worldwide are not of Roman descent, not all Ifa practitioners are necessarily of Yoruba descent.

NewOmoNaija:
FWIW, I'm an African American who has undergone genetic ancestry testing. I carry a significant amount of ancestry identified as Nigerian under Ancestry's algorithm, which was a wonderful thing to find out, but what was most amazing was to be able to find distant Igbo and Yoruba relatives (and relatives from other parts of Africa) who had also taken the Ancestry test (from Iwo and Aba respectively). I can definitely say that I, for one, have Igbo ancestry. Because African Americans have never selected marriage partners on the basis of African ethnicity at any point in our history, we are mixed as can be when it comes to our African origins. As a result, essentially all of us have at least one Igbo ancestor, especially those of us with South Carolina and Virginia roots.

I have noticed a few things over the course of my life though that can be helpful in understanding the social/cultural gap between Igbos and African Americans of Igbo descent and what can be done about it:

1. The reintroduction of direct African cultural practices to African Americans has a history of its own. Dancers like Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus made direct contact with African musicians and dancers in the 1940s-1970s and helped them emigrate to the US. The interpersonal connections they made shaped the cultural forms most African Americans had access to. For example, Katherine Dunham was instrumental in Babatunde Olatunji coming to the US and he put together a performing company of African American artists to accompany him. My mother's first dance teacher was among those African Americans and was also a part of Katherine Dunham's dance company. Her dance teacher founded her own dance company to teach African Americans in North Carolina where she was from (which still exists to this day). So my mom learned about Yoruba culture a lot when she was a teenager in the 1970s, which she then taught to me. So, I grew up knowing about Shango and Ogun and the other Yoruba Orishas. Babatunde Olatunji also helped Papa Ladji Camara of Guinea come to the US, and he brought the djembe and its associated dances, which I also grew up knowing about. Both musicians had a lot of support in propagating the culture's of their ethnic groups from their home governments as a form of diplomacy. Igbo dancers and musicians, for reasons I don't entirely understand, didn't get the same support from the Nigerian government. So when African Americans look for African cultures to connect to, we go with what we can find.

2. Most African Americans who seek African Traditional Religious practices (myself included) gravitate to the Yoruba tradition. The reasons for this are related to the point I just made, but not entirely. At the same time that Katherine Dunham was developing connections to African artists in the 1940s-1970s, Cubans (including musicians) were also moving the US, bringing the Santeria/Lucumi tradition with them. It took off like wildfire in Latino communities and has now spread throughout Latino communities to the point that you can find it in pretty much every city. I live in a random part of Texas and there is a babalawo from the Santeria/Lucumi tradition who lives down the street from me. It's EVERYWHERE if you know where to look for it. The popularity of Yoruba religion among African Americans has to do with our proximity to Latinos more so than Yoruba people actually reaching out to us with these practices. There has been a second wave of Yoruba people doing that in more recent years, but most African Americans who are receptive to that already had an awareness of the Orishas/Ifa by way of Latin Americans. I say all of that because African Americans are also involved in cultural exchange with other parts of the diaspora as well, which can be really confusing from the outside.

3. Kiswahili also has its own history with African Americans, largely from the influence of Ron Karenga (inventor of Kwanzaa). He picked Kiswahili as a language for his cultural movement specifically because it wasn't associated with a particular ethnic group. At that time (the 1960s/70s), there was no way for African Americans to really find out where we came from other than a large section of the continent itself, so it kind of (KIND OF) made sense to go for a language that we knew wouldn't favor one form of ancestry over another (since we had no connection to east Africa in that way).

4. Igbo people are prevalent in the US, and many African Americans encounter them in business and academic settings. There is immense opportunity for personal connection there. It just doesn't necessarily take the form of culture. American society, for much of its history, has been CONSUMED with cultural conflicts, so culture (in the forms of language, religion, customs, dress, music, dance, food, etc.) become very important markers of identity that attract the attention of African Americans. Values, like the importance afforded to academic achievement, business acumen, community, family, etc. that are very important to Igbo people (and most African cultures) can take a back seat. Igbo people assert their "Igboness" through school etc. in a way that may be imperceptible to most Americans (including African Americans).

5. Most African Americans are heavily Americanized, and many buy into stereotypes about Africa, and Nigerians in particular. I've know of African Americans who were genuinely dismayed to have Nigerian ancestry because they had such a low opinion of Nigerians. That truly saddens me, and I have made it a personal mission to re-educate those people because Nigeria is an amazing place to be from.

6. Most Africans do NOT expect African Americans to know ANYTHING about Africa, which is a blessing and a curse. It's a curse because many people can become defensive about the history and culture, which they (likely for good reason) may expect to be mocked by us because of our ignorance. It's a blessing because no one smiles brighter than an African who meets an African American who knows something about their culture. When an Igbo person tells me their name and I say "oh cool, you are Igbo. What part of Igboland is your family from" they have a smile that could sell any tube of toothpaste. I can tell that there is a significant desire to connect with us, and, for more African Americans that one might expect, it's totally mutual.

7. African Americans are still overcoming centuries of indoctrination against all things African. My grandmother who was born in the 1930s, for example, only began to refer to herself as an African American in the late 2000s because everything she was taught about Africa as a child was so negative (and outright false). A lot of what African Americans gravitate to in African cultures are the things that we can use to disprove certain prevalent stereotypes about Africa. It's not that Igbo culture can't do that, but when we don't have access to the information, we don't know to use it or even refer to it.

8. There is still a lot of residual fear about Africa too. It's HARD to get most African Americans to try any kind of African food. Most of us are straight up terrified because we have no idea what it would be like. When I first had Efo Riro w/ pounded yam for example (I know its Yoruba but hear me out), I almost cried because it was so similar to the spicy collard greens and mashed potatoes that I had been eating for my whole life. We can lose sight of all the cultural similarities between Nigerians (in general) and African Americans because of our differences, but they are still there. Those differences did not come about by choice. They are forced and artificial.


As far as what I think can be done, I wish Igbo ethnic associations did outreach to African Americans. When I got confirmation of my Igbo ancestry, I sought out a local Igbo organization, but it's difficult to know how to approach them. On one hand, I value the culture and want to respectfully learn about it, but I don't know if I would come across as strange or out of place by seeking to learn about it through that organization. I don't know that what I am personally looking for is within the mission of those kinds of organizations. The information I am looking for isn't necessarily freely available and I recognize that I, at some level, am an outsider. But there are other levels at which I am not an outsider, and I'm not sure how I fit in.

What could also help is for Igbo people to tell African Americans what you want us to know about your people. Every culture is different, so help us get to know you in a way that you would like to be known (and the same goes for us). We as African Americans have A LOT of work to do in unlearning ignorant attitudes about Africa, that's a given. But we also need to think about how we want to engage with other communities and take initiative too.

I totally agree with you on the part that Igbos of Africa need to make deliberate attempts to reconnect with afro descendants of Igbo ancestry. Compared to the Yorubas, the Igbos have not really made much direct conscious efforts to reach out to their brothers wishing to reconnect. The African American-Igbo renaissance has been gaining momentum lately since the early 2000s and the impact/presence of the Igbo in America is only starting to get recognized. I have come quite across several AAs of Igbo descent who have completely dropped their former English names for Igbo ones. I see their desire to reconnect and I always welcome them, however many Igbos do not seem to be interested in this. For now, the goal/desire is financial independence, given the economic situation of things back home. However, the movement is growing gradually. Until now, majority of Igbos back home barely knew that a huge number of us were sold as slaves and many of us still do not know. A few organizations here in the US are making efforts at reconnecting and one of such organizations is Umu Igbo Unite (https://umuigbounite.com/) that is home to Igbos of Nigeria, America, Jamaica, Belize, Guyana etc.

The Eze Nri (similar in position to the Ooni of Ife of the Yorubas) the spiritual leader of the Igbos needs to pay annual spiritual visits to our afro-descended brothers and sisters in the diaspora as a way of increasing the awareness of the more subtle Igbo presence and impact in the new world.

So my mom learned about Yoruba culture a lot when she was a teenager in the 1970s, which she then taught to me. So, I grew up knowing about Shango and Ogun and the other Yoruba Orishas. Babatunde Olatunji also helped Papa Ladji Camara of Guinea come to the US, and he brought the djembe and its associated dances, which I also grew up knowing about. Both musicians had a lot of support in propagating the culture's of their ethnic groups from their home governments as a form of diplomacy. Igbo dancers and musicians, for reasons I don't entirely understand, didn't get the same support from the Nigerian government. So when African Americans look for African cultures to connect to, we go with what we can find.


This particular part, in the 1970s, was a direct fall out of the Biafran war Igbos lost, and the post civil war anti Igbo policies of the immediate post civil war Nigeria military dictatorship.

See that’s GREAT to know ^^^. That’s exactly what I think will help the situation. Thank you.

bigfrancis21:


Actually, in terms of numbers more Igbo slaves were shipped off the shores of Africa than Yoruba slaves. According to the numbers, about 1.4m Igbo slaves were shipped compared to about 500,000 Yoruba slaves. However, Yoruba tradition and culture were most felt in the new world of all ethnic groups because they began to arrive in their numbers towards the abolishment of slavery when tight cultural stripping of names, religion and traditions of african slaves had begun to die down, and the new arrivals had more freedom than earlier-arriving slaves. The Oyo kingdom engaged in several wars with neighboring Dahomey in the early 1800s and Yoruba slaves were mostly spoils/captives of war sold into slavery. These late arrivals had way more freedom to practice their religion, bear their African names, speak their language and acculturated much more slowly than those before them whose acculturation was forced and sudden. As of mid-late 1800s Yoruba slaves were still arriving in Brazil and Cuba and as recently as 1920/1930, Lukumi/Nago was still spoken natively in Latin America. For Yoruba slaves in the new world, their memories of home/africa was still fresh and their connections to their cultures and religion still strong, thus they were able to hold on to those much longer than those who arrived in the peak of slavery. Way more Yoruba slaves were able to find their way back home to Nigeria or Sierra Leone compared to the number of returnee Igbo slaves. Slaves from other cultures/tribes embraced the Yoruba slaves and religion/culture as a way of reconnecting to their african roots/mama africa and the Yoruba Ifa religion, originally restricted to Lukumi/Nago/Yoruba people, later spread to include any afro-descendant who was interested in being a member. However, just like all Roman Catholics worldwide are not of Roman descent, not all Ifa practitioners are necessarily of Yoruba descent.

I’d also add that Cuba has Abakua, which comes from Ekpe societies from the Efik and Igbo. Abakua has not been transplanted to the US. I’ve heard it’s bevau the required shrine objects cannot leave Cuba, but there is enormous interest in it here in the States. Perhaps there is an opportunity for Igbo secret societies to play a role in bridging this divide. No offense to black Greeks, but I’d much rather be a part of an Ekpe society than something founded on a European model.

NewOmoNaija:


I’d also add that Cuba has Abakua, which comes from Ekpe societies from the Efik and Igbo. Abakua has not been transplanted to the US. I’ve heard it’s bevau the required shrine objects cannot leave Cuba, but there is enormous interest in it here in the States. Perhaps there is an opportunity for Igbo secret societies to play a role in bridging this divide. No offense to black Greeks, but I’d much rather be a part of an Ekpe society than something founded on a European model.

Abakua is mostly Efik in origin. Cuba has a cabildo specifically of Igbo origin, called Isuama, that pays homage to Igbo ancestors in the country but these groups are much smaller in size and may not be compared to Santeria because they were mostly organized by Island-born descendants (creoles) who had very little or no direct remembrance of African practice and customs, much after african-born slaves had mostly passed on. In terms of Yorubas, sometimes entire Yoruba villages (including chief priests and their deities) were entirely wiped out and transported to Latin America. For example, the Yoruba village of Ketu, Bishop Ajayi Crowther's village etc. One could imagine this to be a case of transferring an entire village from one location to another, with their customs, religion and traditions intact.

ezeagu:


I'm pretty sure Angola and Senegambia outweighs Igbo in the US, only that the actual individual groups that made up these regions were smaller than Igbo. All the DNA I've seen rarely come out Igbo, I've even seen more Yoruba and Fulani than Igbo results (online).

why you lying bro. Igbos consisted of most slaves in the united state of america. Yorubas and others were mostly concentrated in south america.