Lola Adesioye about the difference between being black in the UK and being black in the US


“Being black in the UK doesn't mean the same as being black in the US,” said writer and international journalist Lola Adesioye (1980) at the end of her spoken words performance in the PenTales Travel and Migration event (see video).

During her performance the London born Cambridge graduate of Nigerian descent, who now lives in New York, also talked about identity, being a "search culture kid" and about one question that irritates her the most. "One of the most annoying questions is 'where are you from'. Because I really don't know how to answer it. Especially when I am in England.


http://afroeurope..com/2011/07/lola-adesioye-about-difference-between.html



[img]http://1.bp..com/-AkpwI4AE8nM/ThoLk1LV0bI/AAAAAAAAAL4/UdS9gXyQWXE/s200/lola_adesioye.jpg[/img]

America blacks are mostly mixed race people of slave descent.

British blacks are mostly recent African migrants.

^you just said "Thank Odin". are you Pagan where are you from

i see.

PAGAN 9JA:

America blacks are mostly mixed race people of slave descent.

British blacks are mostly recent African migrants.

You're wrong. Just like America, Britain has blacks that were taken there during slavery.

very few. Britain abolished savery much earlier.

PAGAN  9JA:

very few. Britain abolished savery much earlier.

Greetings PAGAN  9JA,

But what about our African-Caribbean brethren who number is the hundreds of thousands?

eGuerrilla:

Greetings PAGAN  9JA,

But what about our African-Caribbean brethren who number is the hundreds of thousands?

Greetings.

the Afro-Carib peoples are descendants of slaves taken to South America (West Indies) and who migrated to Britain. they are anyways going to die out since they have the highest mixed race marriage stastics in the world.

PAGAN  9JA:

Britain abolished slavery much earlier.

That they abolished slavery doesnt award them any credit whatsoever,  Let me give an example

Lets assume I am a hired assasin that is paid to shoot and kill, now throughout my "career" i have killed 1,200 peole by shooting them with a sniper rifle in the head. Now after a certain while, i choose to retire.

Question: Do i deserve to be praised since i have now retired from killing people?


Britain were the worst perpetrators of the hollocaust, they were so twisted that do you know what some of their ships where named?

If anyone ask where i am from, my answer is determined by the tone in which the question was asked.

And yes black in the UK is completely different from in the US, because in the UK the likelyhood of a black prime minister is very slim whereas the US have already elected a black president. The cultural divide in the UK is very much alive as in discrimination is rife.

Inshort, nothing has changed in the UK, white folks still inexplicably hate most blacks with a passion

Amujale:

That they abolished slavery doesnt award them any credit whatsoever,  Let me give an example

Lets assume I am a hired assasin that is paid to shoot and kill, now throughout my "career" i have killed 1,200 peole by shooting them with a sniper rifle in the head. Now after a certain while, i choose to retire.

Question: Do i deserve to be praised since i have now retired from killing people?


Britain were the worst perpetrators of the hollocaust, they were so twisted that do you know what some of their ships where named?

If anyone ask where i am from, my answer is determined by the tone in which the question was asked.

And yes black in the UK is completely different from in the US, because in the UK the likelyhood of a black prime minister is very slim whereas the US have already elected a black president. The cultural divide in the UK is very much alive as in discrimination is rife.

Inshort, nothing has changed in the UK, white folks still unexplainablely hate most blacks with a passion

Exactly, that's what people don't get when they say crap like they brought us education and religion, Was there by no other means thru which that could have been achieved? then NO, they do NOT get credit for what should have never happened in the first place. The plight of blacks around the world is saddening, most got there by result of slavery. I used to buy into the whole negative view of African Americans but when you think of how recently ago slavery was abolished and then segregation went on for another hundred years. blacks still couldn't vote in GA as recently as the 60s. didn't have good schools or books.

ATLgal:

Exactly,  that's what people don't get when they say crap like they brought us education and religion,  Was there by no other means thru which that could have been achieved? then NO, they do NOT get credit for what should have never happened in the first place.  The plight of blacks around the world is saddening, most got there by result of slavery. I used to buy into the whole negative view of African Americans but when you think of how recently ago slavery was abolished and then segregation went on for another hundred years. blacks still couldn't vote in GA as recently as the 60s. didn't have good schools or books.

Precisely! Did you also know that during the hollocausts there were british slave-ships with twisted names like "Good Intentions", "Good Tiding" they even had a slave ship called Jesus.

Anyhow, there is new evidence that infact suggest that black Africans were travelling to the Americas even before Christpher Colombus.

For more information read (all written by Dr Ivan Van Sertima):

They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America
African Presence in Early America
Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern (Journal of African Civilizations)
African Presence in Early Europe (Journal of African Civilizations)
African Presence in Early Asia 


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMg-79AzbI4[/flash] [flash=185,185]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sttg1A5Ncfs[/flash] [flash=185,185]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9fNBCxp7iI[/flash] [flash=185,185]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPXKuqLQ63o[/flash]

Amujale:

That they abolished slavery doesnt award them any credit whatsoever,  Let me give an example

Lets assume I am a hired assasin that is paid to shoot and kill, now throughout my "career" i have killed 1,200 peole by shooting them with a sniper rifle in the head. Now after a certain while, i choose to retire.

Question: Do i deserve to be praised since i have now retired from killing people?


Britain were the worst perpetrators of the hollocaust, they were so twisted that do you know what some of their ships where named?

If anyone ask where i am from, my answer is determined by the tone in which the question was asked.

And yes black in the UK is completely different from in the US, because in the UK the likelyhood of a black prime minister is very slim whereas the US have already elected a black president. The cultural divide in the UK is very much alive as in discrimination is rife.

Inshort, nothing has changed in the UK, white folks still unexplainablely hate most blacks with a passion

excuse me Sir. i did not say anything about it being good that britain abpolished slavery earlier. I just responded to eGuerilla's question on Africans in Britain.

PAGAN  9JA:


excuse me Sir. i did not say anything about it being good that britain abpolished slavery earlier. I just responded to eGuerilla's question on Africans in Britain.

understood Sir

Most Blacks that live in the U.K are either first, second or third generation Africans or Carribeans. They know their roots. They know where they come from.

Most Blacks in America are American. They've been there so long most can't be bothered to find out where they orignally come from. Their culture is American culture, Whatever American culture is.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are Blacks in England that have been there for hundreds of years due to slavery but I've never met any. Most of the carribeans went over there in the 50's to help rebuild the country after the world war 2. Africans started going there soon after.

P.s. I've been living in London for some time now.

MegaMan87:

Most Blacks that live in the U.K are either first, second or third generation Africans or Carribeans. They know their roots. They know where they come from.

Most Blacks in America are American. They've been there so long most can't be bothered to find out where they orignally come from. Their culture is American culture, Whatever American culture is.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are Blacks in England that have been there for hundreds of years due to slavery but I've never met any. Most of the carribeans went over there in the 50's to help rebuild the country after the world war 2. Africans started going there soon after.

perfect.

and AA's and Carribean Blacks are mixed with native american and creole/white.

ATLgal:

Exactly,  that's what people don't get when they say crap like they brought us education and religion,  Was there by no other means thru which that could have been achieved? then NO, they do NOT get credit for what should have never happened in the first place.  The plight of blacks around the world is saddening, most got there by result of slavery.    I used to buy into the whole negative view of African Americans but when you think of how recently ago slavery was abolished and then segregation went on for another hundred years. blacks still couldn't vote in GA as recently as the 60s. didn't have good schools or books.

you are definitely proof of the sad state of many blacks.

tpia@:

you are definitely proof of the sad state of many blacks.

You need to get a life. i swear. or maybe get laid, when was the last time u had an orgasm? talk to me. i'll buy you a toy.

[quote


author=Afam4eva post=9288579]

You're wrong. Just like America, Britain has blacks that were taken there during slavery.[/quote]

That is quite incorrect as most do come from immigrant parents. About 99% of blacks I have come across have either been born in UK or Africa /Carribean. However some of the Caribeans may have slavery descent.

British people don't hide their racism.

MegaMan87:
Most Blacks that live in the U.K are either first, second or third generation Africans or Carribeans. They know their roots. They know where they come from.

Most Blacks in America are American. They've been there so long most can't be bothered to find out where they orignally come from. Their culture is American culture, Whatever American culture is.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are Blacks in England that have been there for hundreds of years due to slavery but I've never met any. Most of the carribeans went over there in the 50's to help rebuild the country after the world war 2. Africans started going there soon after.

P.s. I've been living in London for some time now.

Another incredibly stupid lie about blacks in America. I finally realize that most of the information that most people think that they know about African Americans is complete misinformation.

Where does one even start with these ridiculous statements. First of all "blacks" in America call themselves African Americans. So right there they are telling you where they came from . These are the names that people used to call "black" people in American:

1. Slave
2. Negro
3. Colored
4. Black
5. Afro American and

Finally, it was the "black" people in American that wanted to be known as African Americans, because while we didn't know exactly where our ancestors were from in Africa; African Americans did know that they ancestors were from Africa. So African Americans know where they are from; even the common "black" American refer to themselves as African American; because all African Americans know that there is no such place as slave, negro, colored, black or Afro any place in Africa. So if there is any group that is letting the World know that they are African it is African Americans. The movement is so strong, that African American is showing up on official forms as frequently as the word black.

African Americans even celebrate something called "Black History" month in America every February to celebrate our African roots and we put "Kwanzaa" on the map in the USA. African Americans have whole departments in historically black colleges set up just for African History, which has led to a movement by major white universities like Harvard setting up African History departments in major universities. Look it up. Dr. Henry Louis Gates at Harvard University is major researcher on African culture and African American Diaspora. Dr. Gates is ran a series on public television and it is followed very closely by people, including just regular every day "black" people in the USA. In fact African history is a wide field of study in American Universities and it is African Americans that have been pushing it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates,_Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Your_Roots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Lives
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_African_Americans:_Many_Rivers_to_Cross

Where do you think all of this DNA testing stuff for ethnicity is coming from? It is coming from African Americans. They are driving the market, because they want to know exactly where they are from. Read the below linked articles to see all of the companies in the USA offering ethnicity DNA testing to African American, and it has become even higher profiled since a lot of celebrities like Oprah Williams, Vanessa Williams, Don Cheadle, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, etc., etc., have taken the DNA test. African American are constantly testing their ethnicity, which is why so many of the testing companies are spending so much time in Africa testing the people there and clearing up and verifying oral history.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/genetics/2006-02-01-dna-african-americans_x.htm

Most "blacks" in America don't feel like they are Americans; Hell we know that because White Americans keep reminding black people that they are not Americans, by making policies and laws that only apply to "black" people.

You should stop making generalizations about African Americans, because you don't know what you are talking about. What exactly have the "Black Brits" done to push the study of African History? Because just being from African doesn't make someone more African than someone that has never stepped foot on the Continent.

PAGAN9JA:


perfect.

and AA's and Carribean Blacks are mixed with native american and creole/white.

Not as true as you think. Most African Americans are not as mixed as people think. DNA testing is showing that the vast majority of African Americans are not mixed with Native Americans; in fact it is only about 2% of African Americans that have tested out as being mixed with Native Americans so far.

"Exactly How "Black" Are Black Americans?


* According to Ancestry.com, the average African American is 65 percent sub-Saharan African, 29 percent European and 2 percent Native American.


* According to 23andme.com, the average African American is 75 percent sub-Saharan African, 22 percent European and only 0.6 percent Native American.


* According to Family Tree DNA.com, the average African American is 72.95 percent sub-Saharan African, 22.83 percent European and 1.7 percent Native American.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2013/02/how_mixed_are_african_americans.2.html

Recent DNA testing has shown that the average African American is only 17%-18% White. Which means that most African Americans have 80% and higher African DNA; which by the way is probably as high as a lot of Africans in Africa, considering that a lot of African have mixed a lot with the Whites and Arabs. Hell my own DNA is 86% African and only 12% European. So African American aren't as mixed as people think. So those red and yellow Igbos probably left Igbo land being that color.

http://blackdemographics.com/geography/african-american-dna/

The biggest genetic difference between most African Americans and Africans on the continent is that the typical African American has an admix of many different ethnic groups, whereas I have read that most Africans have far fewer mixes.

tpiadotcom:

They don't think that you are an African American after they hear you talk.

AkanIgbo:


Not as true as you think. Most African Americans are not as mixed as people think. DNA testing is showing that the vast majority of African Americans are not mixed with Native Americans; in fact it is only about 2% of African Americans that have tested out as being mixed with Native Americans so far.

I think that's been sorted out.

it depends on how you want to interpret results.

tpiadotcom:


I think that's been sorted out.

it depends on how you want to interpret results.

How would you read the results considering that an average African American is 80% and above of African descent?

the way its being read now.

AkanIgbo:


Not as true as you think. Most African Americans are not as mixed as people think. DNA testing is showing that the vast majority of African Americans are not mixed with Native Americans; in fact it is only about 2% of African Americans that have tested out as being mixed with Native Americans so far.

"Exactly How "Black" Are Black Americans?


* According to Ancestry.com, the average African American is 65 percent sub-Saharan African, 29 percent European and 2 percent Native American.


* According to 23andme.com, the average African American is 75 percent sub-Saharan African, 22 percent European and only 0.6 percent Native American.


* According to Family Tree DNA.com, the average African American is 72.95 percent sub-Saharan African, 22.83 percent European and 1.7 percent Native American.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2013/02/how_mixed_are_african_americans.2.html

Recent DNA testing has shown that the average African American is only 17%-18% White. Which means that most African Americans have 80% and higher African DNA; which by the way is probably as high as a lot of Africans in Africa, considering that a lot of African have mixed a lot with the Whites and Arabs. Hell my own DNA is 86% African and only 12% European. So African American aren't as mixed as people think. So those red and yellow Igbos probably left Igbo land being that color.

http://blackdemographics.com/geography/african-american-dna/

The biggest genetic difference between most African Americans and Africans on the continent is that the typical African American has an admix of many different ethnic groups, whereas I have read that most Africans have far fewer mixes.

which still makes them mixed. they have no ethnicity or tribe.

PAGAN9JA:


which still makes them mixed. they have no ethnicity or tribe.

So basically any African on the continent mixed with Arabs or Whites have no tribes either? So in your world you are now throwing out the Swahili, Moors, Ethiopians, South Africans, Egyptians, Libyans, Sudanese, Fulani people and a bunch of other people that I can't remember now.

tpiadotcom:
the way its being read now.

Exactly, and how it is being read now is that they are not that mixed.

PAGAN9JA:


which still makes them mixed. they have no ethnicity or tribe.

That is completely wrong. You that say you are Hausa, may be mixed with a little Kanuri or even Bambara. Does that mean you have no ethnicity or tribe? Being off standish never fit anybody, anywhere