It’s really no argument that we are the coolest people on earth, that we have the most intriguing and dynamic culture(s) known to the world, and the way we test that hypothesis is by looking at all the people who borrow from our cultures; white girls wearing braids, white kids making so-called “trap music”, people in Tokyo Chicago foot working and the list goes on!

At times borrowing can be beautiful, it can be a way to show appreciation for other cultures that you have a genuine interest in and respect for… after all they say “imitation is the greatest form of flattery”. However, what we see from our counterparts, especially our white counterparts is a Cultural Appropriation, which is; “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, without showing that you understand or respect the culture”. At the point of appropriation, having your culture “borrowed” is no longer something to appreciate, its not cool, and it begins to show a disregard and disrespect to the originators of the culture – US!

I’m not sure if I’m more upset with the appropriators themselves, or this society that accepts, recognizes and highlights our culture as it’s displayed by others. Black women have been wearing braids, and Bantu knots in Africa and throughout the diasporas for what I would consider an immeasurable amount of time, while being ridiculed and shamed for doing so… fast forward to today and there’s almost always some fashion show featuring blonde haired, blue eyed models wearing braids or some other African hairstyle being labeled as a “fashion statement” as if these styles are an innovation or something new. What about this video where there’s a few Asian guys “foot-working”? A dance that’s native to black Chicago, Black Detroit and other African American groups throughout the Midwest and now across the country. These guys are on YouTube with millions of views and thousands of kind comments, praising them for doing what our people have been doing for the last 50-60 years at least!

I think two places where appropriation has been most dangerous are in the worlds of hip hop/rap and activism… there has been an influx in white rappers making music that sounds very similar to the music made by us, as well as an increase of white activists “fighting” for the rights of black people all the while being able to escape back into the world of “white privilege” after the “activism” is over for the day. To give a little context, it’s important to remember that hip hop was bred from the black experience, whether they were positive or negative experiences… hip hop was a way for us to create our own narrative and tell our own stories. The problem with having white hip hop artist slowly becoming the new faces of hip hop and almost the “saviors” of rap is that the mission of the genre doesn’t change and therefore they start to tell our stories, and recreate our narratives, and the shits being accepted. When it comes to the world of activism, we have white people once again playing the “savior” role and “fighting for” Black people. The only problem is when they go to “fight” there are rarely any blacks people who are direct victims of certain injustices in the arena, so once again… who is creating the narrative? Who better to describe our lived experiences outside of us?

While this was more of me going on a tangential rant of some sort, it’s important to remember the history of us, and how closely connected to present times that historic past is. People who appropriate our cultures are continuously accepted with open arms by “white society” and “white america”. They are often magnified and compensated for doing what’s been natural to us for centuries, the same things we were taught to be ashamed of, or have been ridiculed and criticized for has literally become a paycheck for others… let that sink in; someone who isn’t black is getting a paycheck for so-called fighting for black peoples rights, there’s a skinny white girl from North Dakota who is rocking an African hairstyle and being paid to take pictures and being told how “revolutionary groundbreaking” her hairstyle is.

What it all means for us? Is that the world as a whole is still not ready to accept us for being ourselves, they want our culture without having us… they will do all they can to take one (the culture) and leave the other (the people who created the culture). We still live in a time where it’s about making “white america” comfortable, they don’t want to be reminded of their thievery of both a people and their culture. We must continue to in the words of Louis Farrakhan “Accept our own, and be ourselves” we must make it a mission to support our own before we even think about supporting others outside of ourselves, especially when they have stolen our culture and sold it back to us.