Research Paper On African Diaspora

The African Diaspora has been interpreted in many different ways. From the readings and discussions in class, I have come to a better understanding of what I believe it to be. The African Diaspora has had many different components to it that make it such a complex thing to understand. Three important components are the shared experience of struggle, self-identification versus external identification, and the formation of a community. Along with those concepts are political and economic reasons that help to comprehend the African Diaspora in greater depth. The African Diaspora is the displacement or forced migration of African people throughout the world. The trans-Atlantic slave trade effected millions of Africans forcing them to move across

In Stuart Hall’s article, Cultural Identity and Diaspora, he talks about the different ways of thinking about cultural identity. One is the shared culture, and the other looks at the differences and the constant transformations of the culture. He then goes on to explain how colonialism had a lasting effect on the way black people were positioned in the world. There’s also the idea of self-identity versus external identity. Self-identity is how a person views themselves and their own personal experiences. While external-identity is how a person is viewed based on race, language, and/or their perceived struggle. There are some examples of people who would consider themselves a part of the African Diaspora, but who the community wouldn’t think was. The opposite of that is also true, there are people who, just by looking at them, others would consider to be a part of the African Diaspora, but who don’t consider themselves to be. These complex ideas help form a better understanding of what makes up the African

I believe that the African Diaspora forms a mass community of people who have a shared experience of struggle. But, that struggle isn’t the only thing that determines whether someone is a part of it or not. As mentioned earlier, the perception of an individual greatly affects the acceptance into the community. Not only that, the formation of a group can be used politically. With hundreds of thousands of people making up the African Diaspora their voices should be heard. When problems arise, people in the community have someone to help them. Also, the bigger the group, essentially, the more pressure is put on the government to fix what is happening. That isn’t always the case, but the community allows for that opportunity. In the Stuart Hall article, he talks about an “imagined” community where people are looking for connections that may not be present. That they have a sense of Africa that may not be true or realistic. Although this concept may be true, that it is an imagined community, I feel that the community isn’t formed, necessarily, through the want to go back to Africa. I think that, for a lot of people, this community allows for people to share things that they have experienced that others may not understand. It allows for the transfer of knowledge about where their ancestors may have come from and for the shared understanding of the struggles that they have faced for hundreds of years. Furthermore, this community can’t be thought of a static or staying