Posted on 01/19/2018 8:53:23 AM PST by Red Badger
Accra, Ghana - They have come from the big cities of San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. Thousands of them. And many refuse to return.
A new wave of African Americans is escaping the incessant racism and prejudice in the United States. From Senegal and Ghana to The Gambia, communities are emerging in defiance of conventional wisdom that Africa is a continent everyone is trying to leave.
It is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 African Americans live in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. They are teachers in small towns in the west or entrepreneurs in the capital and say they that even though living in Ghana is not always easy, they feel free and safe.
Take Muhammida el-Muhajir, a digital marketer from New York City, who left her job to move to Accra.
She says she moved, because despite her education and experience, she was always made to feel like a second-class citizen. Moving was an opportunity to fulfil her potential and avoid being targeted by racial violence.
She told Al Jazeera her story: On life as a second-class citizen in the US...
"I grew up in Philadelphia and then New York. I went to Howard, which is a historically black university. I tell people that Ghana is like Howard in real life. It felt like a microcosm of the world. At university, they tell us the world isn't black, but there are places where this is the real world. Howard prepares you for a world where black people are in charge, which is a completely different experience compared to people who have gone to predominantly white universities."
I can't say what's happening in America today is any worse than what's been happening at any other time.
Muhammida el-Muhajir
On her first trip to Africa...
"The first country I went to was Kenya. I was 15 and travelled with a group of kids. I was one of two black kids. I saw early that I could fit in and wasn't an outsider. Suddenly it switched, I came from America where I was an outsider, but in Africa, I no longer felt like that. I did graduate school in Ghana in 2003 and went back to New York and then moved to Ghana in 2014.
"I have no connection to Ghana. Some people in my family did tests, and we found ties to Senegal and The Gambia, but I don't think you can ever figure it out. No matter where you were sold or left the port, Senegal or Ghana, no one can be certain where you came from."
No matter where you were sold or left the port, Senegal or Ghana, no one can be certain where you came from.
On leaving New York for Accra...
"Even when you live in a place like New York as a black person, you're always an outsider.
"You hear stories about the richest black people, like Oprah Winfrey, getting shut out of a store or Jay-Z not being allowed to buy [an apartment]. Those things happen. It doesn't matter if you're a celebrity, you're a second-class citizen. This was the biggest issue for me.
"In America, you're always trying to prove yourself; I don't need to prove myself to anyone else's standards here. I'm a champion, I ran track and went to university, and I like to win, so I refuse to be in a situation where I will never win."
You might not have electricity, but you won't get killed by the police either.
Muhammida el-Muhajir
On moving to Ghana...
"There are amenities that I am used to at home in New York - like parties, open bars and fashion, so when I realised I could do the same things in Africa as I could back in the US, I was sold. There is also a big street art festival here, and that was the difference from when I came [as a student]. I saw the things that I love at home here, so I decided that now is the time." On Ghanaian reactions...
"When Ghanaians find out that I live here, they're usually confused about why I chose to live here as an American. There is definitely certain access and privilege being American here, but it's great to finally cash in on that because it doesn't mean anything in America.
"There are also plenty of privileged Ghanaians; if you take away race there's a class system."
On the 'Blaxit' documentary...
"In my documentary, I chose five people that I've met since I've been here and every one of them went to a black college in the US. It's something that prepares you mentally to realise you aren't a second-class citizen. Something like that can help you make a transition to live in Africa.
"I made Blaxit because of this wave of African-Americans moving to Africa. This trend started to happen around independence of African countries, but the new wave [comprises] people who come to places like this. This new group has certain access in America and comes here to have that lifestyle in Africa.
"Unbeknown to us, we're living out the vision that [Ghanaian politician and revolutionary] Kwame Nkrumah set out for us, of this country being the gateway to Africa for the black diaspora.
"I don't want people to think that Africa is this magic utopia where all your issues will go away. It's just that some of the things you might face in America as a black person - you won't have to suffer with those things here.
"You might not have electricity, but you won't get killed by the police either.
"I want people to understand that they have options and alternatives. Most black people in America don't know that these options exist; they think they have to suffer because there's nowhere else to go. But no, there are other places." On the prospect of more African-Americans moving...
"I think more will come when they begin to see it as a viable alternative. But it's not easy and it's not cheap. I can't say what's happening in America today is any worse than what's been happening at any other time. I think now is the time that people are starting to see they can live somewhere else."
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
Do they need any help packing?
L
This tickles my fancy.
It’s a BS story, likely fabricated.
Not the police, sister. Your own race.
How about free airplane tickets..?
it would be the cheapest social program we ever had.
al Jazeera
nufsed
Facepalm.
I’m willing to chip in for moving expenses. White or black, anyone in this country who doesn’t thank God for the privilege every day should just leave.
Such a lie.
Africa is not just one big black happy “we are the world” place.
Black tribes hate other black tribes - with a passion. And they can tell where you “belong” about a mile away. I am amazed at the tiny facial and physical characteristics they see and pick out to classify and stereotype other black Africans.
And they are about the most racists people on the planet if you don’t belong to their tribe.
These people are in for a rude awakening.
+++++++
‘”The first country I went to was Kenya. I was 15 and travelled with a group of kids. I was one of two black kids. I saw early that I could fit in and wasn’t an outsider.’
Yes, the cops in Ghana have never killed anybody.
Voila..!!
“There is definitely certain access and privilege being American here, but it’s great to finally cash in on that because it doesn’t mean anything in America.”
3-5,000 out of 36 million is a drop in the bucket.
Anyone that thinks you won’t get killed, robbed, raped, kidnapped, extorted or beaten by the police in Africa is a complete fool and in for a very rude awakening. But I absolutely support them moving there and would be happy to help.
The black employment rate is at an all time high. The racism seems to have stopped except form career bureaucrats
The chances of that idiot dying from not having electricity, or access to truly clean water, or modern medicine in Africa, are far higher than her chances of being killed by a police officer (especially if she isn’t a violent felon), to say nothing of her chances of being raped and killed at the hands of some indigenous tribal gang.
Running away from some vague thing called “racism” (much of which is actually a projection of the black’s own dysfunctional culture of self-loathing) and running smack dab head-on into abject tyranny and poverty. They’ll be back...
Let’s get up a GoFundMe for those who hate America, provided they never may return.
I may be way to cynical but this reads like a propaganda piece to me. Likely a recruiting effort.
That alleged incident happened in Switzerland, not the U.S.
But hey, don't let that fact stop you from moving.
There is something to this.
I know a kid who, growing up latin in the US, had adopted all the gang-banger mannerisms thinking that was what it meant to be latin.
He came to stay with me in South America for a while, and saw what latin culture really was. Made friends with kids his own age. He was never the same after that. He was completely at ease with his “latinness” in a way he had never been, and completely at ease with his “americanness” in the same way.
In the US, “gangster” culture has infected both black and latin culture. Get the kids out of that, and you do them a huge favor.
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