I come from humble beginnings.

Born and bred in poverty-stricken Mississippi and later as a teen and young adult in crime-ridden south central Los Angeles, I know bad and I know crime.

I also know stereotypes. African Americans have been called many things…lazy, uneducated, and ignorant to name a few.

Just as there is some truth to all myths, myths do not convey absolute truth.

America is the most economically and socially powerful nation on the planet. Do we sometimes abuse that power? Yes. African Americans have been powerless in a powerful nation since the early days of slavery.

Many may hate to admit it but there is an unharnessed, unabashed raw power imbedded in the faces and dispositions of Africans that scare the living daylights out of most people. This sometimes causes Africans to cower in order to not offend. How do I know this? Because I am the descendent of African slaves. (If you know nothing about the history of slavery in America please learn. Like immediately after reading this post.)

In America, this unharnessed power had to be harnessed in order to create a slave mentality. The processes used to break that disposition are still inherent in the faces and dispositions of African Americans today. We are a broken people in many ways. This brokenness sometimes manifests itself in ways that destroy the very people we claim to love. It takes a multitude of healing and forgiveness to restore the brokenness.

So back to this myth of mammoth proportions. In America, and in Africa too, people say that Nigerians are crooked and should be watched with a close eye at all times. There are bans on allowing Nigerians to cross borders and travel internationally and even within Africa. When I traveled to Nigeria as a single, African-American woman, I was checked twice in customs upon re-entry to America. Once in America, I was subjected to a full body search in Houston, TX. Why? Because they didn’t understand why I’d traveled to Nigeria of all places.

Yes, I know people who have been burned by a Nigerian. Women who thought they were in love and married only to have their hearts broken because their husband was an opportunist.

But that can be said about any race. Yes, I hear there are scammers who steal people’s identity and forge credit cards, etc. But it’s not just Nigerians who do it. Some of the best criminals in the world are of European descent yet they are free to travel wherever and whenever they’d like to. Why is it that when you lack power, you are easier to control and confine? The answer does not bear stating. It’s an obvious one.

Can I speak the truth? Nigeria is the most powerful nation in Africa. Africa looks to Nigeria to lead. The most populous nation in Africa is inhabited by so many for a reason. Only God truly knows why.

I believe that God has called Nigeria to be a forerunner in the changing face of Africa. Unfortunately, we sometimes miss or delay our callings. I pray that Nigeria will not miss hers.

Yes, I know a good criminal when I see one. Many commit crimes out of desperation. Others because they think they can get away with it. Criminals have black faces, white faces, yellow faces and brown ones.

I also know desperation. It is those who lack real power who are most affected by crime and greed. Unfortunately it is those who lack real power who create the most gross and unthinkable atrocities against their own people. It is those with brown, black, and yellow faces that heap the greatest terror on those who depend on them for leadership.

Have you heard the saying that the oppressed often imitate the oppressor?




What are you doing to discredit damaging myths in this hour? After all change begins with you and me.


be the change you want to see.

I’ll be blunt.

Why is it that so many Africans come to the U.S. and want so desperately to become American? Why is it that they forget? How can they forget? Those left behind. To fend for themselves in nations where “struggle” has become the sixth sense necessary for survival.

Question…do you think that once you arrive in America, get your degrees, buy your big houses and send your kids to private school that you have now arrived? That you are somehow different because you have achieved in America? That your class level has been raised to “upper” and the “lower” no longer applies to you?

I am appalled when an African says to me, “Why do you care so much about Nigerians? Are you married to one?” No matter how many times I hear this, I’m always shocked. I’m always saddened. The conversation usually goes something like this,

“No, I am not married to an African.” (I am single and trying to find my way in the midst of the madness that is America.) Continuing with my conversations…the next question is usually, “Have you been to Africa?”

After giving a passionate spill about my experiences visiting Nigeria, I am told, “Wow, you love Africa so much. There’s so many troubles there.” And thus begins in-depth conversations about OBJ and the presidential elections, oil, NEPA, the youth in Delta state.

In the midst of these conversations, I often wonder why you are here? What are you doing to help out back home. Why is it that so many young people lose touch with their family about 2-4 months after they arrive? The answer is always, “There are so many expectations once we reach America! They don’t understand how much we have to work to be able to send N10,000 back home. Sometimes we can’t continue school because we can’t afford to go to school and support family back home.”

I am disgusted. Yes, I am African American. Born and raised in Mississippi. A child of the southern United States. Less than sixty years ago, Blacks struggled to be recognized as humans with equal rights in the midst of a racially segregated and divided nation. A state where many died just to be able to eat in restaurants, use restrooms, ride buses, vote, and send their children to school with white Americans. Yet today, even Black Americans have forgotten.

In all fairness, I partially understand this dilemma. How should I expect you, my African brothers and sisters to recognize how far Blacks have come in this country when most of us don’t care to know?

You see in America, we claim to be a Christian nation. I beg, we are NOT a Christian nation. Souls are dead and dying by the thousands, if not millions. We are lost in the worst way.

Yes, it’s complicated and I understand. But I beg (AGAIN), don’t come here expecting to make it rich and go back home the big spender accomplished son or daughter that some expect. It is not by chance that you were allowed an opportunity to better your conditions in life. God single-handedly plucked you out to give you a chance. What are you going to do with this chance? What are the odds of someone making it out of devastation and poverty (in some cases privilege in the midst of poverty) to the so-called land of milk and honey? Slim to none.

Get that education and then go back home and build. Don’t stay here and strive to have American babies with foreign wives. Seriously, we don’t need anymore African Americans. Home is where you’re needed most.

And while you’re here – do something for those you left behind. Raise a ruckus! Speak out. Raise your voices – let us know what’s happening back home. Don’t try to blend in!

To the youth, don’t forget your upbringing. Forget about Jay Z and the Hip-Hop generation. Embrace what you know and have always known. Strive to positively influence your peers here in America who have no real understanding of what community means.

You know. Because that’s were you came from. You may have had very little back home (or much in comparison to your peers) but you had family, love, and a history. A nation that depends on you to not forget. Don’t neglect that knowledge.

Yes, many attitudes need to be broken in Africa. Many don’t understand what life is really like in America. Many expect you to make it big and give money. And that brings a lot of pressure. But don’t allow that pressure to make you turn your back on those who need you. Too many lives are at stake to do that.

You come from a rich cultural heritage that the informed and socially-conscious African American would give their right arm to have. We envy you. Don’t come here trying to emulate us. Be who you are. Yes it’s hard being different but it’s a lot harder trying to be the same. Lift your voices.

You see, I was in Nigeria for a total of less than one month almost two years ago. To this date, a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about what I can do.

When I turn on my light switch and know that there will be light. When I get in my car and know that I can stop at 7-11 and get gas with no problems. When I pay my monthly cellular bill and expect to be able to have service non-stop. When I can check my savings account and feel a little bit of security in knowing I will have food to eat tomorrow. It breaks my heart sometimes to live a comfortable life. I CAN’T FORGET. My life has changed forever and I’m grateful to God for the experience. For showing me with my own two eyes what I’ve studied and researched half my life. That Africa is burgeoning with possibilities. That Africa is humanity’s home. That God lives and breathes in Africa.

Don’t forget Africa.

Do what you can in your own small way to bring about change. Speak out. Make waves. And for God’s sake, don’t forget Nigeria. She needs you now more than ever.



AYCbethechange@aol.com