BLACK AMERICAN EDUCATED JAMAICAN WOMAN ON BLACK IDENTITY

[00:00:00]You didn't have to think a lot about being black in Jamaica because blackness is the default. Black people are over 90% of Jamaica's population. So therefore, you are the standard. You are just a human being. You don't have to say black Jamaican history. Ladies and gentlemen, that is a short video of a black American educating Jamaicans on racism. There is a video that was made by a Jamaican woman who said that she has never been made aware of her blackness until she went to United States of America. So, black American decided to educate her on what racism looks like. Allow me to play you the whole video. Thereafter, we are going to discuss.

[00:00:48]>> I've listen I've never been more aware of my blackness until coming to America.

[00:00:52]This is what we African-Americans try to tell you AfroCaribbeans, Afro Latinos, and African immigrants. That when you come to America, you are now the minority and you live in a highly racialized society. You didn't have to think a lot about being black in Jamaica because blackness is the default. Black people are over 90% of Jamaica's population. So therefore, you are the standard. You are just a human being.

[00:01:23]You don't have to say black Jamaican history. You just say Jamaican history.

[00:01:29]You don't have to say, "Oh, look at that black woman over there." You say, "Look at that woman over there. Look at that sister over there." When you have the privilege of living in a context of where you are the majority, where you are surrounded by people that look like you, you are a human being. That is something we as African-Americans do not get the privilege of. So therefore, we are highly racialized and we have high racial consciousness. We understand just how deep race plays a factor in American society and around the globe. That's something that a lot of African immigrants and AfroCaribbeans don't see because they're not living in a context to where they see white people ruling over them or dictating their lives directly every day. Race does not dictate where you live, where you go to school, your educational opportunities, your social networking, wealth, income, perceptions about you. In black majority countries and societies, racism, white supremacy is more expressed through a neoc colonial, neoliberal, subtle way. So to all you AfroCaribbeans, African immigrants, Afro Latinos, or black people outside of America, don't come to America and say, "I know black.

[00:02:51]I Dominican. I know black. I Nigerian."

[00:02:54]America gonna let you know real quick you black when you get your negro wake up call.

[00:03:00]>> So before we discuss, allow me to play you the video that led to the black American educating the Jamaican lady on how racism happens and affects them in the United States of America.

[00:03:13]>> I've listen I've never been more aware of my blackness until coming to America.

[00:03:19]>> Every little box I'm checking black or it's like it's it's never been that that big a deal.

[00:03:23]>> Applications. Yes. All the time like somebody would compliment would say, "Oh my goodness, your hair is like that."

[00:03:28]And I say, "Oh, thank you so much." And then somebody would be like, "Yo, that was not a compliment." I was like, "Oh, oh." My formative years are in Jamaica.

[00:03:36]So that's how [music] I kind of it frames how I see the world. And and as a Jamaican, I do understand that my lack of sensitivity sometimes comes across as ignorant, but it's just I've had the privilege of not having [music] to think about the white man every day. After watching all those videos, now you can get the context why the black American came out and made that video. But you can also get the context of the Jamaican woman who said, you know, because we all know the Jamaican motives out of many one people when you are in Jamaica, you know, you're a human being. But the Jamaican lady, she was in an interview and she said she was never aware of her blackness until she went to the United States. That is when she knew that she's a black person. And you can tell from this interview such kind of things can affect someone. So, I want us to discuss why do you think the black American decided to react on that interview and try to educate the Jamaican lady on how race can affect you in the United States of America? Now, can we talk of racial minority? The black American has told the Jamaican lady that if you are in Jamaica, you are in a country whereby you feel like you're a human being and race is not an issue. As a black person, you just live your normal life. But he has told her that when you come to the United States of America and you're a black person, you realize that you're now the minority, you realize that there is a way you are treated different. At that point, you have to be aware of your blackness because you might go to a shop and even the way you are treated. You realize that your race plays a key role in your daytoday survival. Another thing that the black American said, he told the Jamaican woman that as black Americans or as a black American, they don't have the privilege that Jamaicans have. He said that in the United States of America, being a black person is not a privilege because you're looked down upon. A lot of things happen and most of the time your race will come into question because the Jamaican woman said she was not made aware of her blackness.

[00:06:03]So the black American is saying that in Jamaica because the the moto is out of many one people. As a black person, you just do your things. I mean, your daytoday activity normally. So, that is a privilege. But in the United States of America, as a black person, you must always be conscious and be aware of your race and that is a privilege that they don't get as a people back in United States of America. Another thing that you can get from that video, the black American has pointed out that in United States of America, race is something deep. Race is not something you can take lightly. In as much as we want to interact with human beings, you know, we want to know that we are human beings and let us just live freely. But he has said race in America is deep and that's why when you're coming out of United States of America just like the Jamaican woman who has said she was made aware of her blackness the black American has informed her and educated her that in the United States of America race is not what you think in as much as we are all human beings but your race plays a big and major role as far as you're living in United States is concerned. So another thing that the black American has said is about high racial consciousness. You know he is saying in the United States of America you must be highly conscious of your race. You might take it as something normal when you are coming from a country where your race doesn't matter, where you're just living normally as a human being. But in the United States of America, your race, you've got to be highly conscious of it.

[00:07:57]And that's why the Jamaican woman when she went to the United States, she was made aware. It is like saying if you live here you must know that apart from being a human being you are in this particular race and you've got to be very very conscious of your race. So ladies and gentlemen you can put it on the comment section what do you think of the experience of the Jamaican woman who said that the first time [snorts] she was made to be aware of her blackness is when she visited United States of America. Have you ever also had such kind of experience as a person who migrated and went to the United States of America? Do you also agree with the remarks and sentiments that the black American has stated out? Is he saying the truth or is just trying to hype things out? So ladies and gentlemen, that is the end of the video. Let us interact on the comment section. Until next time, we say goodbye or in PWA we say little