A can of worms

Are you African American?

The question just fell off my tongue when I was shooting the first interview. A simple enough question…I thought. The complexities of answers, depth of emotions and rawness of passions have surprised me and led me down interesting paths of questions, with even more intriguing answers.

So far we’ve lived with the basis of the term “African American” uncritically examined. Now let’s reconsider it: Is it based on race, ethnicity, looks, citizenship, geography, history, culture or some other criteria? Is a black Caribbean immigrant African American? Is a Moroccan immigrant African American? Is an Indian African immigrant African American?  Even the African Americanness of a black African in America is in question?

We have opened a can of worms, and the conversations so far demonstrate that the can badly needed opening. The goal of The Neo African Americans is to be a tool to open this can in a safe and respectful manner.