Dear Black People, Not me.

I'm absolutely mortified every time I hear someone talk about some faction of Dark skinned Africans using the word "black" . A while back I was trying to explain to a friend of mine , a French girl why I didn't care so much so about racism or that I couldn't really identify with the Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill . Here is why: 

 Black people do not exist in Africa . Yes, I mean it. Black people are a product of slave trade and only exist under that title in racially segregated societies such as the Americas and Europe. When you set your foot in any African airport , the dark skinned individuals before you are AFRICANS. 

These Africans while we share a part of our history without stolen brethrens across the ocean; our realities are very much different . Take for example , while the tragedy of our story lies in colonisation , our struggle is for unity , development and building ourselves up to identify with our culture . 

Black people's tragedy lies in racism , systemic and structural discrimination at a social level .  Maybe from a distance you can "blackwash" us with the same issues. But a closer look will reveal very different values , cultures and thus struggles . My aim is not further divide us while our brothers over there are fighting for 'black excellence'; but I'm just pointing out that if I don't care about the issues of Black America , it's because my African feet walked a different journey . And I am definitely not going to your destination. 

Here's a link to what inspired me to write this opinion piece : http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2018/02/12/wakanda-afrofuturism-and-decolonizing-international-relations-scholarship/