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[Glenda]

A lot of us have .... swirly backgrounds which makes it even harder to unite because we discriminate EACH OTHER based on skin color, hair and other features  "oh he got GOOD HAIR he must think he better than everybody" 

We need to promote the message that ALL black is beautiful and not just CERTAIN black. 

speak awn it.

I cringe every time these females at work encourage the black men to keep their hair cut. "It's time to shave that sponge down", etc. the things I've heard. I swear I want to BOOK them a bit because it lowkey makes me angry....who are you to tell him he needs to cut his hair? how do u know he's not trying to grow it?

and the same women will turn around and pull out their phones and show me pictures of their hair from years ago... "see, look my hair is curly too!"...when it clearly was heat/perm damage ...not curls  it makes me feel so uncomfortable. u don't have to prove to me that ur hair is like mine. and it leads to me believe that there is jealousy somewhere in their spirit. thats kinda hurtful cuz I am just being me and I love them.

so i find myself going out of my way to make sure I compliment them and remind them how beautiful they are. cuz they really are some gorgeous women especially the one I was telling yall about who I got something for VDay. shes gorgeous. 

sorry to rant but u got me started.

No I get it. The hair thing is weird. I get so annoyed by it. My hair is in dreads right now tho but I always hear sideline comments about them, mostly for the good. Either way, good or bad, my hair shouldn't garner any comments. Like bitch leave me alone, it's just how MY fucking hair grows. Prolly the Cherokee and Navajo in me.

snsdsnddsn

its people like this that caused me to look deeper into my familys background. being from NYC, i never heard mess like I hear down here in the south. i've worn my hair natural before when I was younger and it was never a big deal.

i think its cuz NY is such a melting pot. we could careless who has curly or "good" hair....its such a mixture of different cultures and ethnicities up there. down here, the ballgame is totally different. i started growing my hair down here and its like a huge deal....ppl questioning ur background, where ur from, what u do to ur hair, is it a perm  etc. etc.

it makes u begin to question what makes u "different". and what are people seeing that you aren't. Me and my sisters have always seen ourselves as Black. We knew about my grandmothers mother Chief, but she'd more so tell us stories about how Chief raised her. Not about her ancestry, tribe, siblings....My grandmother was more concerned with a Bible than her roots. She knew her mother was Native, but she never made  a big deal about it. So we didn't either.

But then u get people questioning you as you get older. THIS is what made me dig into my ancestry.

!!!! Fro we are so alike 

My grandmother just RECENTLY told me about my Native American background  I never knew my grandfather on my dad's side growing up. Apparently he was part Native American. His mother was full Cherokee native and his dad was part Navajo and black. I wish I knew more about my grandfather so I could delve more into that part of my background. 

But yes I've gotten the "is it a perm? is it real? is it ALL really yours?  " before  it's so weird. I've always seen myself as black. But any HINT of swirlyness will cause other blacks to paint you as an "other". "oh he ain't really full black he got somethin' in him"

GORL I am black and proud

[Herb.]

sss

Once I finished my research, I asked my grandmother why she never talked much about what I found, because she didn't seem surprised by anything, she knew Chief's brothers and sisters, etc. she knew Parker Leach, her great grandfather, I'm like So u knew all this mess already?

She said she never talks much about it because she didn't want other people to feel a certain way. Maybe as if she was bragging about her heritage. But that's the thing, we shouldn't feel like we need to hide things, or only embrace Black to make people feel comfortable. White people happily do their genealogy and claim their full identity. Long as you're not delusional walking around thinking you're a full blooded Indian, and you know the FACTS, there's no problem in embracing who your roots. I'm not hiding my grandma Chief for anyone.

Just as I proudly talk about my great grandfather on dad's side Willie, a strong, generous, black man who owned tons of land that I get to visit every year. I am PROUD of every line of my family that I descend from.

Love my Grandmother, but I just couldn't clap for that.
BUt I see where she's coming from. And I understand it.

[Glenda]

vvv

[Herb.]

And I know you want to learn more about your family, I suggest you do traditional genealogy while you still have your grandparents around to help. Get the names of their parents/grandparents, look through records, confirm the areas where they lived, etc.

Because honestly a lot of Black families -- we have stories of Native Americans. It sounds like you really want to know for yourself though. The research is not very difficult if the Native heritage is close enough, your great grandmother is only 2 generations back. So you should be able to find evidence to support the stories easily.

See what area she lived in, if she was full blooded or close to full blooded she should definitely have been in an area/county where a lot of Natives lived. They always stuck together. And you can easily verify if a tribe was in that area or not by simply looking up the history of the tribe.

Names can also be evidence. First and last. Go by maiden names for the women -- Natives usually had unique first and last names. Sometimes they could seem "regular" though. So just because your great grandmother's maiden name was Betty Jones doesn't mean she wasn't Native. Just find other evidence.

I know you wish you knew more , but you have an opportunity and the technology to know more. Go for it!

[Glenda]

!!!! I'll definitely look into it. I don't want to be naive and take her word for it, but my brother and sister and I agree that we all have some bit of swirlyness in us.  Thanks Fro!

[Young]

We have to change our mentalities

It's a long process for sure but we have to be desensitized first.
We also need to overcome mental slavery.
We are not free lol; not equal yet to everyone.
We need to keep that in mind and utilize that to fuel us to want to do/and BE better.
We need to stick together
We need to uplift eachother
We need to support eachother
We need to give opportunity to one another

There's strength in numbers ; but we have to be willing to hold ourselves accountable now for certain things . We have to take some responsibility for certain things and collectively make a come up.

Less Crab in a barrel mentality and more of an Ant mentality.
We need to Work together to do the impossible.

But that will take all of us to do

[Herb.]

!!!! I'll definitely look into it. I don't want to be naive and take her word for it, but my brother and sister and I agree that we all have some bit of swirlyness in us.  Thanks Fro!

!!!

That's the thing, anytime we see something different in our family or family tree we automatically point to Native, when it could be something else. You never know. Get your peace of mind thru exploration. There's nothing like knowing for sure. Love u. Foine self

[Glenda]

!!!! I'll definitely look into it. I don't want to be naive and take her word for it, but my brother and sister and I agree that we all have some bit of swirlyness in us.  Thanks Fro!

!!!

That's the thing, anytime we see something different in our family or family tree we automatically point to Native, when it could be something else. You never know. Get your peace of mind thru exploration. There's nothing like knowing for sure. Love u. Foine self

[Herb.]

We have to change our mentalities

It's a long process for sure but we have to be desensitized first.
We also need to overcome mental slavery.
We are not free lol; not equal yet to everyone.
We need to keep that in mind and utilize that to fuel us to want to do/and BE better.
We need to stick together
We need to uplift eachother
We need to support eachother
We need to give opportunity to one another

There's strength in numbers ; but we have to be willing to hold ourselves accountable now for certain things . We have to take some responsibility for certain things and collectively make a come up.

Less Crab in a barrel mentality and more of an Ant mentality.
We need to Work together to do the impossible.

But that will take all of us to do

book

[Rxxf]

I find that most black people who only have roots in America (and not in the Caribbean islands, Europe, etc.) automatically call out Native American. I believe the tool Afro used is beneficial, because there's more that can be explored.

[Herb.]

I find that most black people who only have roots in America (and not in the Caribbean islands, Europe, etc.) automatically call out Native American. I believe the tool Afro used is beneficial, because there's more that can be explored.

!!!

It's pretty easy to confirm it, just look through official Census records and see where your family lived, what their names were.

No need for us to live in mystery anymore.

[Rxxf]

I have a feeling that FaceBook will be apart of ancestor's tools in year 2200+ for our descendants.

[Rxxf]

i mean, we don't have the luxury to see our ancestors perched on the web from 1816.
but future generations will.

[BranLover]

We have to change our mentalities

It's a long process for sure but we have to be desensitized first.
We also need to overcome mental slavery.
We are not free lol; not equal yet to everyone.
We need to keep that in mind and utilize that to fuel us to want to do/and BE better.
We need to stick together
We need to uplift eachother
We need to support eachother
We need to give opportunity to one another

There's strength in numbers ; but we have to be willing to hold ourselves accountable now for certain things . We have to take some responsibility for certain things and collectively make a come up.

Less Crab in a barrel mentality and more of an Ant mentality.
We need to Work together to do the impossible.

But that will take all of us to do

Definitely!!!

[Gilgamesh.]

We have to change our mentalities

It's a long process for sure but we have to be desensitized first.
We also need to overcome mental slavery.
We are not free lol; not equal yet to everyone.
We need to keep that in mind and utilize that to fuel us to want to do/and BE better.
We need to stick together
We need to uplift eachother
We need to support eachother
We need to give opportunity to one another

There's strength in numbers ; but we have to be willing to hold ourselves accountable now for certain things . We have to take some responsibility for certain things and collectively make a come up.

Less Crab in a barrel mentality and more of an Ant mentality.
We need to Work together to do the impossible.

But that will take all of us to do

That's cute but you called Sevyn "soot flop" just last week...