Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents excerpts from four online articles about the custom of Black people nodding at other Black people who are strangers. Comments from some of those articles are including in this post.
This pancocojams post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series about the custom of Black people nodding at other Black people who are strangers. This custom is often referred to as "the nod" or "the Black nod".
Click the tag "video, articles, and comments about "the nod"" to find other pancocojams posts about this subject.
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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DEFINITION OF "THE NOD" [as used in this post]
From https://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/06/01/the-black-nod-what-a-simple-gesture-tell-us-about-congress/ "The “Black Nod”: What a simple gesture tell us about Congress" by Guest Contributor, June 1, 2017
..."The nod is a gesture of acknowledgment. The interaction begins with establishing eye contact and then is followed by a subtle lowering of the head. As many participants explained the nod was not a gesture that was unique to Capitol Hill, but that they regularly used to signal solidarity to other Black people in majority-white environments.
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According to a number of persons writing or commenting online about this custom, "the nod" can either be performed as a quick uplift of the chin or a quick lowering the head.
-snip-
A longer excerpt of this article is given as Excerpt #2 below.
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ARTICLE EXCERPTS & COMMENTS
These article excerpts and comments are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From https://www.beenaroundtheglobe.com/nod-black-person/ THE NOD (WHEN YOU’RE BLACK) BY ROOBENS, 07/01/2019
..."When you’re black and you find yourself in an area with almost no black people, you inevitably went through the famous black nod. A slight nod you do to another black person you see in the street. Very subtle, very quick. If you walk next to me and you look away just for a few seconds, you probably won’t see I just did the head nod to another black person I just passed by. Yeah, that’s how it is, traveling while black, we greet each other!
Generally, we do the nod furtively and quite fast. This is something we do naturally, but it causes confusion and bewillderment among the non-black people who saw me nodding to another black man. “Huh… Do you know him?“, asked an Austrian girl, after watching me greeting a black guy in Samarkand. “Nope, I don’t know him” “But… Why did you say hi to him then???“
[...]
In several areas in the world, you don’t expect at all to see another black person. You spend full days exploring a city/a region/a country, never bumping into a single black person! And all of a sudden, on a beautiful day, you finally spot one! You’re then overwhelmed with a feeling, a mix of surprise, acknowledgement, and support, and instinctively, you’re gonna greet each other. Implicitly, you’re happy to see “a brother, one of us”, in a place where you’re a very small minority. “Cool, I’m not alone!“. There’s some implied sense of “kinship”.
It’s a sign of acknowledgement, of camaraderie, a sign of a bond between us, and it’s also a way to say “I’m right there with you!” It’s a bit weird… In fact, it’s as if you were exploring an unknown territory, potentially hostile (I talked about it in my article about the fear of racism when traveling*), and just the fact to see another black person, makes you feel more comfortable.
[...]
I have to clarify one thing. It only happens when traveling -yeah you’re reading a travel blog- at least in my experience. I never nodded to a black guy -or got the nod- in a city full of black people. Never where I live in Paris, nor in London, in Western Europe in general, or in the US. It returns to and it reinforces what I said earlier : it usually only happens in areas where we’re a very small minority. When it happens, the reactions are different. As I said, usually, the chin rises up a little bit, and returns back to its regular position. Sometimes we shake hands (it happened in New Delhi), sometimes we even hug and we start having a conversation (it happened in Ella, Sri Lanka).
I noticed that usually, black people from the US are more inclined to nod and start a conversation than black people from Europe. It must be cultural, and Americans (in general, not just black people!) travel a lot less than Europeans. I guess they’re even more delighted to see a brother. But yeah, we also do the nod, black guys not from the US. I remember that black girl from the US, her face lit up when she saw me “My maaaaan!!! How are you? You’re on vacation! It’s so cool to see you here! etc…” We started talking as if we were two old friends running into each other and happy to meet up. Black Americans are more inclined to start a conversation “Hey! How you doin? Where you from? What are you doing here? Having fun?” Black Europeans will content themselves with a head nod, and they’ll keep walking.
[...]
However, I never do the nod first to a woman, it can be misinterpreted and I don’t want to get in trouble #metoo. If she does the black nod first, then I’ll respond with a head nod as well. Otherwise I don’t do it.
[...]
As I said, the black nod is mostly done in areas where we’re a very small minority. By the way, you can apply this rule to any minority group. I talked earlier about the white people in rural areas in India, the rare tourists in East Timor… To go further, the bikers and the cyclists also do the nod when they pass by each other (a minority group compared to the cars, and there’s a sense of belonging to a group)."....
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*Here's the link to the article that is mentioned in that excerpt: https://www.beenaroundtheglobe.com/fear-racism-travel/.
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Here's a comment from that article's discussion thread:
Teja says
11/01/2019
"Actually, I’ve noticed white expats always greet each other here. They will tend to nod or even say a greeting, and neither one necessarily knows the other. But they don’t do it to non-whites (like in an elevator, this is very noticeable). It always irritates me, especially when my American white colleague is greeted, and I’m like right next to her and ignored. But maybe it is the same thing as ‘the nod’.
Malaysians tend to be 50-50 – the delight in finding a countryman (and that the countryman was identified correctly and isn’t actually Filipino, for example) has to exceed the natural shyness we have with bothering strangers. But the best example has to be when I did my Masters degree in Wales, where there were very few Malaysians in a small and quite isolated Welsh town.
I was just registered into uni, walking down the hill with my parents, and suddenly a car stopped next to us on the road. Then a window rolled down, and the driver stuck his head out, calling out with a totally typical Malay phrasing, “Melayu ke?” (You Malay?) And that was how I got a surrogate family in Wales (along with the home-cooked meal benefits that come with it!)"
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Excerpt #2
From https://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/06/01/the-black-nod-what-a-simple-gesture-tell-us-about-congress/ "The “Black Nod”: What a simple gesture tell us about Congress" by Guest Contributor,
June 1, 2017
..."What does the “Black nod” mean?
The nod is a gesture of acknowledgment. The interaction begins with establishing eye contact and then is followed by a subtle lowering of the head. As many participants explained the nod was not a gesture that was unique to Capitol Hill, but that they regularly used to signal solidarity to other Black people in majority-white environments.
As they put it, the nod meant “I see you.” The nod then became a tool that they used make to themselves and others like them visible. As many participants explained the nod was not a gesture that was unique to Capitol Hill, but that they regularly used to signal solidarity to other Black people in majority-white environments.
As they put it, the nod meant “I see you.” The nod then became a tool that they used make to themselves and others like them visible.
In Congress, the exchange of the nod became a moment in which Black staffers could convey and share, albeit briefly, the struggles and frustrations of working in a majority-white institution.
[...]
In some ways, the limited sample of White staffers interviewed who were unaware of the nodding practice before them confirms the invisibility of Black staffers. Encounters like this fed a general racial paranoia about the status of Black workers in Congress and distributions of power. These perceptions of race and power reaffirmed the importance of nodding.
Respondents said nodding was important, but not everyone nodded. An analysis of not nodding revealed important gender, class, and age distinctions and the performative elements of race.
While Black women participated in nodding, they almost never initiated the exchange as it could be misconstrued as a sexual advance.
In addition, respondents inferred class distinctions about those who did not nod, suggesting that their privileged positon meant they were “not down with the race”. Older and veteran Black staffers lamented that younger staffers did not nod and understand the importance of sticking together even as the size of group expanded in recent decades.
When respondents discussed moments in which a nod was not initiated or reciprocated they unknowingly expressed their thoughts about what the Black community on Capitol Hill should be.”...
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Excerpt #3
From https://www.247liveculture.com/the-nod-the-common-courtesy-every-black-man-needs-to-know/culture "The Nod: The Common Courtesy Every Black Man Needs To Know" By: Omar Cook
...”The nod is the common courtesy that every black man needs to know! I don't know how it came about but the simple fact is that if you're a black man in America, you need to have this as a tool. The act of nodding your heading up or down is a sure sign of acknowledgement, as if you're saying to that person, "I see you, we're in this together." The nod is the next best thing to dapping a person up and it literally takes one second and you go about your business.
There is a difference between the downward nod and the upward nod though. Usually, when you give the upward nod, it's to someone you know, someone of the same age, or you might just be at a considerable distance that nodding your head up is the best way that person might see the gesture. You usually nod your head down as a sign of respect to someone that is older than you or complete strangers. Either you can't go wrong, but you should never let a passing moment between two black men go by without acknowledging him.
Black men share the same struggles together in America and this simple sign of respect is just a small gesture of unity. IF a black ever walks by you, and doesn't look at you to acknowledge you with the nod, thats a red flag and there's a problem. Honestly, I almost feel disrespected if a black man doesn't look to make eye contact and give this universal sign of respect. That brother wasn't raised right! I'm writing this post not only to spread cultural awareness about this common courtesy, but to gather the attention of the black men out there who don't do this! It's 2018, and with racial tensions getting hotter, it's a MUST that black men respect each other, stick together, and at the very least acknowledge each other's presence.”...
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Excerpt #4
From https://medium.com/matter/the-nod-a-subtle-lowering-of-the-head-to-another-black-person-in-an-overwhelmingly-white-place-e12bfa0f833f
"The Nod: A Subtle Lowering of the Head You Give to Another Black Person in an Overwhelmingly White Place", Musa Okwonga, Oct 16, 2014
"If you’re a black person who has ever visited a place where there aren’t many other black people, then you will be familiar with The Nod. The Nod is just that: An almost imperceptible lowering of the head toward any other black person you might encounter on your travels through, say, Slovakia or Russia.
Yet The Nod is also so much more than that: It’s a swift yet intimate statement of ethnic solidarity. The Nod is saying, “Wow, well, I really didn’t expect to see another one of us out here, but you seem to be doing your thing just fine. More power to you, and all the very best."...
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Selected comments from this article's comment section:
a. A Jones, Nov 5, 2015 ·
What some of the people below that are saying that “The Nod” is not a black thing are ignoring the premise of this article. It is not making a statement that Black men created it and are the only people doing, it’s about the what “The Nod” means to us. It is a means of acknowledge of struggle and accomplishment. You might nod to say, “Hey how’s it going?” but it means a little bit more for us."
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This commenter doesn't have a screen photograph.
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REPLY
b. Chaveevah Cheryl Banks Ferguson, Nov 6, 2015
"I agree with A Jones. The author has not said that The Nod is EXCLUSIVE to Black people, that Black people ‘created’ it, etc — only that, amongst Black people, it has a special significance when you see another Black person in a place where you totally did not expect to see them. Why is that such a problem for non-Black people, that they have to generalize — and thereby, dismiss/devalue whatever specific meaning it might hold for the author? Okay, so you’ve also had this experience. Good. That STILL does not lessen the value/impact of what the author is trying to convey. It’s unfortunate, but unless ‘they’ are central to whatever story or example is being offered, some whites seem to be offended by tales of camaraderie that Black people experience with other Black people. One commenter, Jeremiah, was particularly ridiculous — to suggest that acknowledging another Black person in a foreign land, culturally homogeneous venue, etc, is somehow ‘segregating’ is the height of the “me-first” mindset that needs to be checked at the door. Acknowledging ANOTHER Black person doesn’t mean the author ONLY acknowledged other Black people. Get over yourself!"
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The commenter’s screen photo is of a Black woman.
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c. Sigil, Nov 9, 2015
“The nod” is reassurance that you are not alone. That simple gesture can sustain, motivate and give peace to both. The intent of the nod is what is unique."
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This commenter doesn't have a screen photograph.
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d. Nomfundo Sarah Msomi, Dec 4, 2015
"I’m a South African in Hong Kong (via India, a small Liberal Arts college in New York, the Development Studies department at the University of Oxford, and the creative industries in London and New York). The nod — I’ve given it, I’ve received it, it’s very much a part of my life. Great piece."
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The commenter’s screen photo is of a Black woman.
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e. Elizabeth Wright, Feb 23, 2016
"Mexican people do a nod here. I think it’s more like lifting the chin to acknowledge someone from the same background. The same motion can mean a string of other things depending on context, but the acknowledgement gesture is pretty consistent."
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The commenter's screen photo is difficult to decipher.
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