tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post3732603310587306961..comments2024-03-29T08:48:14.872-04:00Comments on pancocojams: Somali Bantus In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (article excerpts & videos) Azizi Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-20276245910802553202017-01-02T09:58:57.559-05:002017-01-02T09:58:57.559-05:00Also, notice this quote from that same Pittsburgh ...Also, notice this quote from that same Pittsburgh article:<br />"In 2006, Education Law Project on behalf of the Bantu community sued Pittsburgh Public Schools for better language and cultural services. PPS settled and developed policies to help second-language learners and guard against ethnic intimidation." Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-50494539750317490732017-01-02T09:11:56.258-05:002017-01-02T09:11:56.258-05:00This topic is of particular interest to me because...This topic is of particular interest to me because I've lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since August 1969. <br /><br />I've noticed some women in Pittsburgh who I thought were Africans (i.e. born in Africa) wearing what I assumed were traditional colorful long dresses with East African style draped head scarfs. Given the article, I now assume that those women are Somali Bantus.<br /><br />(By the way), this custom of those females wearing their traditional African clothing -which in the winter is worn under a winter coat-is in contrast to what appears to me to be the custom of other Black African women [i.e. women born in Africa] wearing "standard" American clothing and no head wraps or long head scarfs).<br /><br />The article quoted above indicated that 80% of Pittsburgh's Somali Bantus live in the neighborhood of Northview Heights. That neighborhood is some distance from East Liberty/Garfield where I live. However, I have noticed some African families (who I now think are Somali Bantus) living in East Liberty/Garfield.<br /><br />I remember seeing a man (dressed in "standard American clothing") with a woman and their young daughter (both dressed in what I considered "East African style traditional clothing") in the lobby of a doctor's office in that community. I remember nodding my head at that family (as a number of Black people used to do when we encountered some other Black person even if we didn't know him or her)*. But that family didn't acknowledge me. They just continued to stare straight ahead. Thanks to that article, given the difficulties and dangers that that ethnic group faced in Somali and Kenya, I have a better understanding for why they don't automatically see other Black people as potential allies in case of trouble.*<br /><br />Also, I recall my daughter (who at that time was a teacher in the neighborhood elementary school) telling me that African girls in that school were being teased by (other) Black children because of their dark skin (although their skin was the same complexion as some of those students doing the teasing). Students in that school wore uniforms, but I do recall some girls wearing long head scarfs. Notice the quote in that Pittsburgh article that "many African Americans have bullied Bantu youth over the years, calling them names like “Africa” and “stink.” <br /><br />*I think that at least one reason for the African American custom of nodding your head at another Black person or otherwise greeting another Black person whether you know him or her or not is that we were acknowledging that we're in the same boat [we come from the same culture and may encounter the same difficulties] and we can potential count on each other if those difficulties occur. But I've noticed that this custom of Black people nodding at other Black people we come across has been disappearing since at least the 1980s, probably because gang activities have made Black people less trusting of each other.<br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.com