Edited by Azizi Powell
This post presents excerpts from several internet articles that refer to the vintage and afrocentric fashions worn by attendees of the 2015 AfroPunk festival in Brooklyn, New York. Four videos of the 2013, 2014, and 2015 AfroPunk festivals are also included in this post. In addition, comments about AfroPunk fashions from some of those video's discussion threads as well as from other YouTube discussion threads are also included in this post. A video of AfroPunk Paris (2015) is also showcased in the Addendum to this post.
The 2015 AfroPunk festival (New York) was the tenth annual event for that festival. I'm not sure if AfroPunk Festivals (New York) prior to 2013 had the same apparently high level of emphasis on afrocentric fashions. Articles that I've read about those previous festivals didn't mention afrocentric fashions in their descriptions of those attendees' clothing, hair, or accessories.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
This post is part of an ongoing series on AfroPunk music & fashion. Click the "AfroPunk music" tab below for other posts in this series.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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EXCERPTS FROM SOME INTERNET ARTICLES & VIDEO DISCUSSION THREADS
Editor's Note:
Some of these excerpts are lifted from articles that were published in reaction to Black British blogger Zipporah Gene's post accusing African Americans of appropriating African cultures. However, my focus in this post is on the descriptions of the fashions that many festival attendees worn and not whether they were appropriating African cultures or reclaiming African cultures. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/young-paris-response-to-zipporah-genes.html for a pancocojams article that addresses Zipporah Gene's controversial post.
These excerpts are presented in relative order of the festival year with comments about the oldest festival year given first. I've assigned numbers to these excerpts for referencing purposes only.
There are lots of internet articles about the AfroPunk Festivals (New York). Most of these articles are photo slides with very little if any descriptive text. This is just a sample of the comments that I've come across about fashion worn at those festivals.
These comments refer to the 2013 festival:
1. From http://www.billboard.com/photos/5672668/afropunk-2013-festival-style-photos/1 AfroPunk 2013 Festival Style Photos
36 PHOTOS, 8/26/2013
"Style is something Brooklyn, New York...
Style is something Brooklyn, New York has plenty to offer. So with the AfroPunk Festival taking over the borough this past weekend (Aug. 24-25), it was safe to assume that a natty, but funky bunch would show up and show out to catch acts like Danny Brown, Saul Williams and Chuck D. They did.
In these coming shots, check out some of the most interesting hairstyles (thick dreads, detailed high-top fades) and clothing (skillfully tattered tops, crazy prints) the weekend had to offer."
****
These comments refer to the 2015 AfroPunk Festival (New York)
2. From http://www.racked.com/2015/9/15/9325959/african-american-appropriation-afropunk-fashion-history-zipporah-gene Accusing Black Americans of Appropriating African Clothing Misses the Point African-influenced styles can be traced back to the Black Power movement. by Nadra Nittle, Sep 15, 2015
..."Black hipsters have gravitated to the tribal-meets-boho look for years now. Picture a Zoe Kravitz or Solange Knowles type, hair styled in a piecey Afro, waist-length braids or locs. She dons a concrete-skimming skirt with red, green, and black print. Her septum ring and face paint, á la the Masai warriors of East Africa, vie for your attention.
At the Afropunk Festival in Brooklyn last month, every other attendee rocked some version of this look. But draping oneself in the colors of the Pan-African flag and sporting tribal tattoos isn’t fashion forward, says African journalist Zipporah Gene. It’s cultural appropriation — even, she insists, when African Americans do it."...
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3. http://thegrio.com/2015/09/08/no-african-americans-culturally-appropriating-african-aesthetics-isnt-a-thing/
No. African Americans ‘culturally appropriating’ African culture isn’t a thing ; Opinion by Demetria Irwin September 8, 2015
..."don’t stamp the cultural appropriation label on the African-American AfroPunk attendees wearing flowing wax print maxi skirts (which are actually of Dutch origin but definitely an on-trend look that is capitalized on and has been inspired by African merchants and designers. That alone shows the complexity of cultural appropriation. Also, for the first generation Americans, reaching back to Africa or the Caribbean for style clues is only a plane ride away to their parents’ place of birth, not a deep dive into Google or fashion mags."
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4. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecTm5gYZ5Bc
Young Paris: Afropunk 2015 *
"Good afternoon, this is Young Paris. We’re at the HausOAlt
Oh, AfroPunk is all. I was here last year as a guest. It’s funny, I did some social media stuff and a lot of it kinda went viral and people started following the aesthetic where I was going with this afro futuristic, afro-futuristic, traditional, contemporary concept, And it just started rapidly growing an audience. It’s just down to see the timing when it happened and that they’re able to put me on a platform where I can sharing the information. So that’s how I see it hear. Just the sharing.
Well my father co-founded the Congo ballet. And in their lineage they would use different colors to highlight their features. And so the national ballet had like a distinction within the Congo about how they would present themselves. He was a choreographer at thirteen and he continued this lineage. So I just carry on that tradition.
We wear different colors for different reasons. So with red, it symbolizes the blood of our people. Yellow is the sun that provides life. And green is the grass, It gives us food. And the white is –when we lose our ancestors, we wear white in remembrance of them because we carry on their lineage.
So my father died a couple of years ago, Since then I usually only wear the white.
For me I took the idea of this science and built it into a pop culture aesthetic around it."...
-snip-
*This is my transcription from the video. Additions and corrections are welcome.
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5. From http://www.vogue.com/projects/13298989/afropunk-fest-2015-street-style/ The Bold And The Beautiful
"As with anything punk—be it the boundary-pushing music, dress, or politics of its most hard-core loyalists—there is always a sense of urgency. The guitar must thrash harder, the music must be louder, and yes, the fashion must be bolder. The message of rebellion and personal freedom has to propagate quickly, honestly, and without pretense.
What the concertgoers of Afropunk’s eleventh annual music festival—which attracted an unprecedented number of iconoclasts to Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park—brought this past weekend was style with a same sense of immediacy and purpose. Bucking trends and rules, their dress played mercilessly with color and proportion—yet it was the subtle collision of detailing that drove the most fully realized looks home. SZA’s oversize tank was as impactful as a runway gown, especially as she leapt in the air while tousling her heap of copper curls. Traditional wax print was tied and repurposed into modern crop tops and jumpsuits, retro seventies glam mingled with Prada sneakers, and Americana and Afrofuturism motifs were all captured by Ben Rasmussen’s Polaroid camera.
As he explains, “It wasn’t just the fashion, it was their presence. Everyone we photographed was dressed beautifully, but what moved me was the energy and confidence that they exuded. . . . It is inspiring to see that sense of self.”
Here, that palpable confidence is on full display as we showcase the boundary-pushing style of this year’s Afropunk’s revelers."...
[slide show of photographs of some attendees]
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These two comments refer to the AfroPunk music scene in general and not specifically to the 2015 AfroPunk Festival (New York):
6. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fanQHFAxXH0 AFROPUNK: The Movie [FULL-LENGTH]
WARNING: Some of the comments in this documentary and in this discussion thread include profanity and the n word.
Zorgoon Trollstones, June 2015
"this!!!!!!!!! man I can relate on so many levels and i'd love to share my piece but im too lazy to put it on the internet. i'd rather do a video or do it in writing. Because the irony is, modern music came from African Americans and Jamaicans. Period. And rock has always been black. From BB King to Jimi Hendrix to Slash to Tina Turner (those vocals!). Soul, RnB, Blues, Funk, Jazz, Rock n Roll, Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, Bebop, Doowop, Motown. Get in touch with your roots and you'll realize these ghetto kids who make fun of you are making fun of their roots and depriving themselves of their own heritage and inheritance. They're also limiting their own creativity and constricting their self expression. But on top of it all denying their own complexity as human beings, and thus their own humanity.
The Masai and Samburu warriors of Kenya dye their hair/dreadlocks bright red, as do the Hamar people of Ethiopia. The Nuba of Sudan wear elaborate and sometimes spooky face paint, making Black Metal face paint look like a rip-off.. Mohawks are a common African tribal style. Piercings are obvious. The dancing wildly and screaming vocals has always been park of African music, performance and even religion. So is wearing sharp or dangerous looking items as jewelry and adornment. Going through a punk/goth phase and also having been a confused coon helped me grow and get in deeper touch with myself and my culture as a Caribbean American. It was insane how much of our cultures collectively, have permanently transformed Mainstream culture. It's insane. Our hair is also big and wild by nature. Let your afro grow, it's the most rebellious thing you could ever do because it asserts your right to be human. Original. Honest. Your skin alone is the most shocking outfit you could ever wear. I stopped with the hair straightening etc because.. why? Why should I changed the most rebellious hair on earth to conform to a conformist way of anti-conforming lol?"
-snip-
This comment was reformatted to enhance readability.
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7. violetviolence79, December 2015
"...i agreed, i have notice since James Spooner is not longer part of the Afro-punk festival, its been going downhill in my opinion, the media only report what they're wearing and very little about the performers, smh"
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-snip-
Additional comments from videos that are embedded in this post are given below those videos.
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
These examples are given in chronological order according to their publishing dates on YouTube with the oldest dated example given first.
Example #1: AFROPUNK Music Festival
iamOTHER, Published on Aug 8, 2013
AFROPUNK is an influential community of young, gifted people of all backgrounds who speak through music, art, film, comedy, fashion and more. Originating with the 2003 documentary that highlighted a Black presence in the American punk scene, it is a platform for the alternative and experimental. Remaining at the core of its mission are the punk principles of DIY aesthetics, radical thought and social non-conformity. AFROPUNK is a voice for the unwritten, unwelcome and unheard-of. Watch more from AFROPUNK here: http://www.youtube.com/afropunktv
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's dicussion thread (numbers assigned for referencing purposes only)
I apologize for the spacing errors in this section. I'm not sure why they occurred.
1. Dominiku Chan, 2013
"gr8 show I wish i wore my african dress next year im going in I <3 Brooklyn"
**
2. JoJo Myles, 2013
"looking at these displays of individuality make me want to stand out more"
**3. rob mac, 2013
"Not my crowd but its great to see a different variety off black expression and culture from the norm."
**
4. Stephen Goodwin, 2013
""Individuals"......yet all the girls have the half shaved head hairstyle....yeh, haven't seen that lately, smh"
**
5. DirectedByRocko, 2013
"Unfortunately the festival has become more about style than about music and expression. People come decked out in "costumes" so they can have their photo taken or get in a blog video such as this. It is beautiful to see so many proud black people but some of them are only doing it because it's cool now and for approval"
**
6. Aspen Riley, 2013
"thats what my cousin said she said it change its all about fashion now"
**
7. Jamal Stead, 2013
SO many Beautiful people in one place, Diversity is Dope!
**
8. kevin hayden, 2013
"So some time i get really really jealous of New York because they have the coolest EVER , and they have a every strong Afrocentric scene there. I hope Chicago can catch up one day."
**
9. Ariel 0, 2014
"This..would help me as being a young African-American and not having to deal with what my family labels me as<3
But I'm confused?..Are this goers more focused on outfits and being 'unique'? Because I was hoping just to see down to earth, individuals who don't care and a few bands playing punk music or such and such...Err-sorry this is long winded, all I see is hip hop :("
**10. kali4good, 2014
Reply
"You see hip hop becus thats such a huge part of black culture so its only rightbut at afropunk there are also rock bands electro etc. The point of afropunk is an outlet for those who dont belong in this mainstream world. I know a couple of people who have gone i promise you if not all MOST of these people are genuine and thats just who they are. This is a place to let your creativity loose and just be YOU! So many different kinds of people go there. Its for black people who dont fit the mold the media portrays us as... its for the minority"
**11. Jose Ocampo, 2014
"As much as i loved afro punk i laos found it to be very corny, it felt like tons of hipset kids worrying more about what vintage or ethnic clothing their wearing than actually listening to the music its afropunk but anytime somewhat hardcore rock was Played people left because its not hip hop"
**12. TRANZEURO, 2014
Reply
"That's probably because a lot of the people who go to afropunk now aren't even aware of the origins of the festival,they just hear that Chuck D or Questlove etc are performing so they go.I've been going to afropunk since 2006,and every year more and more hip hop artist are included.It started off as a rock/punk oriented festival but as much as I still appreciate AP,I believe it has definitely begun to lose the point and focus of why it was created in the first place.There are plenty of venues and festivals were hip hop artists are able to do their thing.As far as I know afro punk is the only music festival that focuses on black artists who create and perform rock music.I strongly believe it should stay that way."
**13. Drawingunz001, 2014
"does anybody have any info on the last girl wit that violet color hat & gold teeth ? i think i just fell in love."
**14. Henri qsc, 2014
Reply
"she is Erikah Badu <3"
**15. Tahara Cherry. September 2015
"After watching this whole clip I just want a gold grill like Mama Badu."
-snip-
This comment refers to the gold covering on singer Eyrkah Badu's teeth.
**Example #2: AFROPUNK FEST 2014
AFROPUNK, Published on Aug 28, 2014
A recap on AFROPUNK FEST 2014. Stay tuned to AFROPUNK TV for more exclusive interviews and performances from the festival.
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread:
1. Aurora Lara, 2014
"Afropunk is basically a festival for black people who think they're white, but try to act like they don't think they're white by overcompensating on the "mother Africa" tattoos, memorabilia, and wearing tribal clothes mixed in with modern fashion."
**
2. U-n-I Survive, 2014
Reply
"So, if they started acting more like what you think qualifies as "black" behavior, then they would be acting more like themselves? That's the problem, society wants to put black people in a box, and if you're not wearing the cultural 'hat' deemed appropriate for you (thug, rapper/r&b singer, nba/nfl star, drug dealer) you somehow aren't really black. It's sad that fellow people of color actually co-sign this mentality. It's mental incarceration. Afropunk (despite it's recent hipster influx) was about black people who didn't fit the above mentioned mold being liberated through music and art."
**
3.Aurora Lara , 2014
Reply
"+U-n-I Survive I didn't say anything about 'acting black'."
**
4. U-n-I Survive, 2014
Reply
"+Aurora Carmody
You're right you didn't, but you did say that the festival is for black people who think they're white. That seems to suggests to me that (and correct me if I'm wrong) you think that, because the people going to this festival are interested in things not typically associated with black people, they're trying to be something they're not (hence why you said they think they're white). My thing is, how can you propose to know something about an entire group of people without having even interacted with them? As if a choice of music or a band t-shirt (or even a mother Africa tattoo) says anything about who the people who attend the festival really are?"
**
5. Aurora Lara, 2014
Reply
"There are enough of these people on Tumblr for me to have an idea of what they're like."
**
6. U-n-I Survive, 2014
Reply
"That's just stereotyping. That's no different than someone watching a bunch a videos on Youtube of black people committing crimes and saying "I've seen enough of these people on Youtube to have an idea of what they're like". They're just people with personalities and nuances, just like you. How about instead of judging a group of people you haven't met, go up and introduce yourself to some of them (assuming you live near the type of people that would go to Afropunk), you might actually vibe with one or two, who knows."
**
7. Aurora Lara, 2014
Reply
"I guess"
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Example #3: Afro Punk Fest 2015
wblsfm1075, Published on Aug 27, 2015
WBLS was on hand at Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park for the annual Afro Punk Festival. Watch as festival attendees enjoyed a full weekend of great music, vibrant art and all around good vibes.
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Example #4: AFROPUNK: The new counter culture
CNNMoney, Published on Aug 26, 2015
The AFROPUNK movement is pushing music and fashion forward. Here's how it's leveraging social and new media to democratize access and accelerate the exchange of images and ideas.
-snip-
Selected comments:
1. Claude Leguerre, October, 2015
"This is the 90's "Conscious" Movement's granchild. The clothes, the styles, the dress, the influences, It can't really be "explained" to those who are outside of it in a way they understand:
You are either "of it" or not.
It makes sense, or its doesn't.
You are a part of it, or you're not. Its that simple.
You can have your Lil Waynes, Rick Rosses and Minajes. I'll take this please"
**
2. nyeeezy, November 2015
"0:29 i bet shes not fulani"
**
3. Richard Swanson, December 2015
Reply
"You have said too much already. this is like hollywood or halloween. They dress up for one or two days then go perm their hair and wear high heel the next. None of these women have ever made anything from cow milk. +nyeeezy"
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ADDENDUM: [TRAX.TV] Afropunk Paris 2015
Trax Magazine Published on Jun 24, 2015
En plus de découvrir en totale immersion le festival Afropunk, notre court-métrage dresse le portrait d’une génération multiculturelle, libre de tout carcans et qui revendique le droit à la différence.
[Google translate:
In addition to discovering the immersive Afropunk festival, our short film portrays a multicultural generation, free from shackles and claiming the right to difference.]
Réalisation : Chayet Chiénin, Manon Tarasconi
Images : Datis Balaï, Manon Tarasconi, Benjamin Carrion, Odhran Odhunn
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Showing posts with label AfroPunk fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AfroPunk fashion. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Young Paris' Response To Zipporah Gene's Post About African Americans' Appropriating African Culture (video with transcription)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post presents a vlog of Young Paris's response to a September 2015 tweet and internet post by Black British blogger Zipporah Gene. In that tweet and that post Zipporah Gene indicated that African Americans are "appropriating" African culture. Gene's tweet and internet post appear to have been at least partially prompted by a photograph of Young Paris who is of Congolese descent with other people of continental African descent and one Haitian who were at the 2015 AfroPunk Festival in Brooklyn, New York.
I've transcribed that vlog because I couldn't find any transcript online. Additions and corrections are welcome.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/young-paris-kake-information-video.html for another pancocojams post that features Young Paris. That post includes biographical information about Young Paris.
This post is part of an ongoing series on AfroPunk music & fashion. Click the "AfroPunk music" tab below for other posts in this series.
Thanks to Young Paris for his comments. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this vlog on YouTube.
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BACKGROUND TO YOUNG PARIS' VLOG RESPONSE TO THE ZIPPORAH GENE APPROPRIATIONS POST
Zipporah Gene is a Black British female blogger of Nigerian descent. Here's a link to her internet post along with selected quotes from that article:
https://www.thsppl.com/thsppl-articles/2017/4/13/black-america-please-stop-appropriating-african-clothing-and-tribal-marks Black America, Please Stop Appropriating African Clothing and Tribal Marks
... "Can Black people culturally appropriate one other?
It’s a nuanced question that seems to either set tempers aflare or create vacuums of silence in a room but, after going through pictures taken at the latest Afropunk Festival, it’s definitely one that I have to ask...
You take a cultural dress, mark or trait, with all its religious and historical connotations dilute it, and bring it out for occasions when you want to look ‘trendy’.
Ask yourself, how exactly is that any better?...
I understand that, for the most part, many of my own Black American friends are well meaning when they talk about African fashion, but the end result is still the same...
I’m not trying to start a war, but I would just like you all to realize the hypocrisy of seeing someone wearing a Fulani septum ring, rocking a djellaba, painted with Yoruba-like tribal marks, all the while claiming that this is meant to be respectful. It’s a hodgepodge, a juxtaposition, a right mess of regional, ethnic and cultural customs and it screams ignorance and cultural insensitivity...
If you’re not from an African tribe, please leave off wearing the tribal marks. Otherwise you’re participating in the very thing you vehemently speak out against.
Sure we may not wear Ichafus on a day-to-day basis anymore, but that doesn’t mean their significance to us is lessened. These things are reserved for funerals, births, weddings . . . significant rites of passage — vital points in our lives that we share with our community and people. It is how we express ourselves in the collective.
It is should not be a fashion statement to create shock or awe.
Black people or otherwise."
-snip-
ADDED January 3, 2018:
Here are explanations for non-English terms that are found in this quote:
Fulani septum ring:
From https://blackgirllonghair.com/2015/06/a-traditional-african-style-remixed-10-gorgeous-photos-of-naturals-rocking-septum-piercings/ - "septum piercings (piercing in between the cartilage and tip of the nose)"
Also read this article: https://info.painfulpleasures.com/help-center/piercing-information/history-body-piercings. Although the Fulani (Fula, Peul) ethnic group of West Africa aren't specifically mentioned, that article presents information about the history and meanings of lip piercing, ear piercing, navel piercing etcetera in Africa and elsewhere. For example, here's one excerpt from that article about lip piercing:
..."Only two tribes pierce the lips with a ring: the Dogon tribe of Mali and the Nuba of Ethiopia. Among the Dogon, lip piercing has religious significance; they believe the world was created by their ancestor spirit "Noomi" weaving thread through her teeth, but instead of thread, out came speech. All the other lip piercing that is practiced around the world is done with labrets, which can be made from a pin of wood, ivory, metal, or even quartz crystals. Among the tribes of Central Africa and South America, the labret piercing is stretched to extremely large proportions, and large wooden or clay plates are inserted in place of labret pins over time.
[...]
The Makololo tribe of Malawi wear lip plates called Pelele in the upper lip. The African explorer Dr. Livingstone asked a chief the reason for this; in surprise, the chief answered "For beauty! They are the only beautiful things women have. Men have beards, women have none. What kind of person would she be without Pelele? She would not be a woman at all."...
**
djellaba
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djellaba
"The djellaba ... (Moroccan Arabic: جلابة, Berber: Aselham) is a long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe with full sleeves that is worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The word literally means attractive, from jalaba, to bring, fetch; its Semitic root is glb.
Traditionally, djellabas are made of wool in different shapes and colours, but lightweight cotton djellabas have now become popular. Among the Berbers, or Imazighen, such as the Imilchil in the Atlas Mountains, the colour of a djellaba traditionally indicates the marital status (single or married) of the bearer: a dark brown djellaba indicating bachelorhood."...
**
Ichafus= "The Gele or Ichafu is a head wrap used by Nigerian women for events and ceremonies. The head wrap is called Gele in Yoruba and Ichafu in Igbo." https://belijose.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/our-gele-or-ichafu-2/ [That post includes photographs.]
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Here's the link to Zipporah Gene's tweet that preceded her post about African Americans' "appropriating" African culture:
https://36.media.tumblr.com/6975d290532bbb8810346d0197c6e72c/tumblr_nuilekYoSW1qag3pco1_540.jpg
"@msbee_x: all I'm tryna find out is when did our culture become fancy dress. Not cool. goo.g/85E001"
Here's a comment about that photograph from ttps://www.reddit.com/r/blackladies/comments/3kl6ig/funny_story_they_found_the_photo_that_lead/?, submitted by "IrbyTremor ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ[S], October 2015
"Much as I loathe GodGazi, credit goes where it's due. All are African save for one who is Hatian.
Zipporah is the blogger that wrote that article called “African Americans stop Appropriating African Clothing and Culture.”
This is the photo that drove her to write that stupid blog post. This tweet was written by her on the 1st and her blog was posted on the 3rd. The funny thing about this picture is….everyone in this picture in African clothing is African Continental….not “African American”…lmao.
Young Paris (Milandou Badila) is a world famous musician from the DR Congo.
Ntangou Badila is a famous artist from the DR Congo.
Kwabena Samuel Nana Ofosu-Ware is a world renowned fashion designer from Ghana.
This “reporter” saw a picture taken in Brooklyn and assumed everyone there was born and raised in america…
What’s “Not Cool” is her divisive tactics against African people. You see we are such One People that she couldn’t even tell the difference by sight."
-snip-
Warning: That discussion thread contains profanity.
Note that Young Paris and his sister were raised in the United States, although it's true that they are of Congolese descent.
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FEATURED VLOG- Are Black Americans Appropriating African Culture?
youngparistv, Published on Sep 30, 2015
Young Paris response to Shedoesliving Article
-snip-
This video is no longer available as of (at least) January 1, 2018
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TRANSCRIPTION OF THAT VLOG
"Hello everyone. [words in French?] My name is Milandou Badila, also known as Young Paris. And I’m a musical recording artist, creative director, and more recently I founded a brand called “Melanin” which is built around showcasing the beauty and excellence of People of Color.
Um today I want to speak about an article, specifically from a woman that chose to use my image while referencing to what it is for African Americans to appropriate African culture. Um, I’ll start out by saying “To go back to tradition is the first step forward”. I’ll say that again “To go back to tradition is the first step forward”...
Now, to get straight into what you were saying, you started the article by saying “When did our culture become fancy dress ball?” Now I’m gonna give you a little bit of the benefit of the doubt because with the title of the article and why I can understand as an African that it can offend you because when you see so much of appropriation happening throughout different cultures throughout the world, um, and you see something in reference to something that has such a pure base and ambiance to its origins, I understand why you can see something on a platform that looks so fancy and, um, approachable and wonder why, you know, I’m wearing the make-up that I am and different people in the photo wearing these traditions and these patterns, these, um, different dialects of the African Diaspora.
Now, um, I’ll just go in to a little detail about myself because I’m sure that you don’t know who I am. Um my father co-founded the first national ballet of Congo that unified many villages in the Congo and helped educate people with plays and performances and this kinda created a wave of information while Congo was fighting for its independence. So I come from a very strong Diaspora of what it is to be Congolese, what it is to fight for what you believe in, what it is to move forward as an individual and as a culture.
Growing up my father brought that tradition here to us and we carried on this tradition by…you know since I was a baby ..all my ten brothers and sisters were babies..by continuing to perform this traditional drum and dance. So we grew up knowing that we were very different than everyone. It’s like, being me as a kid being African, you know, in a school of African Americans I was always picked on, being laughed at- I’m sure that many Africans can relate. It’s also very interesting to see the type of respect that many Africans get today, which is honorably. But, growing up it wasn’t all the same. So I had to grow up with a lot of different pressures of what it was to be traditional and hold on to these different ideas.
Um, so anyway I going back to say what I represent is very pure and rich to me. I’ll go into a little bit of detail about my face. I’m wearing white because this is what we wear for spirits. And my father died nearly three years ago and in our culture when we wear white to show that we are carrying on the tradition of those that are our ancestors. We also wear yellow which comes from the sun that provides light and energy for us. We wear green that comes from the earth and gives us food. And we wear red for the blood of our people. You usually see me wearing white because my father passed recently and I actually gone through many deaths in the last several years. Un, so again, this just goes back to information and education.
I’m sure you just saw the photo and you saw beautiful people and it threw you off. But one thing I want to ask you as an individual, when you say “our culture” what are you actually talking about? What culture are you stemming from when you say “our culture"? And, you know, coming from someone who has these values and these traditions, you know, when you speak of appropriations, that comment, or that observation comes from someone who feels like their culture or their identity is being appropriated. But, essentially, I don’t know where you come from when you speak on these equations as an African tribal being. So, like, for example, um, if you ever visit different parts of Africa you go to these villages, they’re actually very welcoming. They will be the ones to actually put the paint on you. And they’ll put their garments on you to show you that this is their culture and this is what they find beautiful to them. And it’s just interesting to see how, you know, we’ve gotten to a place where some feel like just because this is sacred to certain people it becomes sacred to them. But you watch how these people receive other people wearing their works or wearing their traditional garments or how they carry on those traditions. You just don’t really have the place to say, you know what your observation is when it comes to this topic because you don’t come from there. So, if anything, those who are being appropriated are the ones who have the opinion because you know, they come from this culture. So, for example, people feel like in music, you know, whether it’s hip hop or jazz or rock, you know you see what many Europeans have done overshadowing the genius of Africans who have created all of these different platforms for people to thrive that don’t come from the culture. But they have the roots and the source to actually speak on this issue because they come from that culture. They live within that culture.
So essentially, if you’re not in these tribes or living in these villages or living in these traditions or practicing what we practice, I don’t understand where your platform [is] [why] you felt the need to say all these different opinions about what we are. Because I feel like at the end of this video I’m not gonna say it super long, at the end of the day when you come from this and it’s real to you, this is you. This is me. This is me every day. Almost every day I wear this paint because I’m always responding to the traditions of my father. I’m always carrying tradition. But if you don’t come from this, I mean, essentially, if you come from this and this is your life, you know what it is to you. You know what it means to you in your heart when you’re praying by yourself in that room and you’re speaking to God or the universe and the energy around you, that’s your relationship.
So it can make you uncomfortable to see people that don’t understand the Diaspora of what it represents but when it’s real to you that’s you.
So there’s nothing you can really remove from me or who I am or what I represent because I live this, every day I live this. I live this weekly. I live this monthly throughout the year to carry on this tradition. To show people and young Africans what it is to feel beautiful, what it is to be an African. Because we already have so many pressures coming from European platforms and supremacy on its own that tells us we can’t be associated with something as rich and pure as back home that is our original ambiance and our original essence as beings. But to be so, to be such a contemporary assimilated being where you feel like, you know, you’re so comfortable in this European Diaspora that you don’t even want those who don’t come from the source of this information to not even show that they… You know they know that they’ve been stolen here as slaves and brought to this other place. But, instinctually, they know that they want to be connected to something that is more rich and realistic to them at, for their life experience. So who are you to remove that from them-to tell them that they can’t relate to something?
Now, one observation, and one objective that I would put up from me coming from this culture that I have been seeing and why it could make me uncomfortable and why I have the place to say this is because I come from it is when people do take, you know, things that are spiritual to certain beings and replenish them and re-showcase them to the public because they feel like it’s beautiful, or they just feel like, you know they’re not very informed and they, to them they just feel like they have a platform to do that. Um, essentially it’s not something that you can really stop because people are going to be inspired because we all are inspired by life. But at the same time I think we, the strongest thing that we can do is educate, and teach people why we do what we do. And then they’ll take the initiative. But again, it goes back to the saying. This is me. This is my life. This is what I’m always going to do so no one can remove that from me.
But again, peace to you Queen. I hope that can find all the well wishes that you desire. Sorry, my face has been cropped for most of this video, but I don’t do vlogs. This is my first vlog ever.
Peace to the public and to everyone who is supportive of me and my family’s journey. We see everything you’re doing and if I still can’t respond to everything you do I still have the love there. Once again this is Milandou Badila also known as Young Paris signing off. And this all stems to say “Educate yourself before you make your opinions". I’m actually glad that you posted this [article] because it brought up a conversation. Thank you to the Yoruba movement and Ngazi and all the other people who have shown love and who have spoken on my behalf, but I feel like it was important for me to just touch base on this and speak to the public a bit. Alright. Peace and love, y’all. Ashe.
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell. Additions and corrections are welcome.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post presents a vlog of Young Paris's response to a September 2015 tweet and internet post by Black British blogger Zipporah Gene. In that tweet and that post Zipporah Gene indicated that African Americans are "appropriating" African culture. Gene's tweet and internet post appear to have been at least partially prompted by a photograph of Young Paris who is of Congolese descent with other people of continental African descent and one Haitian who were at the 2015 AfroPunk Festival in Brooklyn, New York.
I've transcribed that vlog because I couldn't find any transcript online. Additions and corrections are welcome.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/young-paris-kake-information-video.html for another pancocojams post that features Young Paris. That post includes biographical information about Young Paris.
This post is part of an ongoing series on AfroPunk music & fashion. Click the "AfroPunk music" tab below for other posts in this series.
Thanks to Young Paris for his comments. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this vlog on YouTube.
****
BACKGROUND TO YOUNG PARIS' VLOG RESPONSE TO THE ZIPPORAH GENE APPROPRIATIONS POST
Zipporah Gene is a Black British female blogger of Nigerian descent. Here's a link to her internet post along with selected quotes from that article:
https://www.thsppl.com/thsppl-articles/2017/4/13/black-america-please-stop-appropriating-african-clothing-and-tribal-marks Black America, Please Stop Appropriating African Clothing and Tribal Marks
... "Can Black people culturally appropriate one other?
It’s a nuanced question that seems to either set tempers aflare or create vacuums of silence in a room but, after going through pictures taken at the latest Afropunk Festival, it’s definitely one that I have to ask...
You take a cultural dress, mark or trait, with all its religious and historical connotations dilute it, and bring it out for occasions when you want to look ‘trendy’.
Ask yourself, how exactly is that any better?...
I understand that, for the most part, many of my own Black American friends are well meaning when they talk about African fashion, but the end result is still the same...
I’m not trying to start a war, but I would just like you all to realize the hypocrisy of seeing someone wearing a Fulani septum ring, rocking a djellaba, painted with Yoruba-like tribal marks, all the while claiming that this is meant to be respectful. It’s a hodgepodge, a juxtaposition, a right mess of regional, ethnic and cultural customs and it screams ignorance and cultural insensitivity...
If you’re not from an African tribe, please leave off wearing the tribal marks. Otherwise you’re participating in the very thing you vehemently speak out against.
Sure we may not wear Ichafus on a day-to-day basis anymore, but that doesn’t mean their significance to us is lessened. These things are reserved for funerals, births, weddings . . . significant rites of passage — vital points in our lives that we share with our community and people. It is how we express ourselves in the collective.
It is should not be a fashion statement to create shock or awe.
Black people or otherwise."
-snip-
ADDED January 3, 2018:
Here are explanations for non-English terms that are found in this quote:
Fulani septum ring:
From https://blackgirllonghair.com/2015/06/a-traditional-african-style-remixed-10-gorgeous-photos-of-naturals-rocking-septum-piercings/ - "septum piercings (piercing in between the cartilage and tip of the nose)"
Also read this article: https://info.painfulpleasures.com/help-center/piercing-information/history-body-piercings. Although the Fulani (Fula, Peul) ethnic group of West Africa aren't specifically mentioned, that article presents information about the history and meanings of lip piercing, ear piercing, navel piercing etcetera in Africa and elsewhere. For example, here's one excerpt from that article about lip piercing:
..."Only two tribes pierce the lips with a ring: the Dogon tribe of Mali and the Nuba of Ethiopia. Among the Dogon, lip piercing has religious significance; they believe the world was created by their ancestor spirit "Noomi" weaving thread through her teeth, but instead of thread, out came speech. All the other lip piercing that is practiced around the world is done with labrets, which can be made from a pin of wood, ivory, metal, or even quartz crystals. Among the tribes of Central Africa and South America, the labret piercing is stretched to extremely large proportions, and large wooden or clay plates are inserted in place of labret pins over time.
[...]
The Makololo tribe of Malawi wear lip plates called Pelele in the upper lip. The African explorer Dr. Livingstone asked a chief the reason for this; in surprise, the chief answered "For beauty! They are the only beautiful things women have. Men have beards, women have none. What kind of person would she be without Pelele? She would not be a woman at all."...
**
djellaba
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djellaba
"The djellaba ... (Moroccan Arabic: جلابة, Berber: Aselham) is a long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe with full sleeves that is worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The word literally means attractive, from jalaba, to bring, fetch; its Semitic root is glb.
Traditionally, djellabas are made of wool in different shapes and colours, but lightweight cotton djellabas have now become popular. Among the Berbers, or Imazighen, such as the Imilchil in the Atlas Mountains, the colour of a djellaba traditionally indicates the marital status (single or married) of the bearer: a dark brown djellaba indicating bachelorhood."...
**
Ichafus= "The Gele or Ichafu is a head wrap used by Nigerian women for events and ceremonies. The head wrap is called Gele in Yoruba and Ichafu in Igbo." https://belijose.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/our-gele-or-ichafu-2/ [That post includes photographs.]
****
Here's the link to Zipporah Gene's tweet that preceded her post about African Americans' "appropriating" African culture:
https://36.media.tumblr.com/6975d290532bbb8810346d0197c6e72c/tumblr_nuilekYoSW1qag3pco1_540.jpg
"@msbee_x: all I'm tryna find out is when did our culture become fancy dress. Not cool. goo.g/85E001"
Here's a comment about that photograph from ttps://www.reddit.com/r/blackladies/comments/3kl6ig/funny_story_they_found_the_photo_that_lead/?, submitted by "IrbyTremor ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ[S], October 2015
"Much as I loathe GodGazi, credit goes where it's due. All are African save for one who is Hatian.
Zipporah is the blogger that wrote that article called “African Americans stop Appropriating African Clothing and Culture.”
This is the photo that drove her to write that stupid blog post. This tweet was written by her on the 1st and her blog was posted on the 3rd. The funny thing about this picture is….everyone in this picture in African clothing is African Continental….not “African American”…lmao.
Young Paris (Milandou Badila) is a world famous musician from the DR Congo.
Ntangou Badila is a famous artist from the DR Congo.
Kwabena Samuel Nana Ofosu-Ware is a world renowned fashion designer from Ghana.
This “reporter” saw a picture taken in Brooklyn and assumed everyone there was born and raised in america…
What’s “Not Cool” is her divisive tactics against African people. You see we are such One People that she couldn’t even tell the difference by sight."
-snip-
Warning: That discussion thread contains profanity.
Note that Young Paris and his sister were raised in the United States, although it's true that they are of Congolese descent.
****
FEATURED VLOG- Are Black Americans Appropriating African Culture?
youngparistv, Published on Sep 30, 2015
Young Paris response to Shedoesliving Article
-snip-
This video is no longer available as of (at least) January 1, 2018
****
TRANSCRIPTION OF THAT VLOG
"Hello everyone. [words in French?] My name is Milandou Badila, also known as Young Paris. And I’m a musical recording artist, creative director, and more recently I founded a brand called “Melanin” which is built around showcasing the beauty and excellence of People of Color.
Um today I want to speak about an article, specifically from a woman that chose to use my image while referencing to what it is for African Americans to appropriate African culture. Um, I’ll start out by saying “To go back to tradition is the first step forward”. I’ll say that again “To go back to tradition is the first step forward”...
Now, to get straight into what you were saying, you started the article by saying “When did our culture become fancy dress ball?” Now I’m gonna give you a little bit of the benefit of the doubt because with the title of the article and why I can understand as an African that it can offend you because when you see so much of appropriation happening throughout different cultures throughout the world, um, and you see something in reference to something that has such a pure base and ambiance to its origins, I understand why you can see something on a platform that looks so fancy and, um, approachable and wonder why, you know, I’m wearing the make-up that I am and different people in the photo wearing these traditions and these patterns, these, um, different dialects of the African Diaspora.
Now, um, I’ll just go in to a little detail about myself because I’m sure that you don’t know who I am. Um my father co-founded the first national ballet of Congo that unified many villages in the Congo and helped educate people with plays and performances and this kinda created a wave of information while Congo was fighting for its independence. So I come from a very strong Diaspora of what it is to be Congolese, what it is to fight for what you believe in, what it is to move forward as an individual and as a culture.
Growing up my father brought that tradition here to us and we carried on this tradition by…you know since I was a baby ..all my ten brothers and sisters were babies..by continuing to perform this traditional drum and dance. So we grew up knowing that we were very different than everyone. It’s like, being me as a kid being African, you know, in a school of African Americans I was always picked on, being laughed at- I’m sure that many Africans can relate. It’s also very interesting to see the type of respect that many Africans get today, which is honorably. But, growing up it wasn’t all the same. So I had to grow up with a lot of different pressures of what it was to be traditional and hold on to these different ideas.
Um, so anyway I going back to say what I represent is very pure and rich to me. I’ll go into a little bit of detail about my face. I’m wearing white because this is what we wear for spirits. And my father died nearly three years ago and in our culture when we wear white to show that we are carrying on the tradition of those that are our ancestors. We also wear yellow which comes from the sun that provides light and energy for us. We wear green that comes from the earth and gives us food. And we wear red for the blood of our people. You usually see me wearing white because my father passed recently and I actually gone through many deaths in the last several years. Un, so again, this just goes back to information and education.
I’m sure you just saw the photo and you saw beautiful people and it threw you off. But one thing I want to ask you as an individual, when you say “our culture” what are you actually talking about? What culture are you stemming from when you say “our culture"? And, you know, coming from someone who has these values and these traditions, you know, when you speak of appropriations, that comment, or that observation comes from someone who feels like their culture or their identity is being appropriated. But, essentially, I don’t know where you come from when you speak on these equations as an African tribal being. So, like, for example, um, if you ever visit different parts of Africa you go to these villages, they’re actually very welcoming. They will be the ones to actually put the paint on you. And they’ll put their garments on you to show you that this is their culture and this is what they find beautiful to them. And it’s just interesting to see how, you know, we’ve gotten to a place where some feel like just because this is sacred to certain people it becomes sacred to them. But you watch how these people receive other people wearing their works or wearing their traditional garments or how they carry on those traditions. You just don’t really have the place to say, you know what your observation is when it comes to this topic because you don’t come from there. So, if anything, those who are being appropriated are the ones who have the opinion because you know, they come from this culture. So, for example, people feel like in music, you know, whether it’s hip hop or jazz or rock, you know you see what many Europeans have done overshadowing the genius of Africans who have created all of these different platforms for people to thrive that don’t come from the culture. But they have the roots and the source to actually speak on this issue because they come from that culture. They live within that culture.
So essentially, if you’re not in these tribes or living in these villages or living in these traditions or practicing what we practice, I don’t understand where your platform [is] [why] you felt the need to say all these different opinions about what we are. Because I feel like at the end of this video I’m not gonna say it super long, at the end of the day when you come from this and it’s real to you, this is you. This is me. This is me every day. Almost every day I wear this paint because I’m always responding to the traditions of my father. I’m always carrying tradition. But if you don’t come from this, I mean, essentially, if you come from this and this is your life, you know what it is to you. You know what it means to you in your heart when you’re praying by yourself in that room and you’re speaking to God or the universe and the energy around you, that’s your relationship.
So it can make you uncomfortable to see people that don’t understand the Diaspora of what it represents but when it’s real to you that’s you.
So there’s nothing you can really remove from me or who I am or what I represent because I live this, every day I live this. I live this weekly. I live this monthly throughout the year to carry on this tradition. To show people and young Africans what it is to feel beautiful, what it is to be an African. Because we already have so many pressures coming from European platforms and supremacy on its own that tells us we can’t be associated with something as rich and pure as back home that is our original ambiance and our original essence as beings. But to be so, to be such a contemporary assimilated being where you feel like, you know, you’re so comfortable in this European Diaspora that you don’t even want those who don’t come from the source of this information to not even show that they… You know they know that they’ve been stolen here as slaves and brought to this other place. But, instinctually, they know that they want to be connected to something that is more rich and realistic to them at, for their life experience. So who are you to remove that from them-to tell them that they can’t relate to something?
Now, one observation, and one objective that I would put up from me coming from this culture that I have been seeing and why it could make me uncomfortable and why I have the place to say this is because I come from it is when people do take, you know, things that are spiritual to certain beings and replenish them and re-showcase them to the public because they feel like it’s beautiful, or they just feel like, you know they’re not very informed and they, to them they just feel like they have a platform to do that. Um, essentially it’s not something that you can really stop because people are going to be inspired because we all are inspired by life. But at the same time I think we, the strongest thing that we can do is educate, and teach people why we do what we do. And then they’ll take the initiative. But again, it goes back to the saying. This is me. This is my life. This is what I’m always going to do so no one can remove that from me.
But again, peace to you Queen. I hope that can find all the well wishes that you desire. Sorry, my face has been cropped for most of this video, but I don’t do vlogs. This is my first vlog ever.
Peace to the public and to everyone who is supportive of me and my family’s journey. We see everything you’re doing and if I still can’t respond to everything you do I still have the love there. Once again this is Milandou Badila also known as Young Paris signing off. And this all stems to say “Educate yourself before you make your opinions". I’m actually glad that you posted this [article] because it brought up a conversation. Thank you to the Yoruba movement and Ngazi and all the other people who have shown love and who have spoken on my behalf, but I feel like it was important for me to just touch base on this and speak to the public a bit. Alright. Peace and love, y’all. Ashe.
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell. Additions and corrections are welcome.
****
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