Da south is my motherland

This think piece is partially a message to the Black Americans but anyone else is free that to learn... written because I miss da souf

In my previous substack, titled “What is creole?” I mentioned how the relationship black Americans have with the south is reminiscent of our connection to Africa. I listened to immigrant stories, I hear how they yearn to be in their homeland and I relate. Although most my heritage is rooted in America. I relate on a profound level.

Those who are outside of my community may not understand this yearning I have burning within my soul because they’d be thinking “you’re in America already” but I’m not where my family bloodline is rooted. My maternal bloodline is Deep South Carolina ( Gullah Geechee creole), Texas and Jamaica . My paternal side is Louisiana, the DMV and st.croix. When I first arrived in South Carolina I almost cried. It felt like a missing puzzle piece to my soul. Being rooted in Gullah culture is where I felt the most natural and at home.

Da south is my motherland

My Great Great Grandma with her kids in South Carolina

Excerpt from what is creole

Some black Americans talk about feeling lost on what their ethnic roots or heritage are, because of slavery but I disagree. I think the sense of discontent with one’s self comes from the ancestral trauma we are burdened with. That pain from such trauma is now woven into the fabric of our DNA like quilts. People who long for more than what they are is just a result of our lineage being rooted in what was once unfamiliar.

They can change our surnames but not our DNA and that goes back to my original point.

We are not lost and don’t speak that over the collective

That is not my story and I don’t believe it’s anyone else’s story in the African diaspora. I can go back 6 generations and find where my people were. Yes, we were victims of colonialism but I believe that if you are African, then Africa is within you.

Africans carry Africa everywhere they go. My skin, my culture, and my mother tongue don’t just magically disappear because colonialists attempt to erase it. Everything that was and is has simply evolved. You don’t need to know what tribes you hail from to know WHO you are especially if the culture never went anywhere. You don’t need a label or even a flag to know you are African. If we examine most things we do you’ll notice remnants of our ancestors. A perfect example is the way African Americans talk.. no matter the region there’s always a stylistic way of talking. Those who are ignorant may demonize it as ghetto and improper. Even if it is improper—so?? Dis ain’t our original language to begin wit.

When I studied dialect and language. I learned that the positioning of your ancestry can sometimes determine the positioning of your tongue. Hence why they call it a “mother tongue”. Phonetically speaking, our dialects are very complex. Most who can code-switch are bidialectical by default. Our people are naturally fluent in AAVE and the AAVE varies depending on region.

While I was in Charleston, South Carolina hanging around the French quarter..an elder Gullah explained to me while speaking on the origins of Gullah that most West African slaves had trouble pronouncing the th sound in words because it was unfamiliar to them so their pronunciation would sound like da dem, dat, den, etc. I thought that it was very interesting that things as small as that had carried on because I naturally say da. I don’t even pronounce most things fully.

My grandma’s Gullah Geechee research

I’d even argue that African Americans and Caribbeans globalized a variation of African culture since most of the subcultures within our communities are rooted in Western, central, and even a lil North African culture. Blues is another perfect example. When playing the blues scale on piano I noticed that it had similarities to the North African/Arabian scale. I searched it up online to see if I was just thinking too hard but I was right. I learned that Slaves who practiced Abrahamic religions such as Islam before being enslaved influenced that. I noticed so many similarities in Gospel too. Some Black Gospel riffs sounded similar to Islamic prayer calls or old Jewish hymns. The Fulani tribe has greatly influenced this.

I feel like the people who act as if we lack in culture contribute to the erasure of a culture that’s already globalized and even shared with the world. It’s a dishonor to the people that came before us because those same people tried preserve bits and pieces of an ancient culture. African slaves who built houses left tribal symbols on plantations, it’s even in the ironwork. Memory is all in the architecture around us.

The African roots of blues

African immigrants growing up would tell me I didn’t know my culture. They would tell me I didn’t know my heritage because I am an American descended from slaves. I give them grace because I know such rhetoric is born out of propaganda and ignorance. I always found it amusing when they’d tell me I didn’t understand universally black things. Things such as certain seasonings or braiding hair. Some even told me that they spoke “Better English” than me which is ironic. We are all victims of colonialism I don’t believe there’s competition when it comes to oppression. I won’t assimilate and water my blackness down to be seen as classy by Western standards because Western standards are not my standard. I’m my standard. I prioritize knowledge because knowing will gift you comfort. I can comfortably communicate with anyone from any culture because of this.

In schools, they teach young black kids that there is no more Africa in America. They talk about American blackness as if it was a thing of the past and that the oppression washed out any culture that was left of us. They never go in-depth and try to convince us that we are simply a product of bondage.. nothing more. I feel that this contributes to that black victim mentality. That sense of lack. Kids would stare in confusion when being taught because they knew intuitively that nothing was lost. I miss the South because that is where my cultures lie.

I say again, the South is my motherland. I crave the culture. The heat. My people. I try to incorporate my culture in errthang I do

💙💚🖤

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Thankss for reading