On Azealia Banks & Not Being African Enough

This evening, I tweeted a supportive response to Azealia Banks after she tweeted that she had been called a “nigger,” a “slave” and a “gringo” by an African male on Twitter. Azealia happened to retweet it, and immediately I was flooded with replies from presumably Nigerian Twitter users telling me that I’m crazy for claiming her on behalf of Nigeria, that Nigeria doesn’t want her, that I’m less Nigerian for claiming her, etc.

Yeah. I’ve been told I’m not Nigerian enough my whole life. I, who was born in Nigeria to Nigerian parents who were born and raised in Nigeria. Like Azealia, I was rejected by certain Africans when I went back to Nigeria for the first time–though much more subtly. As I discuss in my book, certain Nigerians found every opportunity to remind me of the many things they saw as my failings as a Nigerian, the things that made me too American, everything from my lack of fluency in Igbo, to my diet, to my unfamiliarity with Nigerian customs. The same thing happens to me when I meet certain Nigerians and Africans in the US.

I have to infer that it’s easy for Nigerians who have never left or rarely leave the country to act this way, to hold so tenaciously to a nationality that, mind you, was originally fabricated by white men, as if others’ claims to it threaten your own authenticity, to lash out against members of the African diaspora without empathy or understanding, to ignore the history of slavery or worse, use it against African-Americans as Azealia’s Twitter abuser did, or to refuse to accept the fact that there are diverse ways to be African and Nigerian.

And what exactly is it about Azealia Banks that you want no part of? In my opinion, she is one of the only African-American female artists at her level of visibility (shoutout to Nicki Minaj and Claudia Rankine among others) who openly and uncompromisingly reprimand white institutions, the same institutions who at their core see all you “real Africans” as illiterate, impoverished, savage, dirty monkeys, no matter what you otherwise know to be true, no matter how well you think of yourselves or how highly you carry yourselves. Need I remind you of the anti-African hatred that Ebola unleashed, to say the very least? Azealia’s sense of self, her strength and her enormous talent are far more valuable than your hatred for her is, and contribute far more to global consciousness about the strength and vibrancy of people of African descent.

The only time I feel ashamed to be African is when I hear Africans express hatred for African-Americans and others they deem not African enough. I wish more continental Africans would take a moment to see beyond their perspectives and acknowledge that diasporan Africans exist and are valid. I’m not even asking you to “accept” us, I’m just suggesting that you consider our experiences. But then, we thrive and cultivate our Africanness without your affirmation every day.

Foreign Ministry: Spanish festival's boycott of US

“We always said that BDS was not connected to the Palestinian issue or the settlements but was nothing more than Jew hatred,” spokesman says after music festival drops American Jewish artist.

If you plan on going to the Sunsplash Rototom Reggae Festival in Spain this week, you better not speak the language of the Hebrewman. If you do, they might kick you out.

The festival’s cancellation of a scheduled August 22 appearance by Jewish-American reggae artist Matisyahu – under pressure from Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists – unmasks the anti-Semitic nature of that movement, a Foreign Ministry representative said Sunday.

“We always said that BDS was not connected to the Palestinian issue or the settlements but was nothing more than Jew hatred,” spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.

“And this demonstrates that.”

Matisyahu, Nahshon stressed, is not Israeli.

The 22-year-old music festival, which was founded in Italy but since 2009 takes place in Benicàssim, north of Valencia, canceled the scheduled appearance of Matisyahu following intense pressure from the BDS movement in Valencia to cancel the performance, saying the once-hassidic rapper has “participated in pro-Zionist festivals and has said that Palestine does not exist.”

Last Tuesday, the festival, facing a boycott by five of the 250 artists booked for the weeklong festival, wrote on its Facebook page that they contacted Matisyahu to determine his positions on Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the singer said that despite his support for Israel, he has never inserted his political positions into his shows.

“We have never invited anyone to the festival who intends to spread hate messages, and this criteria has been used in exactly the same way when inviting Matisyahu here. In light of the controversy, we have contacted Matisyahu to find out his views on the Israel-Palestine conflict and on Zionism,” the organizers wrote.

They said Matisyahu made clear that “he has never been a political activist and does not bring his personal views to his performances or song lyrics. The fact that he supports Israel does not in itself mean he backs their policies of violence against the Palestinians, so we did not consider it necessary to exclude him from the festival on these grounds.”

By Saturday that all had changed, however, and the festival announced it was dropping Matisyahu from the program because he was unwilling to “clearly speak out against the [2014 Gaza] war and the right of Palestinians to have their own state.”

That statement also said the festival has “proven countless times a sensitivity to Palestine, its people and the occupation of its territory by Israel, particularly by holding multiple debates in the [festival’s] Social Forum.”
Among the programs it has sponsored over the years, it pointed out, was one last year called “Palestine: the failure of the international community” as well as panels in previous years with Haaretz columnist Amira Hess, representatives of Breaking the Silence, and another in 2011 called “Freedom flotillas from the Marmara to today.”

According to the festival’s website, “in addition to promoting a variety of music, throughout our history we have placed particular emphasis on the promotion of the values which make it possible for a society to advance in the most just and fair way possible.

From our very beginnings, the culture of peace has always been present in our way of understanding, not just in the festival, but in life in general.”
In addition, it said UNESCO has recognized its “efforts in promoting multiculturalism and dialogue as a fundamental tool for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.”

Born Matthew Miller, Matisyahu has been the most visibly Jewish artist in the hip-hop world since his debut album Shake Off the Dust... Arise was produced by JDub Records in 2004.

Although initially affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, the artist later distanced himself from the movement and moved from JDub, which closed its doors this year. He shaved his signature beard and sidelocks and issued a statement saying “no more hassidic reggae superstar.”

His appearance in Spain is just one of a number of stops during his current European tour, which also includes stops in Poland, Belgium, Germany, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, before his return for a whirlwind tour of the US.

The following lyrics from his 2004 hit “King Without a Crown” will not be heard at the Spanish festival that boasts of promoting peace, harmony and understanding: “Say sometimes the world is dark and I just can’t see / With these, demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity / But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe / I’ll stand on my own two feet / Won’t be brought down on one knee.”