Film "The Neo-African Americans" opens conversation about race and migrant identity

In February, the UAO held a film screening for Kobina Aidoo's film "The Neo-African Americans."  I was not in attendance, but based on the recommendation of the other staff here, I checked out the film this past week from the Northwestern University library to see it for myself.  The film features interviews with a diverse group of immigrants to the U.S., mostly first generation, and focuses on how individuals identify themselves and are identified in various ways: African-American, Black, African, Afro-Latino-American, African-African-American, "true" African, Caribbean, West Indian, etc.  As this long list of names suggests, the diverse experiences of people of African origin in the U.S. are complex, and these titles are not without controversy and contention. 

As a citizen of the U.S. of European origins and, thus, an outsider to these experiences, I thought the film was engaging and useful as a way of informing people about how the waves of immigration since 1965 are impacting experiences of being of African origin in the US.  I appreciated also that the film raised more questions than answered.  At its close I was left with a sense of uncertainty about what the most appropriate identifiers were.  While some people might find that unsatisfying, I would argue that this feeling is perhaps useful because it shows the blurring of the many ways that people identify and are identified by others and the contextual nature of these labels.  As one young woman interviewed in the film remarked, in Georgia she was identified as black, but in New York City, she was glad to be acknowledged more specifically as Panamanian.  While some preferred specifying their country of origin or ethnicity, others sought to identify as a member of a larger African Diaspora.  The take-away message for me was that the best thing to do is ask someone how they want to be identified.  I consider it a sign of success that the film would make people question pre-existing notions of what it means to be African-American, even if at the end they are left on uncertain ground.  Indeed, peering into the future it is hard to predict what these categories will come to signify. 

If you have seen the film, I would love to know your response and thoughts about these issues of Neo-African-American identity.  Leave your comments here or send me your review to post to this blog.  Let's open the conversation!