Globalization and the Interconnectedness of People of the African Diaspora

Interconnectedness, specifically spiritual interconnectedness, is a central belief in the Afrocentric paradigm. The African Diaspora was the forced dispersion of people resulting from colonialism and imperialism. From the Diaspora emerged a new interconnectedness of a commonality of oppression from colonialism. Spiritual interconnectedness survived the Diaspora to fuel a culture of radical resistance and creativity in the face of domination and oppression. Globalization heightens objective and subjective interconnectedness by providing a global exchange of ideas, people, goods and services. It also allows people of the African Diaspora to connect and recognize their shared struggle in the fight for liberation and self-determination under colonialism. Following the defeat of colonialism, people of African descent are faced with the process of recovery and nation building. Rebuilding society requires people to redefine and reinterpret democracy to meet the needs of the majority.

Globalization imports cultural ideas and beliefs. When these ideas are of an African nature or from the perspective of the oppressed, they can increase ethnic awareness, mobilization and self-segregation. Globalization in this way increases unity among people of color, who begin to realize their common alienation and shared struggle, which motivates and inspires resistance. A popular global form of youth resistance to colonialism and imperialism is hip-hop.

What is interesting about hip-hop, according to Manning Marable, is “If American rap has been criticized for its materialism, nihilism, and political nonchalance, French hip-hop offers trenchant critiques of racism, globalization, and imperialism."French speaking Arabs have been inspired by the African American civil rights struggle and many radical Arabs have been emulating African American methods of resistance, hip-hop being one of them. It’s interesting that so much of what African Americans contribute to collective human culture is so frequently borrowed and emulated by others. Blacks have always used their creativity as a point of resistance and strength against colonial rule. African American hip-hop is not broadcast in the US if it challenges white supremacy and serves as a tool to potentially mobilize people. The global exchange brings Islamic hip-hop to American youth. This music serves as a gateway for American youth to learn about the Muslim and Arab struggle, which in many ways mirrors the African American struggle. The global exchange also creates a fusion of cultures, with different elements of each culture leaking into the other, as with the example of African American youth trends and with Arab fashion. While these material elements of culture can lead to greater awareness and increased unity among people of color, we must not forget that material elements also have the potential to fuel consumption, which hinders progress. The opposite side of the coin of the cultural exchange made possible by globalization is the ability of Western ideas to reach a more global audience.

Globally broadcast Western television programs sell the belief that individual acquisition is political progress. Instead of helping developing countries work toward democracy, television functions to create material desires. The desire for material items distracts people from what they need for their livelihood. According to Jerome Schiele, “The Afrocentric paradigm posits that there is a reciprocal relationship between the values of materialism and individualism and the political and economic systems and social institutions that oppress people.”

Often when people are failed by the economies of their countries, they look to alternative means of income, typically in the economies of drugs and sexual services. However these activities can lead to incarceration, as the Prison Industrial Complex is becoming an increasingly global solution for corporations to make profits; protect their businesses, to which these criminalized people are perceived as a threat; and control people of color. Globalization is allowing corporations to build private prisons in countries that can’t afford to support their own people. Often these countries, looking to provide economic opportunity for their people, allow corporations to build prisons that they believe will provide jobs and social order. While jobs are needed, corporate prisons are not the panacea, as corporate profit from prisons further deepens the existing polarization of wealth.

The process of rebuilding after the revolution is a topic of debate for all people recovering from colonialism. According to Assata Shakur, one of the most common difficulties that formerly colonized people of color face is the question of, “How can we de-Eurocentrize our system?” From an Afrocentric perspective, the Eurocentrinization of collective human consciousness and culture is a major problem. This polemic is further complicated when these new nations expand their tourism industries in hopes of creating economic sustainability. Along with money, tourists import Eurocentric ideas, such as consumerism and sexual exploitation, which undermine the revolution. These struggling nations need to generate income, but at what cost? It is not very democratic to censor the airwaves. Yet the very idea of democracy is one of the many beliefs that must be redefined when developing countries are trying to create a system to meet the needs of the majority. The creativity of African descendents will serve as a highly useful tool to create solutions to: re-distribute wealth, redefine old definitions, create a viable economy, re-distribute control to Africans and begin the process of much needed healing. As African descendents worldwide fight for liberation and self-determination, they also fight for self-determination in intellectual and academic pursuits.

In the African tradition of radical resistance and creativity, Black scholars have a responsibility to empower marginalized people of color for the improvement and progress of humanity, without the ostracism of whites. Most Black scholars experience a dual consciousness when faced with this responsibility. The dual consciousness centers in the debate of the collective versus the individual. In response to this polemic, Kathleen Cleaver quotes Booker T. Washington saying, “The object of all education, no matter what it is called, should be to fit the individual to articulate what he has learned in the schoolroom into the active everyday community in which he lives.” To overcome this dual consciousness of responsibility, it is necessary for Black scholars to redefine and clarify their roles, which should be to help the greater community; as Afrocentric theory posits that the collective defines the individual as expressed in the African adage, “I am because we are, and because we are, therefore, I am.”