African American Experience

Here is a supplementary website that deals with the conversions of the African American religious experiences.

http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/conversion.htm

I am still reading Not A Genuine Black Man and it is pretty good so far. It is sad how even on his 35th birthday the people in town still considered him just a black man. Also, I found it interesting when there were two black young males in the car in the neighborhood and Brian thought it was suspicous. All of those years that he was told that black was bad, and that balck people are up to no good, he started to believe it for that one second. When he found out that the young black males were up to no good, it was almost as if his "people" failed him. He wanted to believe that those young teenagers were not doing anything bad, but they were. So it was as if everything the white people had told Brian as a child were true. I cannot imagine how it would feel to be Brian in a community where he is the only one of color, and to think that other people of color like the two young males, were foreign. It was almost as for a moment he forgot about his own complexion, because he considered himself white.

In Los Angeles the population is so diverse that it is difficult to understand this.

Not A Genuine Black Man

I have begun reading "Not A Genuine Black Man," by Brian Copeland. I am in the first couple chapters and it already is a moving piece of literature. I like the section where his mother called him, "black," but his grandmother called him, "colored," and as he went through life he was identified using different names. Another name he was told to identify himself as was, "a person of color," and finally a lady in college told him he was, "African American." I think this is interesting because many people have ethnic backgrounds and either identify themselves as either American or from the place their parents or grandparents are from. It is funny because living in America, I guess you have to specify what your ethnic background is considering we are the melting pot. I am American, but when an American asks me that question, I assume they are asking me about my ethnicity. So I let them know that I am Cuban.

Whenever I say that I am Cuban, I feel a little more cultured and feel a different way. The attitude changes to be more like my grandma. Some times I'll break out in a Cuban accent, when I do not have one. When someone from another country asks me where I am from, I say California which lets them know I am American. The same thing happens ---I act like an American from California with the laid back attitude and beach style wear. When Brian Copeland explained the different names he was called, each of the names had some type of meaning. People may have perceived him in a different way when he stated he was, "Black," or "a person of color." Each of these identifiers, probably made someone react in a different manner. Thus, I found it interesting because I do believe when someone introduces themselves as Jewish, Mexican, African American, or Asian, people automatically think of how they perceive the group as a whole. I thought of this when I was reading that passage because the mother was very adamant about how Brian should identify himself.

Video

Hey I have a video idea and I wanted to know if I can get some feedback on it. I was thinking about taking the four groups of religious experiences and seeing how each of the groups and their religions conduct a marriage ceremony. I think it would be interesting to see how the Native Americans got married, and how the the Latinos and African American experiences differ or how they are similar when it comes to this ceremony. I also wanted to include maybe more modern ideas of marriage like the unity ceremonies that the homosexual community participates in, and how the Scientologist or Mormons conduct their ceremony. I am thinking about either using love songs as the background, or perhaps music that applies to each religious group. Let me know what you all think of this idea.

Thanks,
Melissa