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| Home Front: Politix |
| Why black Americans are moving to Africa |
| 2020-03-30 |
| [NYPOST] Monique John wasn’t sure what to expect when she stepped off the plane in her new home: the West African nation of Liberia. "It was very rundown looking," the Brooklyn-born 28-year-old recalled of her first glimpse of the capital, Monrovia, nearly three years ago. "But my feeling as I was walking along the city’s main streets was a sense of excitement . . . it felt almost like an out-of-body experience to finally be in Africa." John is one of a number of African-Americans moving to the Motherland, some inspired by the recent "Year of Return" movement initiated by Ghana, 400 years after the first Africans were brought in chains to Jamestown, Va. Last year, Ghana gave citizenship to 126 people of African descent, many of them Americans. Born in Brooklyn, Monique John moved to Liberia three years ago to work as a journalist. Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella went down under the weight of the custard... rapper Ludacris obtained Gabonese citizenship, as did actor Samuel L. Jackson after tracing his heritage back to that nation’s Bantu Tribe. (Neither has moved there full time.) New Jersey couple Chrystol and Jason Warde hope to make their move this year. "We wanted to be in a place where we can bring our experiences to people who are going to appreciate it to help develop [businesses]," said Chrystol, 33, the owner of two women’s clothing stores. Her 34-year-old husband, who emigrated from Guyana at 19, is a CPA. The couple, who have one child, plan to visit Tanzania and Kenya in April, travel restrictions permitting, to decide which country suits them best. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 \ Estwatini, formerly Swaziland. Appears to be working. Don't knock it - double India's/Pakistan's per capita income. :-) It's probably no different from the per capita income of South Central, once you knock out the welfare state bennies. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2020-03-30 19:49 |
| #15 Well, since they don't like it here, they're certainly free to leave. I suspect they won't like it there, either. First coup, they're going to miss American elections. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-03-30 19:01 |
| #14 If earlier efforts along this line are any indication, Besoeker nailed it. They will be from the wrong tribe. It is perhaps the flip side of the strong family ties you find there (and which no doubt forms part of the attraction)--low interest in non-family. |
| Posted by: James 2020-03-30 17:54 |
| #13 Better prospects than the 'Wakanda Project'. Africa shall need a good movie industry too. Racists like Jordan Peele and white apologists of hollywood can maybe follow ? |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2020-03-30 15:46 |
| #12 Africans: "It's all the American MAN keeping us down" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2020-03-30 15:19 |
| #11 Why black Americans are moving to Africa The "Wakanda Is Real" e-mail scam worked? |
| Posted by: charger 2020-03-30 15:16 |
| #10 *snort* Wait till they find out they'll be the white folk. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-03-30 13:04 |
| #9 Why black Americans are moving to Africa To discover that they are African-Americans? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-03-30 12:40 |
| #8 “There is a comfort that comes with being around people who look like you, and seeing [people like you] on billboards and in government positions,” Easier to move to Detroit. You get all that PLUS some great prices on housing and land. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2020-03-30 12:29 |
| #7 /\ Estwatini, formerly Swaziland. Appears to be working. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-30 10:54 |
| #6 Besoeker, what they need is all returnees to go to a single African nation, when there are enough they can form their own, wealthy, well-connected, tribe. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2020-03-30 10:50 |
| #5 Wish the best for them, but knowing Africa the whole experience for many will go pear shaped. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-03-30 10:01 |
| #4 The "Back to Africa" movement was a movement founded by Marcus Garvey in the early 20th century which aimed to help all African-Americans move back to Africa. Garvey originally founded the movement in Jamaica, but eventually moved to New York to direct it. |
| Posted by: b 2020-03-30 09:56 |
| #3 Once they are discovered to be wealthy Americans (of mixed blood and no tribal connection), it may not go well for them. The Liberian experiment might be a good example. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-30 09:08 |
| #2 Good for them. But those countries won't turn around until their own talented and well-trained elites stop ditching the home country for the US and Europe and start fixing their own countries. Paul Theroux nails it here |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-03-30 01:29 |
| #1 Wish them all the luck in the world. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-03-30 01:11 |