African-American or Black

Earlier this year I received a calendar courtesy of the Dutchess Community College Black History Committee, which inspired me to post my thoughts about significant dates in the history of people of African descent. For instance, May 14th marked the day which slavery was abolished in Brazil. As a people we tend to separate ourselves and identify with our country of our birth, with little interest in getting to know about one another's history. Hopefully, this blog will help to resolve this issue. I realize that will be no simple task, but I will attempt to make the effort. One thing I admire about Jewish people is that no matter which part of the globe they come from, they always identify with one another through their shared Jewish heritage. Over the years various terms have been used to describe people of African descent, some of them which have been meant to demean us and break our spirit. Many Black people currently define themselves as African-Americans. Personally, I do not have a problem with the term "Black", which to me seems to be more inclusive.

An Arab person who comes from Morocco, Libya, or Egypt living in America today technically could call themselves African-American since those countries are part of the African continent, but would they? Within the African continent itself people are referred to as "Black", which obviously makes reference to the color their skin.