To begin I think I should discuss how the preservation of black culture relates to Africana studies. An article by Gregg Carr titled, What Black Studies is Not: Moving from Crisis to Liberation in Africana Intellectual Work, helped give me a better understanding of the topic. In Carr’s article when explaining the concept of Africana studies, Carr describes it as “the preservation of African history and culture as a valuable contribution to modern civilization as it was to medieval and ancient civilization”. What I got from this is that Africana studies involves the teaching of African experiences, analyzing the lives of Africans, and basically analyzing the history of the culture of black and diaspora people. Africana studies is the study of black life, a person’s lifestyle, how they were raised, where they’re from, their culture, history and pretty much all the things that make them-them.  It is about creating new knowledge, learning skills, developing new ways to think that are based and developed from history. “Africana Studies pedagogy and scholarship is teaching, learning, researching and writing that consistently states the intellectual ground on which it stands”

Now when I say the preservation of black culture, I think it is best to give details and go in depth with what I mean. To preserve means to maintain something, and my goal isn’t necessarily to maintain it but to expand it. I feel that black people should look more into their culture, learn more about their past besides the things we are told and taught in school (i.e slavery, segregation) . I for one can attest to this when I say I don’t know much about my culture, I don’t know why so many Haitians share the same name ‘Jean” or the relationship that Haiti has to other black and Caribbean cultures. But the thought of taking it upon myself to learn more and more is something I think all people should share. A current situation and person that I can connect this to is the NBA player, Kyrie Irving who has been very open about his ambitions to discover and learn more about his culture and heritage. From learning the meaning of his name in regards to his heritage, to discovering more about black people as a whole, it is evident that he has the curiosity and drive to learn more. 

An organization that I wanted to connect the preservation of black culture to is BLM. Made in retaliation to the tragic deaths of two unarmed African American men Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, with each situation being well documented as Barbara Ransby stated, “Trayvon Martin was a black teenager coming back from buying snacks on a rainy Florida night in the winter of 2012, when he unknowingly stumbled into the path of George Zimmerman” along with “Michael Brown was not in the mood to be told what to do, And the white cop who stopped him, Darren Wilson, riding alone in a patrol car was not in the mood to have his orders disobeyed”. This was all stated in Ransby’s book titled, “Making All Black Lives Matter”. From this reading, I was able to understand how events like Trayvon and Michael Brown impact people. Making me reflect on myself as I was aware of the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown tragedies when they happened but didn’t seem to take initiative like some of the people mentioned in Ransby’s book. Mentioned on the Black Lives Matter website was, “Through Black Lives Matter, we have this opportunity and blessing to do the work that leads to policy change and encourages us to reimagine and build towards a future that prioritizes the safety of Black people”.This part specifically stood out to me because I was able to relate it to one of the listening we did this semester about Mixteca ( an organization whose mission is to to empower the Mexican and Latin-American immigrants of the New York) and how at the time I was able to find similar organizations that also did what Mixteca does. At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, another thing that I think could have been done was the educating of black people not just about the injustices but about their backgrounds to further have them understand what they are fighting for. Through more research I was able to find, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. This organization emphasizes the preservation of black history and culture, along with the mission of drawing attention to the remarkable stories that evoke centuries of African American activism and achievement, and to tell our nation’s full history. Organizations like these are doing their part to impact the lives of black people everywhere. 

To conclude, I feel that acknowledging one’s culture is a big part of how people identify themselves and show themself to the world. People everywhere should strive to preserve their culture. 

 Gregg Carr, “What Black Studies is Not: Moving from Crisis to Liberation in Africana Intellectual Work”

Barbara Ransby,” “Making All Black Lives Matter”

https://savingplaces.org/african-american-cultural-heritage#.Y30YPXbMKUl