{"id":20346,"date":"2022-03-02T14:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T20:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/?p=20346"},"modified":"2022-03-04T12:44:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T18:44:57","slug":"celebrating-diaspora-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/2022\/03\/celebrating-diaspora-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating the African Diaspora"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The African Diaspora includes countries and communities around the world with descendants from native Africa. For most, the movement and disbursement was involuntary as they were stolen from their land as enslaved people. Many countries and communities have been deeply influenced, and often built upon African culture and traditions, due to this involuntary movement. We celebrate the diaspora and FleishmanHillard employees sharing their perspectives as members of it.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Celebrating<\/strong> Afrolatinidad<\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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By<\/em> Gaetane Gomes <\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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This YouTube<\/a> video speaks volumes to me. I can relate to this as I am a first-generation American, of multi-cultural heritage. I was born in New York and my family is from the Dominican Republic. I didn\u2019t understand until I was much older why I was frequently asked to \u201cexplain\u201d my background\u2026and why if I grew up in the United States, how did I come to learn Spanish? Documentaries such as these (and I encourage you to watch) have helped me share with others the robust culture I am proud to be a descendant of. If something shorter is more your vibe, 1:03 \u2013 2:05<\/a> will say it all for me.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Adolescence is not easy for most of us, yet today in 2022 we have so much opportunity to learn from and grow with each other. Someone\u2019s name, complexion, accent nor first language tells the full and complete story of how dynamic and unique we each individually are. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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I\u2019ve been fortunate to have been able to spend significant time in Colombia<\/a>, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. I love to dance and am always in the mood for some Cuban salsa<\/a>. And if you could use a dance break, I\u2019ll leave you with this song \u2013 Los 4 con Alexander Abreu \u2013 \u201cYo Represento.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Here are some of the song\u2019s lyrics translated to English:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Wherever you are<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Let our voices reach you<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Our messages, our hands be proud of who you are<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Isle of Spice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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By Cheyenne Cameron-Pruitt<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Grenada, 21 miles long, 12 miles wide, nestled in the West Indies, the southernmost of the Lesser Antilles, often confused for a city in Spain, known for its spices, beautiful landscapes and unique underwater sculptures. I know it as my home away from home, a place that has instilled in me so much of who I am, even halfway around the world. There is a richness to the culture, where a strong sense of pride and a love from the people can be felt like none other I’ve known.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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I found my love for storytelling through listening to the oral history shared by my great-grandma, who is now 105 \u2013 stories of pride for a nation, fear of fallout from political discourse, accounts of the strength shown by Grenadians throughout the country\u2019s development and our ancestors\u2019 resistance and revolution in the face of colonization and enslavement.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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I found the courage to question the things that weren\u2019t right as I learned about how my grandparents fought for Grenadian independence through protest and civil disobedience, and allowed their children to march with them 48 years ago. My grandpa was the first to teach me that sometimes what we read in the history books isn\u2019t true, and that revisionist history not only exists but can be extremely dangerous.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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I am blessed to have a place where I can feel my roots, and to feel at home outside of what I know. I\u2019ve felt the energy, love and pride for my little island, but know that isn\u2019t the experience of all. As I\u2019ve explored what it means to be a Black American while also identifying as Grenadian, I\u2019ve realized that having this cultural influence is not something to take lightly. The bittersweetness of being a part of the diaspora is that while many of us have the great privilege of honoring the culture, heritage and ancestors that we know, we must remember to not take it for granted as the same privilege was stolen from millions of others and their generations to come.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Bon Jay Peni Mueh!<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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The African Diaspora includes countries and communities around the world with descendants from native Africa. For most, the movement and disbursement was involuntary as they were stolen from their land as enslaved people. Many countries and communities have been deeply influenced, and often built upon African culture and traditions, due to this involuntary movement. We […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":20361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inclusion","category-opinions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fleishmanhillard.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}