Finding My Roots: I Took A Course on the African Diaspora

As a first-year student at Morgan State University, I've been on a crazy journey trying to discover who I am away from my home and family. From maintaining a good school-life balance and exploring the campus and city of Baltimore these past 10 months have been nothing short of life-changing. I'm extremely happy with my decision to attend an HBCU

even if I'm 700 miles away from home and I think this decision had a big impact on my experience taking COMM 300 Communication and the Black Diaspora.

This course completely erased any stereotypical images I had of Africa in my head. Even being someone whose mother is half Nigerian, before taking this course I was just about as knowledgeable as any average African American who doesn’t know much about Africa or countries with a large population of Africans. We examined the history of culture, slavery, colonialism, and more in countries besides America like Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti. The resilience and cultures of the African diasporic communities in these countries were beyond inspiring. I will never forget the names of influential figures like Antonio Maceo and Chica Da Silva.

A key factor in my experience taking this course is that I took it at an HBCU. Hearing the experiences and thoughts of primarily others who look like me and are a result of the African diaspora made the course mean a lot more to me. We can relate in some ways but we also have our differences. Some of us have direct ties to Africa while others don't know their heritage at all. Regardless, I think that we all learned something new throughout this course. Seeing as it was a discussion-heavy course we were even learning from one another and bouncing our thoughts off each other.

After taking this course I now understand just how much African culture can be seen throughout black communities across the world. This makes me feel more connected to my heritage and I feel more confident in expressing the fact that I'm Nigerian even if it's only partially. As I continue to matriculate through my HBCU I can't wait to continue learning and using my newfound knowledge to celebrate Africa and its diaspora.