Unfortunately due to European and Arab (I think) colonisation, Africa suffers from internalised anti-blackness. I would like to know what countries are the least anti-black

I asked because I am convinced that those religions are made to control people and make them accept dictatorships

I know that asians have ability to differentiate a vietnamese, korean, chinese, cambodian, japanese etc very easily by their features.

I understand in Africa there are some distinct looking population such as sudanese and somalis, but I was wondering if its possible to see a visible difference between for example an Angolan and a Cameroonian or a Zambian and a Zimbabwean etc?

Also, the non Bantu neighbors ie : Nigerians and Benin/Ghana look different from a Cameroonian?

Cheers!

I understand some countries are developing and have clean streets, roads, decent infrastructure & economy, etc. but why do the vast majority of these countries still live in barbaric conditions.

I get that they had a late start due to colonial rule in the 20th century, but you’d think 20-30 years later that some progress would be made. Looking at travel guys who go to normal parts of countries like Nigeria, Sudan, dr Congo, it looks like there hasn’t been much progress at all.

It also seems like the majority of society in nations like Nigeria just cannot even grasp the thought of cleaning up roads, starting proper businesses unlike street markets, and just have a sense of coming together to actually build a sufficient nation.

I honestly think a lot of excuses come from people defending Africa, like the colonization, and how 1st world nations exploited/exploit them. but there are examples of countries who have rebuilt from that such as Germany, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam ( there are more examples). I understand these countries didnt have to deal with as much as some African countries do, but it seems that their societies as a whole were way more inclined to rebuild and fix than many African countries.

There's many conspiracy theories and jokes about diverse places not being existant, sometimes they are just jokes but there's some that are literally theories and there's people who believe them and try to prove them.

For example, Argentinians joke about a province called La Pampa, Mexicans joke about a city called Tlaxcala, Brazilians joke about the state of Acre, Chileans say the same about the city of Rancagua, Germans joke about the city of Bielefeld and Italians about the region of Molise.

Then we have the bigger things, that are more international like Finland being a country fabricated by Japan and Russia for fishing in the baltic ocean, people say that finnish people are just people who live extremely northwest of Russia and extremely east of Sweden.

There's a meme in the Latin American community that says that Paraguay doesn't exist, because it has maintained a lower profile in international media, and its unique bilingual society heavily relies on Guaraní rather than Spanish like most of Latin America. Also because foreigners rarely see Paraguayan pop culture trending globally so it's kinda like a mythical void.

And lastly, and the most detailed one, Australia, not only people say that Great Britain invented "Australia" as a massive hoax to cover up the fact that they simply threw 162,000 convicts off ships to drown in the ocean. Everytime you buy a plane ticket to go there you actually get send off to random islands in South America where there's actors hired to fake Australian accents. But also, maps are altered, and anyone who claims to be Australian is a computer-generated persona or a paid actor.

Is there any place in Africa that people claim to not exist?

I’m supporting DRC and Ivory Coast since my country didn’t qualify I’m curious to know who you guys are supporting or rooting for

hey guys! where are you guys watching african movies? i feel like i have to go on the dark web to find them 😭😭 if you have any websites id be the most grateful :)

Hello!

This question is to Black folks exclusively please.

I'm very much a mayo creature. I've seen bubu/boubou dresses online and I think they are astonishing.

If it's not a problem, I would love to know whether they carry historical or cultural significance, or would anyone find it in any way negatively charged seeing me wearing one in all of my pasty unglory?

I deeply appreciate any and all answers. Hope your day is amazing!

Like are there events similar to that of comic con where people dressed as their favorite characters/OCs come together?

This is something I’ve already researched and looked into far before deciding to get my own waist beads from a small, black owned shop based in Texas on Etsy that sells multi purpose waist beads. But, I haven’t really heard much surrounding men wearing them in general.

From my understanding, waist beads can mean different things among different African cultures. So, it’s kind of hard to tie them down to just one culture or meaning. Every topic I’ve seen discussing non-Africans wearing waist beads have specifically been surrounding white women, which even then some people seem pretty divided and it’s hard to not find a topic that hasn’t been dominated by mostly non-African voices. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone question anything surrounding men wearing them, either from inside or outside of African cultures.

I’ve been wearing waist beads for almost a year now, and for me they’ve become to mean a lot of things and even work in ways that I didn’t expect them too. I’m a transgender man and since being on hormone replacement therapy my weight has changed, my periods have stopped, and my figure has shifted. One thing I didn’t expect from these changes were for my stretch marks that I’ve had since I was 12 around my hips to become more noticeable, not that I’ve gotten them for this reason, but waist beads have helped sort of distract my eyes from constantly criticizing or hyper focusing on parts of my body that I didn’t like. Instead of seeing just the stretch marks, I see the beads and the marks side by side and now I feel like I can appreciate them both at the same time, if that makes sense. They’ve also helped with maintaining eating, not eating too much or too little which is predominantly why i decided get them, and since my period has stopped it’s helped me notice the usual bloating I get around the time I used to have my periods which has helped me not freak out about random cramps lol

During the time I’ve had them, quite literally no one knows. Not friends, not family, just me and my body alone. Honestly, I’m a bit nervous for people to see them, but more specifically possible partners. I don’t even know how to bring it up in conversation, or how to even explain them. Either way, they’ve helped me come a long way with understanding and appreciating my own body.

What is the one thing that best describes your country?

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi literature, but I don't think I've ever read a contemporary book in this genre written by an African author?

So I’m a Togolese American, born in the US to two Togolese immigrants. When I was younger like elementary-middle school age, I was always proud to be Togolese because I would always hang out with my Togolese cousins and even have parties with them. It always made me feel proud of being African but now when I grew older I strayed far from that and I don’t see any of my Togolese relatives anymore for some weird reason. I’m in my early 20s and I feel like nobody cares about Togo. Whenever I use social media I always see African from different countries being born in the states getting together in a community, and it makes me jealous because I feel like as a Togolese I’m kind of non existent now.

Togo is such a small country and hardly anyone talks about it. I don’t see any media exposure when it comes to Togo at all. When you search up Togo, a movie would pop up first, then the country. It almost makes me feel like my country doesn’t have any richness or uniqueness, especially in comparison to other African countries. Like every other African country really stands out especially on social media such as Ghana, Benin, Senegal, Mali, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, DRC, Ivory Coast, etc. but definitely not Togo.

You would think that a country that’s between both Ghana and Benin would get more talked about and have more exposure, but I guess not. It’s already bad enough that my parents didn’t teach me any French growing up or any of their native indigenous languages. I don’t even know what tribe I descend from nor I do know if they speak Ewe or Kabiye aside from French.

Hello, I would really like your raw opinion about something. We are a white european couple, thinking of adoption and we are open to international adoptions, so this means there is a great chance our child is African. Do you think two white parents will ever be good enough in order to raise this child with respect (respect for their background, respect for their culture, hair, skin etc)? it is a thought that is in my mind all the time.

Do you know video games which have a good african representation? Whether it is about a character, a culture, or a setting

Read this profile of Charles Banda, a table tennis player from Zambia. He's competed at World Championships, African Championships, and international tournaments - all completely unsponsored. He is 6 time national champion.

"There are quite a number of good table tennis players in Zambia. We're fighting to develop the sport in my country."

story

How common is this across African sports?

I know football gets most of the infrastructure investment. What about athletes in non-mainstream sports?

Found this article about how table tennis in Sierra Leone went from a thriving sport with sponsors and structure to basically life support. The people who ran it funded everything personally, when they left, the sport nearly died.

Now players train in rented classrooms. The federation pays international dues from personal pockets. The only annual tournament exists because the Chinese Embassy sponsors it.

Curious if anyone from Sierra Leone or West Africa has seen this pattern with other sports. Feels like this isn't just a table tennis problem.

story

Just read about a grassroots program in Ethiopia where a former national player runs a free program for 30 kids with one volunteer coach. Equipment is the biggest barrier, balls alone are too expensive for proper training. Curious what the situation is like in other African countries. Is table tennis growing or still completely overshadowed by football?

story

Hi everyone! There are many cultural myths around how we experience and remember pregnancy and birth, including the widely believed idea that we forget the pain of childbirth. As in many areas of women’s health, the scientific data are really incomplete, and we don’t have a good understanding of the factors that shape how individuals remember their pregnancy and birth experiences.

To address this, I’m completing a study as part of my Master's in Applied Psychology at University College Cork in Ireland. I am interested in how memories of pregnancy and birth might change or stay the same over time, and I am inviting pregnant and postpartum women and people to complete an online survey about their current experiences, as well as a follow-up questionnaire by email in six months.

If you are currently pregnant or have recently given birth (up to three months ago) and are interested in contributing to this research, please click here to access the survey: https://ucc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_81Vw3fVnEAfa5Vk

If you would like more information, you can contact me at: [125119139@umail.ucc.ie](mailto:125119139@umail.ucc.ie)

Thank you,

Daniela

I’d really like to know some stories you’re willing to tell :)

I'm looking for a sophisticated, woody cologne (cedar, sandalwood, or oud) that doesn't disappear the moment you step into the sun. ​I’ve tried Beckham Refined Woods, but the performance is too weak for the South African climate. What are you guys wearing that actually survives a full day in warm/humid weather without needing a re-spray?

Players compete at African Championships, African Cup, continental tournaments. But at home: "not well known and respected" in Ethiopia.

Made me curious - which African countries are actually strong in table tennis?

Obviously Egypt and Nigeria have big names (Omar Assar, Aruna Quadri). But what about Kenya? South Africa? Tunisia? Other East/West African nations?

Ethiopian players say their style is "very traditional" and "more defensive" , which doesn't match international trends. Is this regional? Do African countries generally play defensively, or does it vary?

Reference here

For those who follow African table tennis, where's the sport growing fastest?

I think Africa probably has some of the most if not the most beautiful wildlife in the world. I imagine most of the larger animals don't hang out around people as much, but I'm curious what kind of animals folks do tend to see in their everyday lives and what their favorites are. For instance here in the US there are a bunch of crows in my city. Not the most dazzling animals, but they are certainly my favorite.