Introduction
The black community is being constituted and reconstituted socially and historically to build a new and diverse society. This community is contingent and is shifting constantly under the influence of the racism experiences and shared histories with other nations. The Diaspora has been identified as a process because it is evolving through moving, relocation, travel, cultural reproduction, and in the political struggles.
It is also a condition because the Diaspora exists with a global race that is constantly changing, and is influenced by culture, economy, and legal aspects. Africans were linked internationally by the common, shared experiences of racialism.
These experiences gave them the power to unite together and form mass movements to fight for their rights. This gave them an opportunity to be part of decision making, which contributed to the decolonizing process (Clarke and Thomas 12-13). This paper discusses how racial capitalism and colonialism shaped African Diasporic cultures while transforming the West.
African Diasporic Culture and the Transformation Process
There is a relationship between racism and the consciousness of the working class. The two aspects stem from a similar point because they signify today’s imperialism and industrialization. The racism problem is as a result of the labor problem. In this respect, the plantation laborers were chosen on a racial basis. The Europeans were the working class while the Africans were the laborers who did not require skills to work.
However, with continued exposure, the African community became organized and intelligent. Through this process, the Africans learnt that they could unite and express their concerns. The economic developments were connected with the struggle for national liberation and the Black community fought against the shadows of colonialism.
The Africans were mediated by the cultural forms belonging to the Americans and Europeans. In an effort to build a culture that they could identify with, they started identifying the connecting links that would be used to bring them together (Lemelle and Kelley 21-22).
Despite the fact that Africans lacked basic formal skills, they were rich in artistic ideas. They could process and learn these ideas to come up with great art works. This attracted the Europeans to work with them and nurture their talents. Initially, the Europeans had neglected the African themes.
However, the discovery of this talent changed their view of the Africans. The perception about Africans changed, and the Europeans started to inspire and guide the Africans in achieving their dreams. Through this guidance, they influenced the works of artists like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso among others (Lemelle and Kelley 23).
This is an indication that the Diaspora community was rich in talent. While the Europeans were colonizing them, they improved their art and design skills. In this sense, they guided them to benefit economically from their talents. This way, both communities benefited.
Globalization has evolved from the colonial times to the modern setting in which different nations can work together to develop economically. Among the Diaspora community, there was movement of products, people, capital, and ideas. This is the same thing that is happening in the modern global trade.
Through colonialism, the Western nations were influenced to learn African themes and support them to become economic activities. They developed trade through the exchange of these products. The racialization inspired different nations to transform according to the social conditions, increased human value, and the need for continuity.
The western communities have been influenced to attach value to other ethnic communities because different people inspire one another through trade, new ideas, and practices useful in the formation of the modern state (Clarke and Thomas 24).
Today, music and poetry are dominant among the African American culture. However, the two aspects were initially disregarded during the slavery period. The Western societies have been transformed to value art and respects the African culture as it earns different nations global recognition (Lemelle and Kelley 23).
The Western community viewed the Diaspora community as unitary with similar culture, beliefs, and practices. However, through capitalism, this view has been changed and the west has learnt that the black community consists of people who are divided by gender, class, generations, and sexuality.
This influenced the U.S. growing hegemony to introduce a global culture, which could include the place of African America.
Unlike before, where the Diaspora community was separated from the rest of the black community outside the US, today there is a connection between nations in the political formations of the Diaspora communities. This brings together different people from different nations who share similar historical moments (Clarke and Thomas 15).
Conclusion
The Diaspora community is evolving socially and historically to become integrated in the modern global community. The black communities all over the world have established connections that unite them. These include the shared histories and racism experiences, which have developed them to become part of the global community.
Through interaction with the colonialists, their talents and potentials were discovered and nurtured. They were influenced to gain independence in the economic sense, and this initiated their journey towards freedom. The West was also influenced to recognize human value and work with other nations to form a global community and culture in which all the nations could fit.
Works Cited
Clarke, Kamari M. and D. A. Thomas. Globalization and Race: Transformations in the Cultural Production of Blackness. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press, 2006. Print.
Lemelle, Sidney J, and R.D.G. Kelley. Imagining Home: Class, Culture, and Nationalism in the African Diaspora. London: Verso, 1994. Print.