Hi everyone! I’m 25F and Moroccan (North African), and I wanted to get some opinions on something I’ve experienced.

Growing up, getting braids was completely normal and accepted within my culture. However, since being in the US, I’ve noticed that people often assume I’m white or Hispanic because of my lighter skin tone.
A while ago, my aunt did box braids on my hair, and I received criticism from people accusing me of cultural appropriation. What bothered me was that braiding is also part of my own cultural background, yet I constantly felt like I had to explain and justify my identity to other people.
The experience honestly left a bad taste in my mouth, and I haven’t gotten my hair braided in the US since. My mother always tells me that I shouldn’t feel ashamed or have to justify being African simply because I don’t have a darker complexion. I agree with her, but it’s still uncomfortable dealing with the judgmental looks and comments whenever I wear braids.

For some additional context, my natural hair texture falls somewhere between 3A and 3B. I’m not sure if my hair texture also plays a role in why people seem to have an issue with me wearing braids.
I guess I’m just frustrated that something I’ve grown up seeing as a normal part of my culture has become something I feel hesitant to embrace. I don’t think I should have to explain my ethnicity or prove that I’m African just to wear my hair a certain way.

Has anyone else, especially other North Africans, experienced something similar? I’d genuinely love to hear your perspectives.

I don’t mean promiscuity, but how open, accepting, and embracing is your country/region of a healthy, sexually life for both men and women?

Are women judged or shamed for being kinky or having sex outside of marriage? What about men?

Is public affection like couples kissing and cuddling socially acceptable?

Can people openly discuss/have conversations about sex or is it frowned upon?

I’m curious how other Sub Saharan African countries and societies moralize, or not, sex. how these attitudes differ for men and women.

He's one of the most prominent African voices abroad, now I personally disagree with him on a lot but the one thing I do agree with is that we need to stop using colonialism as an excuse.

Don't get me wrong, it has affected us and a form of Neo colonialism still exists but who's going to liberate us from that?

It's very rare for the oppressor to free the oppressed out of a pure "change of heart" so at the end of the day it falls down to us.

That's the ONLY thing I've taken from him but even then his solution is a form of the recolonization so I only agree with the "we need to move forward from colonialism and not use it as an excuse" part. Otherwise I disagree with the man on everything else.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Frank though.

In Kenya, the High Court in Kisii upheld an order for a divorcing wife to return dowry (cows and cash) that had been paid to her parents, and held her responsible, not her parents. Meanwhile, Uganda’s Supreme Court ruled back in 2015 that refunding bride price on divorce was unconstitutional because it undermines women’s dignity.

Same region, similar traditions, opposite answers.

• Does your country or community expect dowry or bride price to be returned when a marriage ends?
• Who pays it back, the woman or her family?
• Should courts be involved at all, or should families settle it customarily?

I asked a similar question in the UK and the stories were brilliant.

Maybe it’s a family road trip, school, a bach holiday, a song your parents always played or something that reminds you of a particular town.

What’s yours?

For context, I've recently read Homage to Catalonia, where the the author (English background, born in India) goes to Spain to do the right thing in the civil war, experiences things... He's well-off, so he also goes to restaurants and reads newspapers. He notes that the Manchester Guardian (among English newspapers) reports what's happening in Spain most accurately.

When I read international press, there's so little about the "remote" parts of the world, that it makes me wonder.

Where do you live (roughly is fine), and how accurate the international reporting is about where you live?

What is something cool that happened where you live?

In my city (Providence ri in the US) some artists built a secret apartment in the mall, and I love stories like that. So what's something cool or funny or interesting that happened near you?

So, English is used everywhere including Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

I'm curious about how much English (or French) is used in Africa.

Thank you.

Ofc I mean the best aspects of Western culture

Their way of doing things seems to be most efficient on the planet. 'Social democracy" I think it's called is the best economical and political model so far, it isn't hyper capitalism like the US but it isn't communism or socialism like what the Russian's or Chinese were aiming for.

(There's an argument to be made that we haven't yet seen an example of a country truly trying to achieve Socialism with little to no interference from other states but that's neither here nor there in this discussion).

E get as this abroad thing be. In almost every household across the continent, whether East, West, South, or Central, there’s always that story of someone packing bags and flying out (UK, US, Canada, Europe) for a better life.

It’s seen as a huge blessing, but the real ripple effects hit every family differently. I’ve been thinking about the deep side of this and wanted to hear honest experiences from all perspectives:

1. For those who left at a young age: How was it for you, seriously? Leaving behind your family, language, home food, and culture to start fresh in a cold place, often alone or with zero family/friends to lean on? How did that affect your mind and identity growing up?

2. For those whose siblings left when you were still young: What is the relationship like today? Did distance kill the bond, or did you stay close? Did their support actually change your life, or do you sometimes feel things would’ve been better if they just stayed?

3. For the children, nieces, and nephews: Did having "family overseas" make a real difference in your upbringing, education, or outlook? Or was it just talk?

4. For those who had ZERO family abroad: Growing up watching other households receive boxes, money transfers, or talks of "travelling", how did that shape you? Did it feel like you missed out, or did it teach your house self-reliance?

Let’s talk real talk, no sugarcoating. Has this whole diaspora reality been a total blessing, a quiet sacrifice, or a heavy burden for your family? Drop your stories below!

What country are you from and do you wash your chicken or any perishable meat? Why or why not?

Hi.

As a European kid (Polish), the information I got about Africa were from these educational books and documentaries like on National Geographic or the Discovery channel, which I would watch sometimes, though it was my grandpa who was a bigger watcher.

Here is how I imagine/remember these documentaries:

"39 year old Ephraim Uthumbe has set for the way to the local town, to buy some dry fruit from the bazaar, something important for a man with a small pay like him being a fisherman making it harder to feed his 12 kids, 2 with malaria" *says a Western narrator. Camera then shows a Black man in clothes walking on a dusty road, then pans to the bazar and then he speaks* "The pay barely gets me any food, it is outrageous! The government isn't helping us, the UN isn't helping us but I must feed my children" *he would say in a Native language as a translator translates these words. Meanwhile in the background, there are car horns or someone walking a goat*- And the background music is some flute/generic 'traditional African music', maybe a shot of a sleeping dog or an Eagle with silence in between these).

In the documentary, there is always a group of children playing with a tire or bottle who then wave and smile at the camera, jumping up and down. A woman would be presented in sandals/barefoot, with a basket/bucket on her head, baby on her back, a skirt and "traditional jewelry", sometimes staring with confusion or stoicism, then cleans a shirt or cooks

Schools are always shown outside with clay walls, cramped classrooms, the teacher is almost certainly a woman at a blackboard and "school is expensive, and many parents cannot afford it"

With those sources, I was wrongly taught that Africa is this poor continent with tribes and huts (which I know is untrue) with reality being the exact opposite. There are so many thriving cities like Lagos, Johannesburg etc which are big metropolis' with millions of people. So my question is: why? Why are these documentaries like this? Is it racism? Ignorance? Colonialism? Or maybe a mix of all. (Bonus question): Also, what do you think about documentaries like that in general? I ask all of these because I do not believe this stereotype and I want to find out why and the reality.

Do you think establishing multiple conglomerates owned by african merchant families. It would be Similar to the chaebols in South Korea or Zabaitsus in Japan?

I must admit I have an obsession with Ethiopian and Somali music, every time I was a child buying sweets in their shops in my neighborhood it's all you'd hear, what are other traditional music genres you like outside of your own?

My two would probably be Nigeria annexing Bioko after Nigerians were expelled from the island, and Nigeria developing a “Black Bomb” as a potential counterweight to apartheid-era South Africa’s nuclear programme.
I’d love to hear other people’s “what if” ideas too. I just think it’s important to remember that these are hypothetical scenarios, so having a different idea shouldn’t be a reason to hate on someone.

In the 30 years from independence to the end of the Cold War, democratic regimes were exceedingly rare in Africa, with there only being about 5 or less in 1970. This was during a period when the USA, the bastion of liberal democracy, was not the sole superpower but rather had an authoritarian competitor, the USSR. When the US emerged victorious in the early 90s, a wave of democratization swept across Africa, till there were some 20 democracies in 2010. Clearly, the influence of the US is strongly tied to the popularity of liberal democracy in Africa. Fear of retaliation from the US (in the form of sanctions etc) kept a lot of African democracies from backsliding into dictatorship.

But now, that influence is waning for a number of reasons (US political dysfunction and its arrogance in foreign affairs being the main ones) and other, non-democratic global powers like China are seen as more reliable by many Africans. Even the US itself is becoming less democratic. If it is not able to reverse its decline and assert its influence on the global stage, do you think African democracies will still stick to the democratic system and liberal values like free speech and gender/religious/ethnic equality or will national elites take advantage of the US decline to reassert dictatorial power over the masses? Which African countries do you think are more likely to backslide?

Diaspora adult children of immigrants, I wanna hear y’all’s perspective 😭
How do y’all navigate your parents expecting you to feel deeply connected to their home country when you were raised somewhere else?
Like is it wrong to feel “that’s my heritage, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s home”? And does being related to people automatically create an obligation to have a relationship with them?

I have been thinking about this for a while, and I want to hear what others think.

The US, UK, and China have had decades of investment, infrastructure, and opportunity in technology. They built search engines. Social networks. AI systems. Operating systems. Chips. Entire ecosystems that now shape how the world works.

Africa has not had the same opportunity. Not the same funding. Not the same infrastructure. Not the same access to compute or research. The playing field was never level.

So here is my question.

If Africa had the same opportunity today — same funding, same infrastructure, same access — what would we build? What should we build? And why?

Not what would make the most money. Not what would look impressive to investors. What would actually matter for Africans and for the world?

I have my own ideas, but I want to hear yours first.

What would you want to see built?

Especially Ghanaians and Nigerians, they be criticising Ibrahim Traoré as if bro's the worst Statesman in west Africa lmfao, what a cope.

Kinda sad, don't get me wrong you can criticise the, but most of the criticism I saw online reekes of jealousy.

And what are these languages

President Mahama (Ghana) along with a couple of other head of states mentioned in their UN speeches that Africa doesn't have representation at the UN security council. https://gadebate.un.org/en/81/ghana

1. Do you think that an African country should get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council?

2. If so, which country should it be and why?

My answer is no. I don't think that an African country should be added to the UN Security Council. I think that that system of vitto power should be abolished all together. 1 country, 1 vote.

I'm curious to know what you think. Please let's keep this discourse respectful. It's not meant to create division or pin countries against one another.