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Something I’ve Learned From Successful African Friends
How they think of education and family
I have had black friends since I was a kid. I lived in NYC, so, frankly, I had friends from everywhere. My best friends growing up were from Greece, Pakistan, and Colombia.
When I was in college, in graduate school, and now, I have met many black people who have immigrated to America, or whose parents immigrated, from places as diverse as Dominica, Nigeria, and Belize. While Africans started off in Africa, they were (forcibly) transplanted generations ago and now there are vibrant communities such as the Garifuna of Belize or the Gulla of South Carolina.
I’ve enjoyed getting to know aspects of different cultures — for example, at one graduate school, there was a large Caribbean community. Every year they hosted a “Caribe Fest” where there was music, dancing, gorgeous costumes, and delicious food.
While my African friends could party with the best of them, they had a more serious side.
They took education very seriously. And the goal of an education was to be able to earn good money so they could support a family. So they focused on majors that would help them with that.
None of them majored in African studies, for example. Not that there is anything wrong with…
