Black & White - The Longbranch Improvement Club: Fill & Download for Free

African here. Also black.If being called black is offensive, what are people supposed to say to refer to my complexion? Chocolate?Pretty much no black person gets offended by being called black. Of course, not all Africans are black. The term wouldn't make sense for Algerians and Afrikaners, for instance. But Africans of dark complexion are black. There is nothing offensive about it whatsoever.

I’m going to talk about something very specific I’ve noticed in Vancouver, where Blacks comprise only 1% of the population.Imagine a world where there’s no anti-Black racism. People aren’t mistreated for being Black. People aren’t even treated differently. Instead, your skin complexion is treated as just as inconsequential a facet of who you are as your eye color. Would there be any race consciousness? Would people who share the same complexion feel any tribal affiliation towards one another?I’m African. I grew up in a place where my race was a complete non issue. But I’ve lived in the US for more than half my life now. In the US, being Black is definitely a thing. It sets you apart. You are a minority. And, even if you try to pretend that race doesn’t exist, society will sooner or later remind you that you are Black first and everything else second. It’s just what it is. So, in this environment, there’s a strong consciousness of being Black. I was sitting at a French-style cafe in Portland last week. This Black man entered. Immediately he took a seat next to mine—we were the only two Blacks in the establishment. We gave each other the nod, and we started talking.This is what it means to be Black. The flip side of racial otherness is that you come to see every other member of your race as a brother. This is especially true when you’re in a place where Blacks are a small minority. Every time you see another Black person, you give each other a sign of acknowledgement.I see you over there, fellow Black person, fellow passenger in this slow ride towards justice and equality, fellow fighter in the struggle. I see you. And I salute you.But my experience here in Vancouver has been utterly different. Blackness is not a thing. In vain I search into the eyes of the Black people I encounter for a sign, a token of acknowledgement, a special greeting, anything. I’ve come to expect it, living in the US.Nothing. Nothing at all!I’m not a fellow Black person to them. I’m a perfect stranger, and an odd one at that.Why is this fellow looking at me like that? Excuse me, you’re in the way! Hello? Can I help you?This is what they seem to say when I look at them. It’s fascinating.For the first time in half my life, I don’t feel Black. I can just be me, just another person, who merely happens to be chocolate-hued.

Probably not.The interior solution for a black hole is mathematically similar to that of a closed finite universe. However, our current universe looks to be infinite, so the evidence suggests that we are not inside a black hole.