I am currently a college student in a class called “Black Transnational Cultures.” I found this post really interesting because we mainly studied how the Diaspora has affected Afro Germans and Afro British, and the major thing I took from this analysis was the struggle for identity.

Many Afro Germans and Afro British are treated as though they are foreigners in their own countries, or second class citizens. I can't imagine what it would be like to constantly get comments that give away people's thoughts: “Oh, you can't be from here because you're black.” The double consciousness that Gilroy speaks of doesn't come easily, it takes skill to be able to balance both parts of one's identity to create a fusion that is comfortable for the person.

In my final group project, we studied Dubstep and how it reflects the melding of cultures that is necessitated by Diaspora. Gilroy shed some light on the subject and declared that absolutism in situations like that are impossible. When you have various kinds of people coming together to create music, it's no longer “black music” or “British music,” it becomes something else entirely.

The same happens with people. They aren't solely African, they aren't solely British or German or European. They are Afro British, Afro German, etc. I think this is a commendable project because this topic hasn't been talked about enough, and it will bring some attention to the difficulties people go through to secure their identities.