>an OPENLY bi-sexual Black male, who is "West Indian"? That's
>interesting. Based on your expressed heritage, I'm not
>understanding how that isn't descending from Black people from
>two different parts of the Caribbean?


Forgive me, I dont understand the point you're raising...? I'm assuming since you emphasized "openly" then that's the incredulous element in my background but... I cant see how it would be so unbelievable. My mother's Dominican, my father's from Barbados- I dont think the culture of either Island is incapapble of producing someone "like me"- especially barbados. ;)

And again, even though I use the term myself, I'm hesitant against placing every person of color regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or religion under the embrella of "Black." Example- I had a roomate in Houston named Sherbazz who was an egyptian muslim. He obviously had some distant african descendants because of his hair and skin tone (which were courser and darker), but his features and cultural identity were strictly arabic. Looking at him, you'd think foriegner before thinking black or african american. Calling him black would seem ridiculous because he had no personal concept of what it was to be a black person. To me, "black" primarily symbolizes american-borne persons of color. The term Black, from it's very origins was an american construct.

Inhabitants of both Islands are not concerned with american socio-political affairs in the same way that black americans are and they are not of pure african descent- hence my claim of being Biracial- I could say multiracial, but my family has only mainatined a dichotomized cultural/racial rearing- that of black americans and that of Island folk with strong spanish and indigenous ties (could go into detail but it wouldnt further the point).

I was raised Catholic before Southern baptist- both of which, possessed no clue of what to do with me and consequently were renounced, Spanish was my first language, many of my aunts, cousins and nieces refer to themselves as" Latina" occasionally. etc.etc.etc. In my teens, I embraced the simplicity in identifying as "black" despite my cultural/ racial lineage. I already alluded to my mixed feelings on the descision; despite them and ultimately, I feel my role in the "black agenda" is better served by taking on it's title, however meaningless I may find it when talking about racial demographics.