to respond... don't even know if you'll find this in the mess that has become this thread but i'll respond anyway.

you say you think there is a collective african conciousness right? as a result of colonialism and neo-colonialism, you may have a good point, but before that shit went down, i'm not sure i could argue that there was a collective african conciousness. e.g. khoi san and yoruba peoples were pretty different... tribally, the whole continent of africa had its own unique cultural things goin on all over the place.

"i do not separate africans thruout the diaspora from africans on the continent. collectively african ppl on/off the continent have a consciousness, just like europeans on/off their land do."

i don't think so. i think there is a world of difference between african ppls of the diaspora and those of the continent. but to put it in personal perspective (cuz i'm not african the things i say may come across as assumptions and therefore not really valid arguments... but i do speak from my experience, culturally, educationally, and observationally) as a person of european background raised in canada, i have to say, i don't feel any connection to the collective conciousness of europe. and i base this on the experience of actually having gone there and shit. i don't feel like i belong to the collective conciousness of canada for that matter. but i recognize that mass thing or whatever... more here between canadians and americans, then in europe between different kinds of europeans. maybe you wouldnt know, but there is a fucking world of difference between the serbs and the brits for example.

"i don't know that there is a collective american consciousness unless u r referring to Native Americans and a collective (Native) American consciousness, european americans have european consciousness, african americans have an african consciousness and so on."

native americans? no man. those ppl were raped to all hell. but no i'm not talkin about their conciousness. i'm talking present day. are these just your personal fellings or is this something you've learned through your education, a combination of the two or what? its too funky for me how differently we see these things.

on the death thing: most euros are christian. christianity teaches its followers that they will go to heaven. you do continue after death. so i really don't know where you get this:

"in your culture it is believed that this is all there is, that u do not continue after this "life." in cultures where, "death" is just a transition to another life there is not the fear of death on such a large scale."

are you referring particularly to the ancient egyptians? i notice you'r into that.

"all of the hoops that ppl jump thru, to prolong life, even in fighting for "justice" whites must do it in such a way as not to jeopardize their own "life." i.e. dropping bombs from afar, avoiding hand-to-hand combat..."

alright, white ppl really suck, on the whole and throughout history. there is no way i'm disagreeing with that. i don't know about this fear of death, avoiding hand-to-hand combat business but i do know that everything europeans have done to the rest of the world had to do with money. its shit. but its fuckin true. they were competing with another (big players for example, britain, portugal, spain) for who will conquer the most shit and therefore be the wealthiest and most powerful. its a fucking shameful history, but i don't think it had to do with fear of death. i don't mean to insult you, i just don't really see the intelligence in that argument.

"i know i'll die
>but i'm in no rush
>thank you. do i think
>this cuz i'm white?

i think that has a lot to do w/ your heritage and for anyone who has been brought up and ingested the "white" way as a way of life, where the standards set forth by whites is the standard to go by, this will be the case."

death aside, do you actually think that african americans have not ingested the "white way of life and white values"? in america today, who upholds the christian religion the most? i think black people. the nuclear family, capitalism? black ppl are into all that shit too. the fucking american dream? we're all pawns in the same rich man's game, my friend, black or white. makes no difference to em.

"what r hollywood answers? u mean the egs i gave about movies etc.? art imitates life."

hollywood is not art. just that you would say that proves how conditioned you are by the dominant/mass society.

"eg. i know u don't like them but... black ppl complain about the characters they play in shows as not having depth, u see them hardly ever, their chars aren't as developed as others, it's b/c that's the way whites c blacks, as incidental, not "he's the guy w/ the family and the life", he's just a guy @ work, so that's the way they r portrayed on TV. u get me?"

yeah, i get you. and more importantly i agree with you. which is precisely why i'm sayin hollywood ain't art. its a playground for the rich... and most of em aren't even good-lookin much less talented. t.v.? same shit. it ain't art. its garbage.

"u'll be ok."

you'll be okay too ;-)

sunny