> So you call it code-switching...What
>defines the line between code
>switching and plain old Frontin'?

A person can't "front" and code-switch. He/she is either fronting or successfully communicating with someone of another race or background or people with different interests. Some people imitate for amusement but that's all that is. Other people are assimilating and there are some people who can communicate on a variety of levels like speaking different languages. There are definite uses for "switching" like to educate/train different groups of people, to get a job, to reach others beyond their neighborhood or group.

You can tell the difference.

>I hear what you're saying,
>you code-switch to allow for
>better communication...but what about kids
>who're considered wannabes and laughed
>at because of how they
>fail to do this skillfully?
>Aren't they just untalented code-switchers?
>Or are code switchers talented
>fronters? Doesn't a code switcher
>have to start as a
>wannabe?

Wannabees don't code-switch. They emulate and imitate in an attempt to become part of a group. Switching allows a person to communicate effectively without losing his/her identity. For example, I have several acquaintances of different races mainly because I know how to communicate with them but I am do not want to be like them. I can articulte my ideas to a corporate big-wig but I am still me. I choose to dress the same and wear my hair natural no matter who I communicate with. I was never a wannabee, just a good communicator. Communicating with all kinds of people is part of who I am.

>Because you're smart and perceptive
>you're a code-switcher, but those
>who don't have those smarts
>and over doit and make
>mistakes come off like jackasses,
>wannabe's...feel me? I'm not
>calling you either, you seem
>together as far as I"m
>concerned, its just food for
>thought.

Let me put it another way. When a person is open and aware, they have a deeper understanding of things. It's not about smarts. The people who mess up code-switching are people who have other agendas, other than communicating. Some people miss the point and that's when they are ineffective. Some people are close-minded and can not empathize with others.

I am not smart. I am a little more perceptive than some people but I will always be what I decide to be (identity). I've decided to be Black. I am Black. I look and feel Black and I embrace being Black, as well as all the other parts of my character that I embrace. I am comfortable with myself and usually people are comfortable with me.

"Know thyself"

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you". So we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
-- Hebrews 13:5,6

"There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"
--Morpheus in "The Matrix"

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"- Dumbledore to Harry Potter "Chamber of Secrets"