phillipe wamba
... difference of food between the 2 parents. Phillip’s mother usually cooked American meals while his father usually cooked a Zairian meal. In addition, Phillip’s father spoke Kikongo, Lingala, English and French while Phillip’s mother spoke French and English. Philippe has lived between both Zairian and American culture and is therefore both African and African American. At first, Philippe lived in an American community, however as Philippe grew older he began to rediscover African culture. Hen Philippe was born, the first reaction Phillip’s American family had was, “is he too black?” Even at birth, Phillipe was already labeled and separated from the family. Philippe lived in a dominantly white neighborhood and learned to live with American Culture. He played sports such as soccer, and basketball, watched TV shows such as the Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, spoke Bostonian accents, and listened to American music groups like Kiss and Aerosmith. Later in Phillip’s life, he moved to Tanzania and Zanzibar and adapted to their cultures. Philippe began to wear different clothing that blends in better with the Tanzanians, he learned to speak Swahili, swam in the Indian Ocean and played tag in cashew nut trees. Philippe has encountered both American and African culture in his life. Even though Philippe lived within several different communities, he was not always fully accepted into any community. Americans did not accept Philippe as an American and labeled him as African American. His American family rejected him at first as an American, however later, His family comes back to mourn for his dead brother. Many Americans viewed African Americans as 1 giant race instead of a collectio...