In search of the real brother man: an African centered approach to black cultural identity

The male, however, has yet to fully realize, acknowledge, and rebel against the distress and stifling aspects of many of the roles he plays- from good husband to good daddy, to good provider, to good lover, etc. Because of the inner pressure to constantly affirm his dominance and masculinity, he continues to act as if he can stand up under, fulfill, and even enjoy all the expectations placed on him no matter how contradictory and devitalizing they are.. ..It's time to remove the disguises of privilege and reveal the male condition for what it really is. 8 Second, Goldberg's work makes it clear that contemporary white society in America is trapped in the throes of what I prefer to call an acute state of emotional, psychological and spiritual dis-ease. [...]in reference to the African centered approach to adulthood based on Ghanaian Anthony Mensah's model, "Rites of Passage and Initiation Processes with Akan Culture." What the cultured Black American is today, the cultured African must be tomorrow, or else become a relic of history. [...]the Black American is perhaps the most direct link Africa will have with the New World now on the horizon, already casting its shadows on the old."ii As Paul Hill described Mensah's Akan-based Rites of Passage model, I realized I was in the right place, with the right people, at the right time. If we look to works like Leonard Barrett's, Soul-Force: African Heritage in Afro-American Religion, or Edward Ball's, Slaves in the Family, we can plainly see that the roots of African-American culture can be traced back to the various African ethnic groups that were dispersed throughout the Americas. [...]the search for a healthy American-African group identity is more attainable than many critics are willing to concede.