Great read I must confess even though long...Meanwhile this Stella babe is beginning to catch my fancy...Here is her interview with Regina Askia on...
Life as a beauty Queen in Nigeria and life as a nurse in America. Which one rocks and why?
''Alright…..this took a minute but I finally got to it. I made a quip on face book sometime back, musing over my life in America and my life back home and unintentionally unleashed a firestorm of opinions and counter opinions . The meat of my musings was, even though I am excited by the many opportunities my life in America brings to me, I’m am sick and tired of being boxed in a class of people and treated with the same expectations and prejudices extended to that class of people.
I want to be able to have my achievements over my life span recognized and appreciated.
Don’t snort at me and tell me I am having delusions of grandeur because “most” African American females are not expected to have ever accomplished such.
I’m not going to sugar coat anything here but the general perception and expectation of an African American female is get pregnant, drop out of school, several baby daddies, whore out to make end s meet, become a hip hop video star shaking what your mama gave you, single mother matriarch, more babies, welfare queen , get older, disillusioned, string out on drugs , downward spiral, HIV ………the end.
The vicious cycle of poverty continues, welfare mothers beget welfare children. The societal construct sometimes perpetuates the problem where the African American faces systemic obstacles that thwart his progress.
So most baby daddies end up in prison, baby mamas trying to cut it alone……Be that as it may, there are often some success stories. The sweet victory in this says despite all intent and purpose to put me down and out …I made it. These success stories are too few and far between. We need to see more.
Enter the African immigrant. A certain level of xenophobia has expectations of the African immigrant at the bottom of the scale.
These expectations fueled by media and pop culture continue to put the African immigrant at the bottom of the food chain. A comment by a distraught Red Cross mayor in the popular flick “Hotel Rwanda “ who was trying to explain why France wouldn’t send troops to help stop the genocide at that time put in succinctly…He said…”You aint even a nigger, you are African”. Organizations fall over each other running millions of advertisement to raise money for pets, endangered animals and Africans. Then here comes some African female with her “Mutombo accent”
talking about having lived in a mansion and having had a maid and a driver….hahaha … Naa.. girl …not today (Motombo commercial voice)…..
home girl is delusional. Girl you need to go take care of “what’s that disease again” …malaria…
haha I hear it messes with your brains….., if it was soooo good back there Miss Thing what the hell are you doing out here …. Quit talking smack and get with the program.
I don’t give a flying f##k what you imagine you w.e..r..e.., you aint that no more. Welcome to America honey…read my lips. Walking around here acting white, reading all kinds of bullshit books, tryna hide that food stamps card when you go to Western beef….….girl I see you . You stupid. You ran away from your home claiming you hubby got rough on you, couldn’t hit him back….Motombo, couldn’t you kick the mo’fucker out and live in there with your kids…
see what Im saying …….girl you stupid.
Sometime later after I became a nurse, I ran into my African American girlfriend.
Hey Motombo…whats up? Did you just say RN….hahaha, you amaze me child, you mean nurse assistant, passing out the band aids and mopping up shit….…haha. You serious. …let me see that id… ( snatches at my id…)
Haaa okay, girl you did gooodd…..care to cut a sister some slack …..spare a buck or two..……no?
Not today (in that accent)?...
F##k you Motombo…..
The above exchange is to show a difference in the African American mentality and the African immigrant mentality. Demographic and psychographics research show that most African immigrants in America especially Nigerians are at the top of their game including the 419 ers .
The immigrants are either Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers …professional or successful business entrepreneurs. These people are always working hard to improve themselves. It was quite unfortunate that CNN chose to do a documentary on the Nigerian letter…the crooks , rather than the distinct work ethics, brilliance, dedication to duty and success stories achieved by the immigrant continually, ….Our distinct fashion, - cant compete with the “gele”,- our foods, our music, not to mention our brilliant children. The immigrant is quieter, industrious, talented, hardworking, dignified and respectful.
You will not see one indulge in such an exchange as above with someone they hardly know….that is not to say that there aren’t any bad apples amongst them. There are and we hear it every now and then……Its amazing to note how successful Nigerians become once they make it to “Obodo Oyibo”. So my African American sister in that respect is right, IF IT WAS SO GOOD OUT THERE THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE.
Enter the KORKUS
• Now if you guys follow tabloid wars you will know for sure that no one in their right minds want to tango with the KORKUS…y’all know her as Stella…Im not hating on you Stella but you know what I mean. All my shackles rose when I got a question from the Korkus asking about life as a beauty Queen in Nigeria and life as a nurse in America. Which one rocked and why? I was amazed though…she wasn’t asking who my lover was, not asking if Big Rudy and I had killed each other yet …I said hallelujah…there is hope yet , a great opportunity to vent and this is just starters.
• I’m hoping to address my African American sisters and my African immigrant sisters as well as my home girls, Nollywood, the Nigerian society, our governors and if my nerves will allow…ASO ROCK. ……Im going to tell it like it is in my trademark brutally honest way. I am not trying to overturn carts or hurt people feelings but its about time we all quit faking a funk and do something about the drift and drain. Let everyone reading this who relocated from Nigeria or Africa to a foreign country ask themselves…..IF IT WAS SO GOOD BACK HOME WHY THE HELL ARE YOU OUT HERE?''
Regina Askia is still Married to Rudie and they have three children(The eldest one from Reginas previous relationship)
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