I think that the people who ask me whether I feel "strange" being black in Slovenia have a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be black at all.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A Thought
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Brainy, bigmouthed, and black by the Balkans
About
Slobs- Other Slovenia Blogs
Tags
- africa (23)
- america (18)
- art (17)
- austria (2)
- award (1)
- balkans (11)
- beauty (4)
- berlin diary (14)
- bih (1)
- blacks (44)
- bled (1)
- blogs (1)
- books (2)
- bosnia (1)
- business (2)
- coincidences (1)
- concerts (1)
- Croatia (5)
- culture (8)
- dearleadersofslovenia (1)
- dolenjska (1)
- dresden (1)
- drinking (2)
- driving (4)
- economy (1)
- education (1)
- entertainment (11)
- eu (10)
- eurovision (1)
- expats (15)
- fame (6)
- family (13)
- feelingsabroad (1)
- film (5)
- first impressions (20)
- food (17)
- foreignness (4)
- former yugoslavia (8)
- friends (25)
- funny (2)
- garden (1)
- germany (7)
- goals (3)
- gorenjska (1)
- guides (1)
- health (1)
- history (2)
- holidays (24)
- home (1)
- homesickness (1)
- human rights (7)
- ice (1)
- immigrants (6)
- international (4)
- italy (2)
- language (19)
- law (1)
- ljubljana (18)
- meme (1)
- music (31)
- nature (13)
- news (2)
- nightlife (1)
- nyc (3)
- nycaroundtheworld (7)
- nycstolgia (4)
- obama (3)
- out of the office (3)
- photos (4)
- pictures (67)
- politics (23)
- prague (2)
- racism (28)
- radovljica (14)
- recreation (42)
- rip (1)
- roma (1)
- rural (2)
- seaside (8)
- serbia (2)
- shopping (8)
- slavs (5)
- slobs (2)
- slovenians abroad (4)
- sports (7)
- swimming (1)
- television (4)
- thoughts (2)
- travel (35)
- travel tips (1)
- trieste (1)
- ukraine (1)
- venice (2)
- video (35)
- visitors (5)
- weather (5)
- where is slovenia (42)
- wine (1)
- work (9)
- world cup (1)
- wtf? (1)
- žižek (2)
On The Sunny Side of the Alps
from the film On The Sunny Side of the Alps
9 comments:
So, do you care to explain to us, slovenes, what it means to be black, or is this an inappropriate question
"have a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be black at all."
Haven't been to Slovenia but I have to cosign this completely, its so appropriate for just about everywhere.
ps: love your pictures!
Hmmm. That very question is isolating, and must erase connection you felt with the person you were conversing with.
But to your comment: Do you think Slovenians should understand the fundamentals of what it means to be black?
If so, how should they learn? As Slovenians do not meet many black people in their lives, is there a basic moral principle that all Slovenians should know? If so, what is that principle? Something like, 'all people are the same no matter what they look like' - or would that be misleading too?
Or should Slovenians use television and the internet and music to learn?
I've never felt "strange being black" anywhere. I never get what that's supposed to mean anyway.
It's almost as if Black people are somehow "alien" or "other" as if we don't have hearts that beat and minds that think just like anyone else.
It seems to me the question "Do you feel strange being X in Slovenia" is quite common...
I've had the pleasure of the "vegetarian" version of x so far ...
Good for you, enjoy your time in Slovenia. The earth belongs to us, and we can live anywhere we like.
I second alcessa here. I neither eat meat nor drink alcohol -- in Slovenia that's more than strange, it's rebellious! :-)
Nice blog, from yet another expat living in Slovenia. I added it to my feeds! ;-)
Peace!
@Carlitos- Thanks for reading! When are you going to start YOUR blog?
@camille_acey: you're welcome. My blog is online actually since *before* I landed here :-) It's linked to my name right up here. I mostly write in Spanish, but I did dabble in some English and -gasp- slovensko too. Drop by if you're interested, you're most welcome! :-)
Post a Comment