Precisely, Mekki. The nature of the human is to fear that which they do not know. Haven’t we all been asking to be accepted as we are? We should be the first to rejoice when we see an Afro, cornrows, braids, a big butt etc out in the mainstream.

I don’t know much at all about any black African culture, but I will take a bet that a woman from a tribe doesn’t paint her face for the same reason as the author of this popsugar article does. That’s the danger of cultural appropriation: it seems very benign to the majority while it can completely offend the…

Very, very good points here. There is nothing I despise more than “stay in your lane” crap. Nobody is beholden to staying in their lane. That is elitist bullcrap that should have no foothold in any progressive society. You cannot demand inclusion while insisting on being exclusionary yourself.

My question precisely. What is gained by all this manufactured outrage? I mean apart from serving, in 2015, to establish an even firmer culture of othering when we should be headed in the opposite direction? I am not a Muslim but I can get henna tattoos in Mombasa, painted by actual Muslim women. None of them have…

Agreed with your first point but have to disagree with you on this one. There is a middle-ground. Anyone interested in adopting any part of any culture because it resonates with them and if they do so with respect and requisite understanding, should be allowed to do so. There are many parts of my culture that I love…

Succinct and the part about chopsticks and silk brocade and dragon festivals made me chortle hard. A wonderful riposte I shall use with glee at future dinner parties.

Thank you. If what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, then an African American is no more qualified to speak about any aspect of any culture in any country in Africa, which is a continent as vast as any other UNLESS they have made a particular effort to study and research said culture and can discuss it with…

“The point Kara was making is that a black woman would have a more inward take on this than the white author.”

Wow. You lot seriously need to chill with your outrage boners. I am East African and I find nothing offensive about this post. The models are themselves clearly African and so what the post has been written by a white woman? Who died and decreed that only natives of each can be informed about their respective…