from Ebony Magazine,Feb. 2007,pages ll2-122
“In the l970″s and l980′s the late Richard Pryor tossed out “nigger” as often as his own name. According to Pryor, it was about owning the term, salving ourselves from any sting it might have had. However Pryor, whose albums included “That Nigger’s Crazy” and “Bicentennial Nigger”, said after a trip to Africa that he “didn’t see any niggers in Africa”. And he never used the word during a performance again.
“I was sitting by myself (in the Nairobi Hilton in Kenya) and I just looked around and it was like a voice said to me,”What do you see?” And I said,”People of all colors doing things together”.And another voice said “Do you see any niggers?” And I said,”No!”. And the voice said “Do you know why?”. And I said(whispering),”No”. And it said,”There aren’t any…”.
Brother Richard Pryor,l982 in an exclusive interview with Ebony Magazine,page l98,Feb. 2007
Black people should stop using the “nigger word” publically. It may take a longer time for some of us to stop using it privately and among ourselves,referring to ourselves, but it is a self-destroying word,demeaning ourselves to the level of our slavemasters’ concept of us as inferior and like animals. We should no longer accept this negative,anti-BLACK image of ourselves that was forced on us by the former slavemaster!
Sister Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade,
April,2007
May 1, 2007 at 5:31 pm |
The main purpose of the Front for the Unification and Development of Africa and Arabia is to organize a Constitutional Convetion for the United States of Africa and Arabia. But, this problem of confusion of identity has proven to be a major stumbling block. How can we hope to mobilize the scatterd citizens of Africa, when a maority of us think of ourselves as n-words, c-words, b-words, etc, etc, ad naseum.
At fudaa.blogspot.com we have embarked upon a campaign to get our people all over the world to recognize a very simple and obvious truth: We are Africans. Period.
February 13, 2010 at 7:35 pm |
[...] helped create it in the first place. Whenever this argument comes up, I always think about what Richard Pryor [...]
June 21, 2011 at 8:20 pm |
[...] Africa and noting that, although he often used the word “nigger” in his act, he “didn’t see any niggers in Africa” and was thus inspired to change his relationship to that particular word. (Personally, I [...]
December 14, 2011 at 8:27 am |
[...] of your own community that doesn’t think the same way. If you’re old enough to remember Richard Pryor and his turn-around on the use of nigger – I, and those who don’t care to be called pagans…we’re the ones [...]
January 23, 2012 at 6:51 am |
[...] personal conclusion that it was wrong to use the aforementioned word “nigga” until he famously visited Africa, later in his career. I could argue with that and say why’d he have to go across the world [...]