black

African-Americans or Africans in America or Afro-Americans or Africans passing through America or Caribbean-American or Caribbean or Black or ...(this extensive use of varying terminology is necessary because those who choose to defer from the term "African-American" want to be different, politically correct, disconnected, or ____ *insert your rationale*) should try to read more books about Africans BY Africans. Cutting out as many middlemen as possible will probably enhance the truth and lessen the distortion... Perhaps. I probably wouldn't understand the life of a Hill Billy if I read it from the perspective of a college-educated member of the "Black-American" elite bourgeoisie, as correctly as I would understand it had I heard it told through his lenses. I find it very jarring seeing people focused so wholeheartedly on understanding the analytical studies of people who view others through biased eyes. This bias is apparent through the agenda which they seek in order to either support or negate the stance of another "authoritative figurehead". Perhaps, I'm being a tad hard on those who try to understand their people, but how can one understand their people without "understanding their people". What does that mean? Not merely taking everything a glorified, mouth-piece says about Africa, or African-Americans as gospel. Get up and check it out. And when I say check it out, I mean get up and go live with them. Don't revel in what the texts are telling you is or was not there.