Beautiful Zulu sister at the Lesedi Cultural Village outside of #Johannesburg #SouthAfrica after an amazing traditional performance. This is #BlackJoy on this #BlackFriday because we were the only Black foreigners in the village that day and she lit up talking to us and said "Welcome Home" to us when we said we were from the US. This was the second time we were told that. The other time was in Cape Town.
@ricardoharvin Chile, I was crying. We also went to Robben Island where Mandela was in prison and rode a boat over with some Xhosa elder women who came from a rural village. The lead elder asked where I was from and I said US and she put her hands on my face and bent down to me and said "Welcome to South Africa beautiful Sissie" Black South Africans call each other Ma or Sissie depending on perceived age to them. She used Black South African family language to me, a foreigner. 
#BlackMastodon
@onlymeindc @ricardoharvin I am loving that while we were there at different times, I recognize the similarities in the #BlackJoy but also the rollercoaster of emotions we experienced. 
@onlymeindc@blacktwitter.io@Koritsi @ricardoharvin I'm glad you said this because I really thought I was being a weirdo because I was crying so much 
@onlymeindc @ricardoharvin if that makes you a “weirdo” then so am I #BlackSolidarity SA was my second time on the Continent and I still was not fully prepared for all the feelings and questions that a trip to #Africa would stir up.
@onlymeindc @ricardoharvin I definitely ugly cried on the day I visited Robben Island.
@Koritsi @ricardoharvin Oh my! This brings back so many memories! 
Right there with you on crying while there. Here's my shots too that day. What time of year did you go? I went in June and didn't realize how chilly it was that time of year there
@onlymeindc @ricardoharvin I went in December (summer in SA, but was a bit chilly at night).The bus and ferry journey to Robben Island we were doing ok, everyone was chatting...the journey back was spent mostly in silence. Absolutely transformative and mind boggling to stand in #Madiba prison cell, to walk the yard. The feelings, the sights, the sounds...will carry them with me forever.
@Koritsi @ricardoharvin Same! I had to go in June because of timing for my dissertation completion and whew, that boat ride to Robben Island had me cold to my bones. The Xhosa Mamas adopted up and shared their blankets and hot drink with us. You are right. Chatty going over there and silence coming back. Going in that rock yard was striking too. Will never forget and I long to go back. I remember looking into buying a flat there.
@onlymeindc Ah...the mamas, sisters, and cousins we meet along the way 
such an eerie feeling to look into someone's eyes wondering if you share a (direct) ancestor; yes we all come from the same tree, but what if that person is from your exact branch...but you'll never know because someone else decided that you had no history and no value and therefore your story should not be recorded.
@Koritsi My aunt on my mother's side did the African Ancestry DNA thing and we found out that on that side we come from Yourba people in Nigeria. I'm 52 and just now finding out where at least one half of my family tree comes from. Can't do my father's side because no males are alive that I know of to get DNA from. My niece is pretty much engaged to a Nigerian from the Igbo people, but the family wants to go with us to Nigeria with them so we can immerse in the culture and learn who we are.
@onlymeindc that's amazing 