Ethnic Escapism & The Black Burden

The African diaspora constitutes a unique set of communities across the New World, Britain and Mainland Europe. The ancestors of these diasporans found themselves wrenched from their African homeland(s), forcibly transported to unfamiliar surroundings and precipitously brutalized. Despite such afflictions, they formed fictive kinship ties, unique creole cultures, coordinated resistances, and weathered the storm of post-enslavement systemic adversities. In more recent times, these diasporans, and the newer migrants from Africa have collectively contributed to black popular cultures which have become globalized.

'Blackness' has become popular and yet imprecise. Such imprecision is inevitable as these identities are ever-evolving and changing demographics point to increasing assimilation. To this end, can it be said that the diaspora has a collective consciousness in the present day?