Insert N***a Here

Only days after a newborn plummets from the depths of its mothers womb and expels its first breath of air, does a naming ceremony anxiously ensue. This is a common tradition throughout various regions of Africa. The name chosen for a child, is perceived by many African cultures as a form of foreshadowing the child's future successes and is an integral component in the child's spiritual relationship with God.

As for my "highly pigmented" brotha's and sista's through out the world, we too have unknowingly taken part in African traditions and have had a naming ceremony of our own.

Our naming ceremony began in the 80's and roared through radio waves, ricocheted against boom-box speakers and took television by storm.It took venue alongside the sunlit back alleys of Compton, the graffiti tagged brick walls of Oakland, and the littered inner city ghettos of the Boogie Down Bronx. Our celebratory ceremony was financially endorsed by the mainstream sub-genre of Hip Hop, globally known as Gangsta Rap.

What do I mean by this?

Gangsta Rap provided a platform for seductive beats to publicly fornicate with catchy word play and rhyme schemes, publicly conceiving the mainstream rebirth and globalization of the N-word, a word that had yet to be emancipated from it's shackled roots upon the oppressive and sun battered southern plantations of America.

I say all of this to share a quick story:

A few weeks ago, as I was walking the dim lit back streets of my neighborhood in Dokki, making sure to plant each foot forward, stern yet quick to avoid confrontational eyes and unwanted attention , I was cut off my path by a few Egyptian teenage boys. They huddled around me performing a few crude gestures as they approached. Before fear could override my state of confusion the most courageous of the bunch spat out, "What up my N***a," as the rest harmonized in the background with laughter. Enraged, disturbed, and dumbfounded I broke my way through their bonfire of cackles, refusing to remain the target of their amusement.

So to Gangster Rap and any other form of entertainment that embraces the use of the N-word I say thank you... because I honestly feel like i'm walking around Cairo with a name tag that reads...

Hello my name is ...[insert N***a here]

* This is an incident that has occurred on more than one occasion*