ABSTRACT
Blackness comes unbidden to individuals who must struggle to define themselves, given that this ascription has both negative and positive connotations. It is often while abroad that many Africana persons think through the multiplicity of ways in which their Blackness can be defined. In China, such identity work must be done in relation to often racist Chinese ascriptions based on their own historical biases and also on the Western constructed media diet of negative images and narratives. Africana persons also engage in rethinking the model of Blackness bequeathed to them in their home countries, a model often tinged with racism, given their experiences as former colonial subjects or as members of an oppressed minority group. Such work, often in groups and complimented by social media, comes with its pleasures as some Africana persons report engaging in fruitful work with Africana peers around identifying commonalities and re-signifying what was once marginalized or devalued. Positive identity work also strengthens their ability to resist negative racialized projections. An additional feature of such work is investing in relationships with Chinese persons, as many Africana persons report that those relationships reduce the tendency of both parties to see each other in a negatively stereotypical way.
