Why You Didn’t Know Nipsey Hussle was Eritrean

I said it once and I’ll say it again, rest in peace Ermias Ashgedom better known as Nipsey Hussle. People across the country are mourning the death of Nipsey and trying to find truth regarding his untimely death. All of this in the back drop of the upcoming 2020 election cycle where Democrats are preparing to name their candidate for President. The topic that comes top of mind is Reparations for Blacks as repayment for over 200 years of chattel slavery they endured in this country. These American citizens are celebrating their 400 year anniversary in the United States. The first documented enslaved African stepped foot on a Virginia colony in 1619. Their descendants and other descendants of US slaves also know as American Descendants of slaves are leading the push for this nation to finally replenish the wealth stripped from them over the last 400 years as well as restore the infrastructure and cultural institutions they require to survive.

Nipsey Hussel’s father was Eritrean and his mother was African American. Looking through the many tweets and articles celebrating the life of Nipsey, I am reminded that you can be black in America but not every black is an American Descendant of slaves or ADOS for short. ADOS are Americans whose lineage can clearly be traced back to US slaves that built this country. Slaves were not immigrants. They came here packed on cargo ships like sardines in the most inhumane conditions. They came on their backs, in rows, on chains. No other group of people in this country came to this country in this condition. Slaves didn’t come to this country looking for better opportunities with nothing but the clothes on their back. What clothes? What opportunity? They were considered equal to farm animals not humans. ADOS endured some of the most brutal treatment known to man for over 200 years. No one wanted to be ADOS not even ADOS. Shame, pain, and tears come to mind when I think about being a descendant of ADOS.

Being a melanated person doesn’t make you an ADOS. Being African doesn’t make you ADOS. Being mixed race doesn’t make you ADOS. Being light skin doesn’t negate you from being ADOS. As we know ADOS were the property of their colonial and European slave masters. I’m reminded that there are light skin ADOS that were the product of rape. ADOS is based solely on lineage. You can’t look at someone and determine if they are ADOS or not. So the recent push to identify as ADOS and to proclaim a lineage conceived out of slavery is unforeseen.

Is Nipsey Hussle an ADOS? No but his mother was a Descendant of American Slaves. Was Nipsey Hussle black? Yes! Black culture the way we speak, walk, talk, dress, and think is the product of a core group of blacks who are American descendants of Slaves. Black culture is often imitated but not duplicated. You can’t duplicate something you never fully experienced. Not sure how many people want to duplicate American slavery. But as a testament to the resilience of the spirit of the American Descendants of Slaves, we don’t boast, we don’t withhold, and we don’t ostracize. All are welcome into our culture. Nipsey was welcome into our culture though he wasn’t ADOS. He didn’t look phenotypically ADOS. Nor did his name fit into the ADOS structure — Tyrone (insert slave master last name). Johnson, Williams, Smith, and Jones. In an LA public school Ashgedom stands out as not a typical African American name. Trust me they knew he wasn’t typical ADOS. But they made space for him in their culture. We made space for him to thrive in our culture.

Now 400 years after 1619, American Descendants at a pivotal point. American Descendants of Slaves endured sun up to sun down forced labor in the cotton fields of Mississippi and the tobacco farms of Virginia. The life trajectory for the average ADOS is premature death with little to no wealth to pass on to the next generation. Sounds similar to life under slavery. By 2050 our wealth will be zero. Having the inability to amass wealth and assets is another hidden cost of being ADOS. Which is another sign that Nipsey wasn’t ADOS. But it’s no longer for others to determine our worth, life, or existence. Love and admiration for self, family, and our ADOS lineage as those who endured what no others in this world have been able to endure is what will save and preserve black culture. We are the foundation of what blackness and black culture is based on and it’s heard around the world. Many of you will miss Nipsey Hussle — his life, vision, and community works but be reminded that he was just as much Eritrean as he was black. We invite anyone to be black in America but the core of Black America will always and forever be American Descendants of Slaves. Anyone can be black in America, but not everyone has the lineage and lived generational experience of being fully anchored in American slavery. While Nipsey was not ADOS, he is sure to be missed. RIP Ermias Ashgedom!