I want to take this opportunity to thank Bruce for his comments about me in his 26 Jun 08 - 10:49 AM post.

Bruce said that I am "justifiably proud of her culture and heritage".

Actually, I don't think that I would describe myself as being proud of my culture and heritage. Instead, I'd say that I'm very interested in learning about and sharing information about African American cultures and African heritage. But I'm interested in a lot of subjects and I'm fortunate that I have the time and energy to devote to learning about those subjects.

Fwiw, I don't believe that everything great came from Africa. There are customs, and historical events, and political problems and challenges in ancient and modern Africa that I don't like at all [and that's a mild way of putting it]. That said, I do collect African musical instruments, and tell African stories, and sometimes wear West African clothing. Nonetheless, I don't believe that I live an Afrocentric lifestyle-whatever that phrase means.

I agree that we are all human beings and I vehemently believe that race and ethnicity should be an unimportant, valueless descriptor.

Bruce is right that I like sharing information about the subject of African American history and culture, particularly the rhymes, and songs, and colloquial word meanings. However, most posters on Mudcat might agree that I don't always like to talk about the experience of race and racism in the United States and elsewhere.

Guest Hummer is correct that he doesn't know me. I think that those who have come to know me on this forum know that I may talk overlong, but I also like to listen and learn from other people.

And in my opinion, Hummer is also wrong that this thread is "a lecture hall". Instead of describing this thread as a lecture hall, I would describe it as a wide ranging discussion.

And if this discussion ends right now, I can still say "Thank you" to all of its participants-including Hummer, as I have learned some things in the process, and maybe other people have too.