“I’m not an American or an African -American, but I am an African raised in America. We Africans need to represent Africa everywhere we go.” — Akon

“I’m not an American or an African -American, but I am an African raised in America. We Africans need to represent Africa everywhere we go.” — Akon

“I spent most of my life in America but my mind is African. I have the African mentality and I have never considered myself an American. I only have the American accent because I went to school in America. All my whole earlier childhood, I was raised in Africa but then when I came through America, we’d always go back ti Africa for a vacation every summer. And then when I graduated from highschool, it was a choice whether I wanted to stay in America or go back to Africa but certainly the opportunities in the US alone were greater than those in Africa. My advice to every young African who is immîgrating to the United States today is to always remember that they’re African. Ultimately, you can’t change who you are because when most Africans come to America, they kind of alîenate their originality as Afrîcans and copy what’s there inorder to get accepted. But that’s not the best way to integrate because you can’t move forward if you are not who you are.”