Identity. What am I?

I've never called myself African-American because I don't have any more ties to Africa than the next person. *shrugs* Black-American?? Should we call ourselves Black-Americans?? I check Black on everything. But thats just Me. Both of my parents are American. They were born here in the United states. That would make me American as well.

President Obama is a true African-American because his mother is American & his father is from African. He can check that box freely. I on the other hand can't.

Do they call Blacks who are born in France African-Frenchman? I don't believe they do. What do they call descendants of slaves who are Black like me yet live in other countries??

When I say I don't have any ties to Africa, I'm not denying my obvious African bloodline.. I can't trace my family tree that far back. Don't bash me for not feeling any more of a connection to Africa than Whites/Caucasians/Hispanics..

Africa is a continent, not a country. African can mean anything from Egyptian to Moroccan, Nigerian, South African.. Ghanaian...

Identity is a tricky thing.. I'm just asking questions. What do you identify yourself as?

I myself identify myself as a Black woman and as an American. Black-American? 
You can disagree all you want but I believe we all have a choice as to what we identify ourselves as. What "box" we check.

We can go into specific and break down all of the different ethnicities that make up Bee but then we'd pretty much check every box besides Asian/Pacific Islander & Hispanic/Spanish etc. While working on my family tree I discovered a little bit of everything. Some that made me cringe. 

Every little black girl with freshly relaxed tresses that hung past her shoulders cried out "I got Indian in me..". *eye roll* Unfortunately I recently had it confirmed that for me it is true. Guess what?! It's Cherokee too! Yes Brittney is about 1/8th Cherokee I think??.. My father's mother (My paternal grandmother) was exactly one half Cherokee. I never met her though. I just saw pictures. My mother's grandmother (My great grandmother) was half white. So my great grandfather was a Cherokee Indian & had a child with a Black woman. My great great grandfather was a White man & produced offspring with a Black woman. At least we know that I AM a BLACK woman. 

Now Discuss.