African American Culture refers to those cultural contributions made by African Americans to the United States’ culture. It is undeniably true that the color of a person’s skin offers no sure-fire way of knowing their culture. Indeed, it is quite common for people of the same skin color-even African Americans- to belong to different cultures. However, if African Americans are to be taken as a whole, it is possible to point out specific culture aspects peculiar to or stretching from them (Davis, 2005) . This is because culture is learned and passed through social experience. It is, therefore, the shared history of African Americans that enables us to talk about African American culture. Of course, black Americans in the south may have some cultural peculiarities that separate them from those in the north given some varying historical experiences, but the broader pattern is unmistakable.
African American culture is deeply rooted in the historical experience of black people which traces to the African continent, the Caribbean and on to the United States (Jones & Campbell, 2011) . Although the experience of slavery greatly limited their practice of original culture, many beliefs and values survived and modified over time. Furthermore, the experience of slavery itself has the effect of producing certain cultures as enslaved Africans developed various coping mechanisms (ibid). In brief, therefore, there are ways of black life in America that are different from ways of white life owing to the African American history of being shipped to American shores and the black experience in the United States. Young (1972) has however contended that the significance of African American culture lies not in its difference from other cultures but merely in its own reality. This difference is nevertheless important in underscoring the existence of African American culture. As Charles Fager (1967) rightly noted, the American Negro differs from the white American in that he has his history centering on his experience as a slave and its effects and more lately his rediscovery of African heritage. Fager further notes that the ‘the Negro has distinctive cultural patterns of speech, music and dance, self-expression and relationship which though produced by his history, have outlived it and now exist on their creative energy and integrity’ (1967). As will be seen presently, there are aspects of this African American culture that are similar and different from the Hawaiian culture.
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Cuisine is an integral aspect of African American culture. Certain American dishes like yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, indigo dyes and grits can be traced to African influences introduced by slaves. These foods also represent the creative responses of African Americans to economic and racial oppression and poverty. This is because under slavery, blacks were prohibited from eating better cuts of meat and even after attainment of freedom, they were often too impoverished to afford white delicacies (Byars, 1996) . The G umbo, for instance, started with the attempt by African Americans to turn leftover ingredients that were often detestable into a desirable dish. The sharing of Gumbo in churches and other gatherings created a sense of attachment and a sharing of experiences that further improved the dish.
Soul food, which is a hearty cuisine that is commonly associated with blacks in the south and has now become popular countrywide, utilizes inexpensive products that have been gotten from subsistence hunting, farming and fishing. Pig intestines are for instance used to make chitterlings while neck bones and ham hocks offer seasoning to beans, soup and boiled greens (Davis, 2005) . Given that most African Americans lived in rural areas, there is an overrepresentation of rural foodstuffs in their cuisine. Common foods include fried chicken, macaroni, cheese, fish and cornbread (Byars, 1996) . However , most of the food traditionally preparedly by African Americans is high in fat, starch and sodium to suit the physically taxing lives of laborers. More recently, therefore, effort has been made to combine more vegetables and fruits in African American cuisine and reduce animal protein (ibid). While African American cuisine seems to differ considerably from Hawaiian cuisine, there is little doubt as to the variety they offer.
As in Hawaiian culture, family bonds were considered to be highly important in African American culture. In the former, these bonds were based on the strong role the family played as a socializing tool and the best means of human expression. Hawaiian culture rejected individualism through and through. Familial ties in African American culture were however greatly influenced by the shared experience of slavery. The separation of families through sale was a pain blacks worked hard to overcome with many maintaining family bonds even under slavery (Littlejohn-Blake & Darling, 1993) . Even those men and women who were able to buy their freedom earlier utilized their emancipation to buy the same for members of their families. It is also possible that strong emphasis on familial bonds was a holdover from African traditions which tend to underscore the same (Jones & Campbell, 2011) . While it is indeed true that the African American family structure has witnessed fundamental changes in the 21 st century with many African American children growing in single-parent households, there is little doubt that they retain a strong support system of extended family members who offer vital economic and emotional support (Littlejohn-Blake & Darling, 1993) .
Similar to Hawaiian life, religion plays a fundamental role in the African American life. Both religious cultures have in recent years come under the strong influence of white culture. In Hawaii, this acculturation started with the missionary work on the island in the 19 th century. For the African American, this is the product of interaction with white culture and an attempt to reconcile it with native religious culture from the continent which was forcefully stripped during slavery (Young, 1972) . Today, the great majority of African Americans identify as Protestant Christians. Even within this setup, native African influences are quite manifest especially in the mode of prayer and song (Davis, 2005) . African American denominations in the US are today patently different from other Protestant groups in the manner in which they conduct religious rituals (Jones & Campbell, 2011) . They have also played a unique political role of advocating for African Americans welfare more so during the civil rights era. Nonetheless, an appreciable number of African Americans belong to other religions in America including Islam.
African American art, like Hawaiian art, has made significant contributions to American art and can be found in various museums across the country. Ceramic vessels, quilts, small drums and Ceramic vessels were common in the American south between the 18 th and 19 th century (Davis, 2005) . They bear a lot of similarity with the art found in many parts of central and West Africa. In later years , an increasing number of African American artisans like Joshua Johnson made art in a purely western European fashion while others sought to create a blend (Jones & Campbell, 2011) . Despite the attempts to marginalize African American art even after the American Civil War due to racial prejudices, its visibility grew especially in the later years of the 20 th century. This resurgence has coincided with the ascendancy of African American literature and music. Genres like Rock and roll, soul, R&B and hip pop have all been invariably impacted by African American culture.
There are therefore remarkable similarities and differences between Hawaiian and African American culture. These differences, it has been seen, are largely attributable to the divergent historical legacies of the two communities and geographical factors. Thus, African American culture owes slavery and African roots while Hawaiian culture, more so her cuisine, is attributable to its geography as an island nation. These cultures nonetheless withstood the forces of cooptation and eradication to contribute to the contemporary rich American culture. It remains to be seen the extent to which these cultures will endure and metamorphose in a swiftly shifting American cultural context.
References
Byars, D. (1996). Traditional African American foods and African Americans. Agriculture and Human Values, 13 (3), 74-78.
Davis, P. (2005). The Origins of African American Culture and Its Significance in African American Student Academic Success. Journal of Thought, 40 (1), 43-59.
Fager, C. (1967). White Reflections on Black Power. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing House.
Jones, J., & Campbell, S. (2011). Cultural Psychology of African Americans. Online Reading in Psychology and Culture, 3 (1).
Littlejohn-Blake, S., & Darling, C. (1993). Understanding the Strengths of African American Families. Journal of Black Studies, 23 (4), 460-471.
Young, C. (1972). Prologue in Black Experience: Analysis and Synthesis. San Rafael: Leswing Press.
