"That Weed Smoking Nigga Ade" (Guatemala)

As I reread the title of this piece, I laugh at its inherent satire. I laugh at almost everything; even that which sometimes hurt, it is a method I use to enjoy my own reality and also to take away the power from those things that sometimes stings. Similarly, I’ll take negative situations and ask myself how I can reframe them to find the positive and then focus on said positive. I use the technique so consistently that I sometimes have to remind myself: "Ade you are not Buddha, its ok to be angry at times."

Take for example, back in college I was resident assistant…my neighbor a white “farm boy” from Brookfield, New York who had a confederate flag hanging on the wall in his bedroom. He would proudly leave his room door open for the majority of the day which annoyed the other Black students. Additionally, he had drawn a four feet confederate flag on his room door for a dorm wide decorating contest. I like the other Black students was uncomfortable with both of his decisions but what I did was to randomly go and sit in his room and chat with him. By exposing myself to something I was uncomfortable with I was taking away its power to affect me.

Ade the Weed Smoker

Fast forward approximately five years later, I grew locks/dreads, as a result people worldwide would automatically assume I am weed smoker. I have been mistaken for Bob Marley on a New York college campus, a Rastafarian in Suriname, Italy, and Barbados; as well as, I have been asked if I smoked, have, or sell marijuana on three of continents that I visited. The notion use to bother me when I first encountered it but I choose to take away its power. After doing so, every time it occurred there after, it became so hilarious that I reframed the situation and turned it into one of my most famous and successful pick up lines. I would walk up to a woman with cock-in-the-hand-confidence, pull her hair and before she could react, I’d say:

My hair is totally longer than yours. You know everywhere I go in the world people assume I am a weed smoker. Do I look like a weed smoker?
 And before she could answer, I start off with one of my wild adventurous stories; generally the one about the time I got off the plane in Ghana and soon as I stepped out the airport I and was offered to purchase marijuana. I'd imitate the Ghanaian drug dealer's accent and have her laughing. So what is the problem?

That Nigga Ade
The problem is when I have been called a nigga and offered marijuana all at the same time in a foreign country. No matter how hard I tried to take away the power from that particular word, it still stings a little. I once heard both Gail via radio and Oprah via television explained that when they were in South Africa, if I remember correctly, they went to visit Nelson Mandela and was called a nigga by one of his bodyguards. Both of them blame hip hop for the exportation of the term and for foreigners having no concept of its hurtful, orthographical, and developmental history. I partly agree and would like to add that the exportation of the word extends beyond hip hop. The exportation to Latin America, Africa and the rest of the world stems from television (movies, cartoons et al,) culture, art, US Supreme Court cases, and good ole’ White American racism etc. Therefore it is understandable why Americans encounter the term when travelling.

Niggas in Latin America

While backpacking in Nicaragua in 2008 a young boy approximately 11 years old, in a dingy white shirt rode by in the opposite direction towing a younger boy on a bicycle. As our eyes met he called out to me: "Nigga," smiled as if we had been best friends for years and nodded his head in acknowledgement. It was apparent that he meant it as a term of endearment. But guess what? That weed smoking nigga Ade, did not think or feel so. Not at all!

Recently (2010,) when I visited Guatemala, my travel companion Jamal and I sat outside on the curb in Antigua, while Zenobia stood in the street and Vivienne as well as Denevia (my other travel mates) were shopping in a bazaar. A young man in a blue shirt, who appeared to be in his twenties approached, trying to sell us something. As we had rehearsed many times before, if we did not care to buy what street vendors were selling, we simply said "no gracias." However, he was different from the other vendors, he spoke fluent English and was a little less pushy.

Dude: “you want to buy….”
Ade/Jamal : “no gracias”

I cannot remember how the conversation went at this point but I remember explaining something to him and he firmly replied that he was aware of what I meant. By this point the brief conversation had shifted away from Jamal and he focused directly on me.


Dude: “You want to buy weed?”
Ade [thinking in his head]: “here we go again.”
Ade: “Nah”
Dude: "I am just trying to help you out Nigga.”

At that moment Jamal and I locked eyes, both caught a little off guard and looked at each other faces and laughed. Zenobia in the moment captured the expressions on our faces using her camera. And by the time we looked back at him he stood there in our presence for about two seconds and left.

The troublesome term nigga/nigger as author and lawyer Randall Kennedy points out in Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is protean in use and delivery, to some it a term of endearment to others it is device that carries with it a great lot history and hurt.

Black artist have used it to paint vivid pictures and racists alike to induce pain. Some non Americans having no idea of its etymology use it freely and openly and refer to themselves as such; take for example the Panamanian artist: “Nigga.”



My experiences and thoughts may get thrown in a pile with others who have made social commentary on the term, yet I am still thankful for young dudes right to say what he wishes. Though this reminds, of how Season 1, Ep#9 of the popular animated television show "Boondocks" begins, it starts with a quote from the Martin Luther King:

“I want young men and young women who are alive today to know and see that these new privileges and opportunities did not come without somebody suffering and sacrificing for them.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

And if those words are not remembered or taken seriously we can always focus on the next quote that followed in the episode:

“Whatever, nigga!”

…and so I laugh.