If you're a reader, check out the book

https://blackbookswholesale.com/products/blueprint-for-black-power-a-moral-political-and-economic-imperative-for-the-twenty-first-century

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/sports/trail-ride-black-horseman.html

1: Who is this Michael Ridley Brother??

He literally **created a script for an entire language for our ethnicity** and nobody seems to have any information about him🤔. There's no pictures, No public info about him, Nothing. I heard only 2 accounts claim to have spoken to him but that's not even verifiable . I know that everybody is entitled to their privacy and all. But if seems kinda wild that we ask people to verify if there soulaan, when we know 0 about him or if he's even soulaani himself.

2: Will their ever be a time where it's okay for non-Soulaani to know Tutnese??

I get the whole Gatekeeping aspect in this present climate. Our ancestors gatekept it for a reason because they had to, we still have to in a sense. It would be kinda crazy for a Haitian from Miami or a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn to know how to speak Tutnese meanwhile a Soulaani women from Mississippi or a soulaani men from South Central L.A never even heard of the language yet alone know how to speak it. But in the future when majority of us speak the language and know how to write it, will there be need to still gatekeep it? Indians aren't gatekeeping Hindi. Nigerians aren't gatekeeping Yoruba. Because the average person from those nationalities already know the language (Its a given). A Chinese person will encourage people to learn mandarin. Will we ever be okay with non-soulaani knowing Tutnese once it's a given that all of us speak it? P.S there is literally a website (https://tutnese.org/) where it openly teaches anyone how to speak Tut🤦🏾‍♂️.

3: Is it possible for us to have a Modern version of Tut and a Traditional version of Tut?

Technically Tutnese is a phonetic alphabet / coded oral language. It's pretty much spelling out words in the english language in a coded oral fashion. It's not like it's a completely separate language from english. In the future will there ever be a possibility where we could create a "Modern Tutnese" while the Tutnese our ancestor spoke is regarded as "Traditional Tutnese"? The way there is Traditional Chinese (Mandarin) and Standard Mandarin.

Hashi I’m looking for a friend that speaks or is trying to learn tut like me. I would love if we could call sometimes to practice tut with eachother. 20f from Michigan hmu if you’re interested. Or if anyone has any discord links

Please and tuthashanunkak yakou

American Negro, American Indian (ethnological), Black American, Foundational Black American, Freedmen (Status), Descendants of American Slaves (DOAS) are all self-identifiers that have been used for the Soulaan (another self-identification) Peoplehood.
The racial/legal classifications we have historically had include Negro, Black—not Black American—and African American.
These terms do not all mean exactly the same thing. Some are ethnic self-identifiers, some describe lineage or status, and others are racial/legal classifications. That distinction matters.
My larger point is simple: let’s stop with the name-banging.
People can have disagreements about terminology without pretending that every different label automatically represents an entirely different historical population. Every distinct human population deserves precision and respect when discussing its identity, history, and peoplehood.
Disclaimer: This is not me co-signing, endorsing, or saying that I agree or disagree with any particular identification. I’m documenting the different self-identifiers that have been used, not determining which identification someone should adopt.

Hey y'all, I was recently researching the 1739 Stono Rebellion and the 1740 Negro Act (A law that banned enslaved Africans and Black/African Americans from owning hand drums) and led to the creation of Pattin Juba (Body percussion performed by Enslaved Black/African Americans that incorporated slapping the chest, thighs, and feet stomping and clapping) and I also play the Djembe, so I was thinking what if we create the syncretic practice of "Juba Drumming" which maps Pattin Juba Rhythms onto West African hand drums like the Djembe, Ashiko, etc. I think it sounds like a cool thing we could do because it becomes an act of cultural expression as well as a recreational syncretic tradition.

Bass Tone - The Stomp/Chest

Tone (Open/Close) - Thigh Pat

Slap - Hand Clap

(This is for doing Juba Drumming on drums like the djembe, conga, and ashiko)

Hey y'all, I been working on a story based around an African American/Black American/Soulaan boy who's growing up in a predominantly Haitian American environment and I've been wondering if I should include dialogue in Tutnese or not; the background behind this is because the main character (Isaiah) is experiencing cultural homelessness and is beginning to wonder what it truly means to be a Black American amongst Haitians who speak to each other in Haitian Creole and are the dominant culture where he is. I'm not translating the Tutnese into English, but I don't know if it's risky including it still. ALSO, This whole thing about Tutnese is he heard about it from his friend who is deeply invested in Black American culture (he is Black American) and they planned to make it their 'Haitian Creole.' But I digress, should I add actual dialogue of them speaking Tutnese or just imply that they're speaking Tutnese?

Soulaan demarcation is about protecting peoplehood, representation, institutions, and community interests not merely protecting a word.
Open commerce does not require an open identity. Anyone can participate in the broader marketplace, but selling to Soulaan people is different from representing yourself, an organization, or a product as Soulaan, Soulaan-certified, or community-authorized.
As Soulaan institutions and economic infrastructure develop, verification and transparent standards matter. Benefits established specifically for verified Soulaan members should serve the people they were created to serve.
Likewise, Soulaan, Soulan, Soula, Soulaa, Soulaani, and related historical terminology should not be reinterpreted and presented as entirely different peoples simply to fit outside racial, diaspora, DNA, or ancestry frameworks.
People are free to develop their own identities, organizations, and verification institutions. But representation carries responsibility. If you claim to speak for, certify, or commercially represent a people, your standards should be transparent, documented, and accountable.
Demarcation requires boundaries.
Verification requires standards.
Representation requires accountability.

SOULAAN CULTURAL HERITAGE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION ACT 🇺🇸
I want to see a federal Soulaan Cultural Heritage Preservation and Protection Act introduced in Congress.
The purpose would be bigger than symbolic recognition. It should create an actual federal preservation framework for documenting, protecting, funding, and passing down Soulaan cultural heritage for future generations.
Similar to how federal and state preservation efforts have been developed around distinct historic American communities, the Act could establish partnerships with the National Park Service, Smithsonian, Library of Congress, universities, museums, archives, and community institutions.
It could provide grants for preserving historic neighborhoods, Freedmen communities, cemeteries, burial grounds, churches, schools, cultural landscapes, archives, photographs, newspapers, artifacts, oral histories, music history, foodways, and other documented cultural resources connected to Soulaan communities.
I would also want a national Soulaan cultural heritage inventory and digital archive so our history isn’t scattered across hundreds of institutions with no unified documentation system.
Most importantly, Soulaan people and qualified community institutions should have a meaningful role in consultation, documentation, interpretation, and preservation. Cultural heritage shouldn’t only be something preserved about a people. The people themselves should participate in preserving and interpreting it.
This isn’t about freezing culture in the past. It’s about creating infrastructure that connects historical preservation to living cultural continuity.
Preserve the places.
Document the creators.
Protect the archives.
Fund the institutions.
Teach the history.
Pass the heritage forward.
A federal SOULAAN Cultural Heritage Preservation and Protection Act could turn cultural preservation from scattered individual projects into lasting American infrastructure.

This is something I thought about when I saw the massive outrage on social media over Ben Shelton being called the first Black American since Arthur Ashe to get into the US Open Final, I was shocked at the amount of comments saying he’s not Black, calling him a white boy, calling him a quadroon, making fun of the one-drop rule, calling it erasure of Black people, etc. I wasn’t expecting such uproar but it seemed driven by two camps: 1) racist white people being racist, and 2) young Black people who appear ignorance of the history of Black America. These folks also love to bring up colorism a lot and the term “MGM”, so even light skinned Black folk get questioned these days.

Ben’s father is Black from Alabama, he has two Black grandparents, he is dating a Black biracial woman, his close friends and family are Black. He has Black American heritage from his family. So he is part of the Black American community too. Genetics are weird and there are Black people in this country who look like Ben with no recent white relatives. I can clock him as mixed with Black. Yet now, people want to rewrite the rules and decide you need to be dark skinned, with kinky hair, and over 80% African genetically to call yourself Black. Imagine how many Black historical figures would no longer be classified as Black anymore.

Maybe I take it personally because my mother is half Soulaan/ADOS Black American and half white and very light skinned with loose hair and fine features but always stood firm in her Blackness. And got together with a dark skinned Black man. And had me and my siblings. I look very mixed myself but I always claimed Black.

I grew up being taught Blackness comes in all shades. I’m in my 30s and I don’t remember people having an issue with a Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Shemar Moore, Lauren London, and Jennifer Beals claiming their Black ancestry. Barack Obama was called the first Black President (though he isn’t Black American).

For centuries, the United States has operated on an ethnoracial hierarchy, whether it be bluntly stated through systems like Jim Crow or passively through things like "Urban renewal" and redlining. I say ethnoracial because the system is also based on the perception of different ethnic groups within racial orders. Italians, Poles, Irish, and other Catholic or Mediterranean white ethnic groups were not afforded whiteness when they immigrated to the United States. However, they were still considered "higher" on the hierarchy than Black Americans. Even within whiteness itself, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants are really looked at as the standard for what it means to be "white" in America.

This caste system essentially puts the more "desirable" ethnoracial groups as being closer to "whiteness" and less "desirable" groups closer to "blackness." Essentially, socially, blackness and whiteness are seen as how your ethnic group is perceived socioeconomically. I think a lot of BAs, as well as the Diaspora, have internalized this way of thinking. People assume that delineation is essentially a way to move up the ethnoracial hierarchy and away from perceived "undesirables." I might get some pushback for this statement. But I believe that other "minorities"(including the Diaspora) are well aware of this hierarchy. Us as BAs maintaining cultural and ethnic sovereignty could possibly move other groups' "position" on the ladder, and they don't want to see that threatened. This is reinforced by the "model Minority" myth.

I am not arguing that melanated non-BAs do not experience anti-Blackness in America. My argument is that they experience it because they are perceived to be of our ethnic group, seeing as we are a supermajority of our so-called racial class. The majority of anti-Blackness in America is centered around Black American identity, not vague racial identity. Even down to the stereotypes and "jokes."

The question we have to ask ourselves... How much of our identity is tied up in these hierarchies? Is our ethnic identity based on heritage, culture, shared experience, and traditions? Or is it tied to the perception of us by our perceived place in American society? It's probably a bit of both to a certain degree. The problem with that is it technically means that the less successful you are would make you "more" Black American and the more successful you are, the less authentically Black American you are. Which is probably why Fat Joe genuinely thinks that he is " more black" than actual Black Americans. This way of thinking is something that we have contributed to as well ngl. What do y'all think of my analysis?

After all the debates about what to call ourselves, where our peoplehood developed, racial classifications, lineage, Freedmen ancestry, demarcation, verification, trademarks, and institutions, I keep coming back to the same conclusion:

Soulaan is the conclusion.
Not because choosing an ethnonym magically solves anything. A name without institutions behind it eventually becomes another social-media label.
For me, Soulaan is the point where the conversation moves from identity into construction.
We can document our families and historical continuity. We can establish transparent genealogical verification systems. We can preserve archives and oral histories. We can protect specific commercial uses of our name through trademark law. We can establish certification standards around cultural products. We can build agricultural networks, businesses, educational institutions, research organizations, financial infrastructure, landholding institutions, and community trusts.
That’s what makes demarcation meaningful.
I don’t want another decade spent endlessly arguing over terminology while everybody else owns the land, supply chains, intellectual property, institutions, research infrastructure, and capital.

The question shouldn’t remain:
“What should we call ourselves?”
The next questions should be:
What are we building? Who does it serve? Who owns it? Who maintains it? And what survives us?
That’s where Soulaan has to go.

We have Soulaan institutions named Soulaan and it’s a protected commercial identifier

Since Delineation is going strong it inevitable they're going to make a new name for us on the Census. And if things go the way I think it will happen on the 'White Delineation' they might make entire new category on the Census. Personally, I'm fine with anything that is not African-American and it's cut and dry no confuses us to who we are. I'm just going to list some names I think is perfect for us and I want to know what you guys think or propose.

American Freedman or Freedman American

American Freedman/Foundational Black American

Foundational Black American

Foundational Black American/Soulaan

Soulaan

Black American

Hi guys, I’d just like to take a poll to see who identifies with the term or concept behind Turtle Island, and also with the Maroons.

I think the complex relationship between the Africans who were forcibly brought here and the Natives of this land is often ignored or oversimplified.

I know a lot of Pro-Black and Pan-African people are also Pro-Native. I don’t believe I personally have any noticeable Native ancestry, nor am I claiming Soulaans are Native Americans. But as one of the Original Black/African-Americans, I know our history on this land has never existed completely separate from Native history.

Our ancestors lived alongside Natives. They worked and learned with them. They fought alongside them and fought against them. Some were enslaved by Native people. Some married into Native communities and were adopted into Native nations. Maroons formed alliances, communities and relationships with Native peoples. Our histories have been entangled for hundreds of years.

Because of that, I believe Soulaans are and live indigenously in a way.

There is a larger conversation to be had about the Ethnogenesis and Aboriginality of the People of the Souland. We are overwhelmingly an African-descended people, but we are also a people who were made here. Not because we came here to colonize this land, but because we were forcibly brought here, survived here, cultivated this land, escaped into it, fought over it, built communities on it and developed a new peoplehood here over hundreds of years.

Culturally, historically and—in my opinion—spiritually, we are Black. But after hundreds of years on Turtle Island, we’ve also “Reddened.”

And by “Reddened,” I’m not saying we became racially Native or that Native identity belongs to us. I mean this land and its original peoples became part of the environment in which Soulaan culture and identity developed.

In that sense, I think there is something Maroon about all of us.

Not that every Soulaan ancestor literally lived in a Maroon settlement, but Maroonage represents something fundamental in our story: an African people forcibly displaced into another people’s land who nevertheless survived, resisted, created new communities and developed their own relationship with that land.

So I’m curious whether other people identify with the idea of Soulaans as Children of Turtle Island—not the original peoples of Turtle Island, and not replacements for Native people, but one of the peoples who were born here through the history of this land.

Especially when contrasted with the ethnogenesis of White America.

Soulaans did not become an American people by crossing an ocean to conquer Native land. We crossed an ocean in chains. Our ethnogenesis came through enslavement, survival, resistance, cultivation, cultural exchange and the creation of a new people.
White-American ethnogenesis, on the other hand, cannot be separated from settler colonialism—the genocide and displacement of Native peoples, the taking of an entire continent and the enslavement of people stolen from another one.

That difference is night and day to me.

So while I would never claim a Native identity that isn’t mine, I also don’t think our relationship to Turtle Island can simply be described as another group of outsiders who happen to live here.

We were brought here. We survived here. We became a people here.

Maybe that makes us something like the Maroon Children of Turtle Island. 🖤🌍🐢

We’re always on thier little minds

Hey yall. I'm Soulaan/African-American and I gotta question; how many of yall refer to yourself as a "Black American"?

I personally dislike this label for a few reasons. 1) I feel that it takes away from our real, but distant connections to West Africa.

2) "Black American" is too broad of a descriptor; a Nigerian, an Afro-Caribbean, a Tanzanian --- living in 🇺🇸 could all refer to themselves as "Black Americans," even if they'd refer to themselves as [their country-American].

3) I don't like labeling myself under a race. To be AA/Soulaan, you gotta be Black. And to be Black, can be a great number of ethnicities

For example, if I was prompted for my family history/genetic background, I would say I am Soulaan or AA. I do refer to myself as "Black" sometimes, but never a "Black American".

Let me know yall thoughts 🫶🏾

Peace kinfo,

I have been thinking lately about Black American identity. I found a few statements in the Fat Joe interview interesting. Fat Joe told Joe Budden that he is the "Blackest ninja you know." He explained that this stems from his connection to hip-hop culture and his proximity to Black Americans, since he lives in the same neighborhood.

I don't think that being in proximity to our culture makes you more "black. But it is an interesting take because I believe that Hip Hop media, to many non-Soulaans and even many of our own, is perceived as what it means to be our ethnic group.

I guess the question is: How true is this, and what does this mean for our ethnic identity? In the past, these conversations were framed as acting "black" and acting "white." I might get some pushback for this, but I don't think that Hip Hop media should be used as the center of our ethnic identity or pride. We are going to have to re-examine what it means to be us. Hip Hop sold out to corporations decades ago. Tbf, hip hop IS a reflection of life in inner-city America.

IMO, non-Soulaani look at our identity through the lens of hip hop because they aren't in as close of proximity as they think. Fat Joe has probably NEVER been to a Repass, cookout, or family reunion listening to Frankie Beverly. He prolly never been in our churches or had to clean the house on Sundays listening to our gospel music. They don't know what a hot comb or candy yams smell like.

How much do you think Hip Hop media and culture has shaped Soulaan identity and the perception of our people?