Photographs of black people start from the "head"

When I first arrived in Africa, there was only one word for everything I felt: novelty. In the beautiful scenery of the savannah swayed by the tall coconut trees in southern Africa, black people are walking quickly with groceries on their heads, showing the exotic and unique cultural landscape and diverse customs and customs. In many arid areas and some poor places, people have to travel long distances carrying water basins or plastic buckets to transport domestic water. Even in cities, women carry water containers and go to tap water pipes or fixed water supply points downstairs to collect water, which is still a landscape that will never fade away in the neighborhood. This is also one of the types of pictures that domestic newspapers often publish when introducing African customs. The first time I really got to know the black people was half a month later. At that time, the containers we shipped from China had arrived at the destination port, and the customs clearance company hired a few workers to be responsible for loading and coding the goods. The goods were packed in large cardboard boxes, some of which were extra-large. What was surprising was that the black people worked not by carrying them on their shoulders, on their backs, or by hand, but by using their heads. No matter how heavy the cardboard box is, as long as it is placed on your head, you will pack it up immediately and leave. I remember that there was an extra-large carton. Two workers struggled to lift it, and another worker quickly stepped forward to lift it. Due to the heavy weight of the goods, the cartons performed a figure-eight dance on top of the black worker's head, causing his eyes to bulge out and his face to change. His head was trembling from side to side like a spring because of the heavy load. It was frightening. Everyone thought he was You can't do it for nothing, but no, this guy is still shaking and keeping steady. Finally, the box gave in - it burst, and his head was embedded in the box. Relying on his feeling, the man pushed the extra large and extra heavy carton into the warehouse. At that time, the Chinese people like us who had just arrived were shocked. We were all in awe and admired the black people's skills. Later, I often saw black workers carrying rice bags, flour bags, sacks, etc. on their heads. I was still amazed by them and worried that they would break their necks. Women often wrap a cloth in a circle and place it on their heads to buffer the pressure and maintain balance. In addition to carrying water, they also carry vegetables, firewood, fruits and other things that can be carried. You can casually see women changing gas on the street, walking leisurely with empty or full gas tanks on their shoulders, which reminds me of the fragility and happiness of our Chinese Women. I once saw a bread seller, who was no different from performing acrobatics. He held a wooden board on his head, and he didn't know how many layers of bread were stacked on it. He threw his hands away and hawked along the street, completely ignoring that if something went wrong, the bread would crackle. Rolled onto the street and caused a traffic jam. When men lift things, they focus on hard work and strength, while when women lift things, they pay attention to technique and endurance. The head is not only their human organ, but also a tool for them to support their families and survive through labor.

Black people have no "spin" on their heads. We all have a "whirl" on our heads, and if we don't have a "whirl", we are monsters. Some people use this to predict a person's character, saying that one "whirl" is gentle, two "whirls" are fierce, and three "whirls" are evil. I specifically asked a black doctor about this matter, and he said that yellow and white people have it on their heads, but black people don't have it. When some mixed-race children are born, their families and neighbors often argue endlessly about their final racial status based on their hair, skin color, and facial features. Later, everyone finally agreed and agreed: Check whether there is a "whirl" on the head of a mixed-race child. If there is a "whirl" on the head, he will be classified as a yellow or white race. If not, he will be classified as a black race.

The facial features of black people are obviously different from those of other races: big eyes, flat noses, wide mouths, and turned lips. Their eyelashes are beautiful, curled and curved, exactly what we want when doing beauty treatments. What also makes them look good is their teeth, which are uniform in size and thickness, unlike many of our compatriots whose teeth are stuck out like a hammer and a hammer here and there. Black people have big mouths, and when they smile, they can stretch from left to right. It is so exaggerated that you can’t even see the cheeks. What you see is a mouth full of white teeth. Because they are arranged neatly, they reflect stronger light. This is what we watch TV or interact with. When they were interviewed, it was common to see that his teeth and the whites of his eyes were white and translucent, shining brightly, which was quite enviable. On the other hand, a person's teeth may be as bright as the whites of his eyes, but a pearl placed on black cloth will make more holes than a pearl placed on white cloth.

To this day, black people in Africa still retain many folk customs, some strange and some absurd, such as "face". One day, an old black woman came to our store to buy specialties. She had designs painted on her face and spoke a language no one understood. She relied on gestures to communicate. Afterwards, the black shop assistant told me that there are two types of "faces" in Africa: one is "face painting". When some ethnic groups hold religious ceremonies or other important events, they often paint their faces to ward off ghosts and avoid evil spirits. Such painted faces can be restored after washing. The old face that came in just now belongs to the second situation: "tattooed face". The pattern is not painted, but tattooed. This will last a lifetime.

I will never forget that day when I went out to do errands with a black driver and saw a black man walking by the road with his head down and a small lock on his mouth. It was so scary. I guess this person may have violated taboos, such as stealing food or saying the wrong thing, and was punished like this, just like when prisoners in ancient my country were sent to the army and sent to the army, they had the word "prison" tattooed on their faces to show it to the world. The driver's explanation was not like this, saying that "it's nothing but custom." This aroused my curiosity. I asked the driver to act as a translator and ask where this person was from. Then I would take the time to explore this mysterious lock mouth tribe.

But the driver solemnly warned me: These "tattooed", "lock-mouthed" and other distinctive people all live in some "old, young, border and poor" places and rarely communicate with the outside world. Their bad folk customs are often rejected by outsiders and difficult to integrate into modern civilization, causing them great psychological pressure, extreme sensitivity, strong hostility, and easy "knife". They don't talk much, and they do what they say. If they say they want to kill you, they will kill you no matter what. They believe in primitive religion, and God knows what kind of teachings they have. Therefore, when meeting these people, be sure not to talk to them, stay away, or preferably drive around them.

Those who are thin and those who are fat are not the same

Black girls develop earlier, and some have become children’s mothers by the age of fifteen or six (our black employee Alice, this year At the age of 32, he has been promoted to the rank of "grandma"). They like to dress up and know that being a woman is "very" beautiful. They often wear low-cut, open or navel-baring clothes. Some don't even wear bras, which easily shows the outline of their breasts. In many rural areas, mountainous areas, forested areas and other places, women, like men, don't wear tops, bare their breasts and still follow the living habits of their ancestors. However, the residents of the city are neatly dressed and have integrated with the world. However, there are exceptions: some breastfeeding women, who wear their children diagonally on their chests and walk through the city with one breast open all day long. When a child is hungry, he can just open his mouth and suck, which is more convenient than drinking tap water. Those breasts are absolutely full and relaxed.

Once, we received a batch of women’s stretch shirts from China. The quality was not good and we couldn’t sell them. Alice saw that the two elastic shirts in the window were dirty, so she took them out, washed them, and hung them back up. Two days later, a group of black girls went into the store to buy the "bras" hanging in the window. Everyone was confused and only came to their senses later. It turns out that the elastic shirt shrank severely after being washed, and actually shrunk into a "bra". This gives everyone an inspiration: instead of being difficult to sell as an elastic shirt, it is better to wash it and shrink it into a "bra" and sell it. What happened later proved how wise the decision was at that time. Hundreds of stretch shirts were all sold as "bras" half a month later without changing the price. As for the real tattooed bras we send from China, black women generally find them too small and cannot be sold. They are jokingly called "custom-made bras for children" by black shop assistants. Finally, if a customer asks for a Bassela (local dialect: free gift) when shopping, everyone from old men to children, whether they are strong men or fat women, will give them breast tattoos to encourage them; even during weekly worship services On the "Begging Day" of May, the beggars are no longer given one or two copper coins, but each is given a breast tattoo to send them away. In other words, these real bras are disposed of for free. When doing international trade, mistakes often occur, which are ridiculous and difficult to prevent. When my boss worked as a prostitute in Eastern Europe, he knew that bras, shoes, underwear and other female products must be shipped in large or extra-large sizes when shipped to the Eastern European or Russian markets. But in black Africa, he will still teach you a lesson and make up for it once. tuition fee. It seems that the breasts of black women cannot be bullied. Judging from the revealing curves of the women, they are all different, but the size of their breasts, judging from the situation of our bra sales, makes Chinese Women want to Resigned to defeat.

For some black women, bras are not only the tip of their bodies, but also an ideal wallet for storing money. Even if the clothes they wear have pockets, they are still used to stuffing banknotes and coins directly into their bras, or putting money into a small purse and then stuffing the purse into their bra. We think this is unsightly. After all, shopping is done in full view of the public. When checking out, it is inevitable to rub a handful of "forbidden" parts of the body. But they are not embarrassed at all. Maybe the money is safer this way, because pickpockets are less likely to strike and easier to detect when stealing. If caught, not only will they be charged with theft, but they will also be led to a more serious command: hooliganism.

Tattoos are a common phenomenon among peoples around the world. They are painted first and then tattooed on a certain part of the body, which is flat and picturesque. However, in Africa, the situation is very different. In the forest area in northern Mozambique, I saw several girls and women with tattoos. Their chests and backs had bean-shaped protrusions tattooed with knives and chisels, arranged in an array. People admire some mysterious legends and some ferocious animals in nature, and the patterns drawn on them may look like the faces of ghosts or the body surface of crocodiles. Back in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, I had a dispute with a black driver because of my tattoo. He told me that tattoos are not a form of worship or beauty, but are related to sex: when a man and a woman have sex, the skin is as smooth as a river fish, which is not very pleasant. If there are these uneven bumps, it will increase the friction and add sex appeal. points, making people more passionate. Perhaps he is right, this type of tattoo only appears on women and has nothing to do with men.

What I will never forget is that day when we were shopping and we were thirsty, so we went to a black brother’s pushcart to buy coconuts to drink. Because of the hot weather, the two brothers had their arms open. I was suddenly startled by what I saw in front of me. On the upper edge of the belly buttons of the two brothers, without exception, a "big radish" was inserted upside down, which was about the same size as their own fists. I called the accompanying black employee to Yidi and asked if other organs on the two brothers' bodies had moved up and sunk down, growing in the wrong place, and "jumped out" to their navels. The black worker smiled and explained that this is the belly button. There are many people with such big belly buttons in this city. As for the cause, he was not sure. He said it might have been caused by improper delivery during birth. This explanation is unconvincing. I think it is probably due to genetic or racial reasons.

The years of weeping blood bring disaster to black

When I first arrived in Africa, I didn’t know the details of many things. Once, I was having a conversation with a black boss. He was very polite at first, but the more we talked, the colder his attitude became, until he became so "cool" that the two parties broke up on bad terms.

"What's going on?" I asked the black employee accompanying me.

"Ah, Mist Lee, you shouldn't call us black people BlackMan."

"What's wrong with BlackMen? It's the same as calling white people "WhiteMen". You can do it too. Call me YellowMen? In our opinion, BlackMan is a neutral term, just a title. "

Oh, no, the words are correct, but the history is wrong." The employee spoke in an incomprehensible way.

Talking about the history of black people, I started to talk about the ancient land of Africa. Although our ancestors were poor and backward, they were peaceful and peaceful. Since the invasion of white Europeans, they have extremely discriminated against their skin color, established strongholds, bombarded villages, massacred black people, sold black slaves, and led to colonial rule. What is left in our memory is a history of bloodshed. This originally had nothing to do with our conversation. The problem was that these white people called them BlackMen when they were harassing black people. The name itself was not wrong, but in the mouths of the colonists, good words also turned into bad words.

I understand, we don’t mean to be contemptuous when we call them BlackMen. The bad thing is that this name was repeatedly called bad by the white colonists many years ago. BlackMen are equivalent to "niggers" And so on, history continues to this day, and it is the carrier of racial discrimination.

"If you don't call me black, what should I call him?" I asked.

"Just call this person, that person, and avoid using the words black, white, and yellow. In addition, I have to correct you. You yellow and white people call us black people. Seriously speaking, we are not BlackMen, because Black is a Color." The black man said seriously.

"Ah, you are not black, but your skin color..." I became more and more confused.

"Our skin color is not Black, but Negro (a skin color of black people), so we are Negro, not BlackMen." He put his arm on the black leather sofa and asked me to identify it: "Take a look, these two colors are different."

I am speechless. If Negro is not black, I don’t know what color it is. In the United States, calling black people Negro is a contemptuous and derogatory term. However, in Mozambique, Africa, black people think Negro is the normal name.

It’s also interesting to talk about the skin color of black people. When we first came here, all black people were uniformly dark and looked the same, making it difficult to distinguish individuals. At this time, if a black man greets us warmly on the street and then blends into the crowd, he is like a drop of water melting into the sea, disappearing instantly. Even if he turns around and continues talking to us, we have completely forgotten about him. . Of course, black people see us the same way at first: you Chinese, Koreans, Malays... are all the same.

It’s better now. Looking at black people is like looking at your own compatriots. People’s looks are originally different. There are also great differences in skin color between black people. I once saw a black girl. She was really black. To say that her skin seemed pitch black, it would be better to say that her skin was pitch black, because from her bare shoulders, I could clearly see the sun reflected in the mirror. appearance. The skin color of a few black people is almost yellow, and most of these people are of mixed race. So, with jet black and mulatto yellow as two points, the skin color of black people slides into different positions in the middle.

Every day, I work happily with black employees, but it is difficult for me to compliment their skin color. This does not mean that I have a discriminatory tendency. This skin color does have many inconveniences. For example, when you drive through various intersections in the city every day, you have to pay attention to the reactions of the drivers of the vehicles involved. Expressions and gestures are important ways for drivers to convey information. On a sunny day, you can still clearly see the intentions of the black driver; if it is a cloudy day, the light reflected by the black man is inherently dark, and filtered by a windshield, you cannot clearly see the contents of the driver's cab. Just empty cars running empty. Although it is said that when misaligned, you can judge based on the speed of the other party's car and the lighting conditions, but it always makes people confused. The worst thing is that many pedestrians like to wear black clothes, which matches their skin color. When you drive in the evening or at night, you are guaranteed to startle the car. Black people have little safety awareness and are willing to fight with vehicles when crossing the road. When you are driving normally, you suddenly find a dark shadow flashing next to you, running to the other side like a ghost. You must brake quickly and sound the siren. . Once a black man decides to cross the street, no matter how dangerous it is, he will regard death as if he were to cross the road, and he will not be able to fight back with nine sticks. They always run past in time when the car is close to their buttocks. You are here in shock, but they are already complacent in the distance. In the night, only a string of long and exaggerated laughter is left to accompany you at any time. Voice. It is far-fetched to say that the history of black people bleeding is caused by their skin color, but some car accidents that occur when the light is dim on the road are true.