AMERIKANU

 

AMERIKANU

THE GOLDEN NATION WITHIN A NATION

 

Definition: AMERIKANU

ah – meh – ree – kah – nu (n.) — sovereign identity; cultural nation; lineage-based political class

An Amerikanu is a descendant of the global Indigenous/African presence—an ab-original being whose identity, formation, and collective experience have been forged exclusively through the realities of chattel slavery, systemic dehumanization, cultural resistance, and nation-shaping survival within the boundaries of what is now known as the United States of America.

This identity encompasses those historically labeled Negro, Colored, Black, African-American, Native, Indian or Freedmen, but asserts a distinct national consciousness that transcends these imposed designations. It does not include post-Emancipation African, Caribbean, or Afro-Latinx immigrants or their descendants, who arrived with distinct cultural flags, traditions, and entry points into the American project.

Historical and Cultural Foundations

The Amerikanu are the first people made American—not by migration, but by force, captivity, and erasure. They are both the target and the engine of the American experiment. Their blood, labor, and genius built the foundation of the U.S. economy, culture, legal system, and global image.

Amerikanu lineage reflects a complex history:

  • Some are descendants of indigenous peoples of Turtle Island reclassified as “Negroes” through colonial law and census manipulation.

  • Some are direct descendants of African peoples trafficked through the transatlantic slave trade.

  • Many carry interwoven histories—all forged into a new people through the prolonged trauma and resilience specific to Black life in America.

From the plantation to the projects to the protest, a new nation emerged—unrecognized by law, but undeniable in culture, contribution, and continuity.

Culture

Hip hop is the clearest living proof (not the only) of Amerikanu culture. Born from the pressures, poverties, and political betrayals of post-industrial America, hip hop is not just an art form—it is a national archive, a spiritual code, and a global force that only the Amerikanu experience could produce.

As with the blues, jazz, soul, go-go, gospel, and street fashion before it—hip hop reflects the creative governance of a people forced to make something out of nothing. It is the culture of a nation that survived its own erasure.

Legal and Political Distinction

The Amerikanu are not simply an ethnic group. They are a politically distinct people who were here before the colonies had names, whose existence predates the U.S. Constitution but has never been constitutionally recognized. They are the most studied, policed, exploited, and imitated people on U.S. soil—yet remain stateless.

This definition affirms:

  • A unique claim to reparations based on the lineage-specific harms of U.S. slavery and its afterlife

  • A right to sovereignty and self-definition, as recognized under principles of international law, including the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

  • A cultural and political separation from all other Black diasporic identities who enter America at other entry points

In Summary

To be Amerikanu is to be foundational and forged.
It is to be born of trauma, raised in resilience, and destined for sovereignty.
It is to hold no other flag but the one you built.
It is to be the root and the future of America—and to claim, with full authority, a new name that tells the whole truth.

Amerikanu: The B.L.A.C.K. Book  version 5.1 July 1st 2025