Modern African Diaspora and African American Boy in Psychiatric Placement Groups of individuals who have been forced to migrate to new places and new cultures often share common traits. These traits are passed down from generation to generation. This phenomenon has come to be known as diaspora. Anthropologists study diaspora. One anthropologist who has studied modern African diaspora in the United States is Katie Rose Hejtmanek. In her work, Hejtmanek studies African American boys who have been institutionalized in psychiatric placements. Readers of this paper will learn about Hejtmanek work and modern African Diaspora. Katie Rose Hejtmanek explores the topic of African American boys in psychiatric placement in her book, Friendship, Love, and Hip Hop An Ethnography of African American Men in Psychiatric Custody. In the book Hejtmanek notes that African …show more content…
They share the emotional experience of their otherness in the white dominated American society. According to Palmer persons with modern African diaspora, “share an emotional bond with one another […] who also, regardless of their location, face broadly similar problems in constructing and realizing themselves (par. 10). The boys in Hejtmanek’s study share the love for hip hop. Additionally, the boys share traits that are common for those with diaspora. Individuals who are part of a diaspora have common traits. According to Palmer (1998), Regardless of their location, members of a diaspora share an emotional attachment to their ancestral land, are cognizant of their dispersal and, if conditions warrant, of their oppression and alienation in the countries in which they reside (par.8). For the boys institutionalized in America’s psychiatric facilities a longing for Africa is not present. However, Hejtmanek notes the oppression and alienation they feel from the United States. This oppression ties and bonds the boys