Soulaan Delineation to Recognize Pride, Not Division

In recent years, the delineation between native Black Americans—specifically those descended from chattel slavery in the United States—and immigrant Black groups has emerged as a powerful movement. This effort is not one of division, but rather a response to the need for cultural preservation, recognition, and political progress. Native Black Americans, also referred to as Foundational Black Americans (FBA), Freedmen, or Soulaan / Soulan, are seeking to highlight the uniqueness of their lineage and the distinct challenges they have faced in their historical and present-day fight for justice in the United States.

Historical Roots: The Foundation of Black America

The ethnogenetic roots of native Black Americans stretch back to the early days of colonial settlement, long before the often-cited date of 1619. One of the first documented instances of enslaved people arriving on what would become American soil occurred in 1526 when Spanish colonizer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón brought enslaved Black people to the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. America received the least amount of enslaved people from Africa and yet is only behind Brazil as the most populous. These descendants…. To continue click here