<\/a>
Kola Boof, born Naima Bint Harith, was revealed to be Osama Bin Laden\u2019s mistress in 2002. Before images of Boof were made public, very little was known about her, other than the fact that she is of Egyptian-Sudanese orijin. Based on this description, she argues that the American media \u201csummoned visions of an Arab-raised aristocrat who they assumed would look like Cher\u201d and had no reason to question the validity of her relationship.<\/p>\n

However, Boof further argues that this all changed when it was revealed that she \u201cwas not only Black\u2014but looked fully Black\u2014and that I\u2019d been adopted and raised by Black Americans in the United States and returned as an adult to North Africa as a model-actress.\u201d She believes that it was because of her features and complexion that the media deemed her to be less attractive than Prince Charles\u2019 mistress Camilla Parker Bowles or President Clinton\u2019s Mistress Monica Lewinsky and questioned the legitimacy of her relationship with the person she now describes as \u201cour generation\u2019s Hitler.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recalling the media\u2019s attack on her identity, she remembers how \u201cAmerican experts claimed that the billionaire \u201cbin ladin\u201d family had an upper class etiquette that would not allow an \u2018overtly religious non-sexual\u201d Arab Muslim Osama to have a Black mistress.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>These aforementioned claims by Boof are included in her recent address to the American media. She expresses that she felt it necessary to address the assassination of her character simply because she looks Black. She pointedly states \u201cI\u2019m tired of being told by Americans both White and Black that because I\u2019m cocoa-skinned, I\u2019m automatically ugly and undesirable.\u201d She further declares in her statement that \u201cI am a chocolate colored African woman living in America and I have never been without a man\u2014I\u2019m not bitter or alone. I am a beautiful intelligent outspoken Egyptian Sudanese American Sunni Egypto Gisi-Waaq Oromo chocolate womanist who never wanted it known that she\u2019d been with our generation\u2019s Hitler.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the media will present their own arguments about why Boof\u2019s relationship with Bin Laden was questioned, I find her claims to be quite interesting. I was recently involved in a conversation with a colleague about the recent uprisings in Egypt and other parts of Northern Africa when she expressed she did consider Egyptians or Tunisians to be African. She explained that they \u201clooked more Arab” and not \u2018Black\u2019 like Africans, therefore, she classifies them as Arabs and not African. While I found her comments to be disturbing, I was not surprised because many adhere to this mentality. The fact is, many are unaware or fail to acknowledge one of Africa\u2019s oldest civilizations to be part of its makeup.<\/p>\n

Africa is one of the world\u2019s most diverse continents. The different phonotypical features, the variety of languages, foods and traditions all contribute to the beauty of the continent. While many still adhere to the divide and rule mentality, it is important that we all celebrate and appreciate the diversity Africa has to offer.
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