African American

That is a term that we African-Americans began to use in the '60s to define ourselves.

We decided we didn't like the ugly terms "negro" or "colored" and even "nigra" push upon us by whites of the time.

It is our term. We are black and proud of it.

If you have a problem with that, that's on you.

We eventually took self-definition further and moved to first Afro-American and now African-American.

We use the terms black and African-American interchangeably and we use them proudly. In a way it's a subtle celebration of the melanin in our skin — maybe you've heard the term "black don't crack"? It refers to how the melanin in our skin protects us better from sunlight then those who don't have it, and it also denotes pride in how black women in their 50s, 60s and even 70s hardly have a wrinkle in their skin.

Black don't crack, baby, and we're proud of it.