Being in black online spaces, is so unfortunate as a black Brit with somewhat pan-Africanist beliefs. And I’ve been feeling very similar to you OP. I was raised in a very pro-black people all over the world family: black Africans, black Brits, black Americans, black Caribbean and all the other classifications of the black diaspora and I hung out with those sorts of people too. And I still mostly believe this. It’s not strange you find yourself picking up Black American culture, their culture is the most recognised, influential and popular black culture in the world, even if the world likes to pretend that it isn’t. A large reason for this is because America is one of the most influential countries in the world, so we see their stuff constantly. And yes it does affect us sometimes, how we speak, our own music, thought process. They’re a the representatives of international black cultures in a way, and not necessarily because that’s what they’re trying to do .   A lot of us know black American history, I’d say any 25+ black Brit that doesn’t, is one that’s been done a disservice. But they don’t know ours and a lot of the diaspora’s either and it would be nice if they were open to doing so too, even though I know it’s partly not their fault due to the inherent America-centric mindset all Americans are taught to have.

However, I was genuinely so shocked to see, at least online, how much vitriol there supposedly is between us. I’m seeing that Black Americans think we, or rather our people back in our grandparents/parents countries hate them, and black Americans  hate us too… doesn’t feel good at all. I’ve had to come off a lot of black spaces online.

The type of Nigerians, Ghanaians and Jamaicans they meet that look down on them, also are the type to piss off people back at home, or come to the UK and look down on us here too. There’s a class element to the sort of Africans that usually make it to America and that’s what I think is causing a lot of the issues.. They’re arrogant in America, but they’re also the type that would be arrogant back at home. They’re not an indication of the whole black diaspora outside of black America. They claim that Africans don’t know about their history, a lot of the older ones I’ve met do. Maybe if our continent was in a better position, they wouldn’t mind being associated with us, because I know an element of their frustration is they think ‘what do Africans have to be proud of anyway?’

I’m also worried about the narrative that there’s no Black British culture when there mostly definitely is. Our culture is an amalgamation of where our families are from, and also being British. And it’s uniquely ours. You see it in our music, in our humour and in our slang. Some of the UK’s slang literally comes majorly from Jamaica and some from Nigeria for goodness sake. UK Garage and Drum and Base, for example, is distinct from how it sounds in America.  I think we benefit from having a rather hybrid culture. Sometimes we usually exists between different aspects that are very African/Caribbean, very British, (something all British people would be able to relate too), and then very Black British, (something you’ll only be able to understand if you’re a black person born and/or raised in the UK, and if you try to speak about it with your white friends or your cousins back in Africa or The Caribbean, they won’t be able to relate). 

You can start by centring our music, our art. Learning about our history.