News & Politics
We all know that culturally, there are different ways of communicating. When it comes to Black people, since slavery there has been a reliance on a head nod to communicate safety. To some, it may look like a simple gesture but for Black men especially, it can be a way of saying: “I see you and all is well.” WUWM's LaToya Dennis organized a roundtable conversation with Anthony Courtney, Andre Ellis, Trevis Hardman and Kwabena Antoine Nixon to talk about the head nod. Anthony Courtney founded an organization called My Brothers Incorporated . He describes it as a manhood training program. Courtney is also the eldest, and is respectfully called Baba by the other men. Baba is an African term denoting respect due to one’s age and status in society. Courtney explains the origin of the head nod: “When Black people were planning rebellions, the men on the plantations OK what would take place, they wouldn’t talk. When it was going to go down, they simply [head nod]. They wanted to clarify when